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Calico Cat - Success
Guess this won't be the most thrilling post ever put here, but I'm sitting
here very happy. I have a calico cat just under 7 years old, who wandered into my life as a wild kitten. She's my favorite - sweet, affectionate, and a great cat, *except* for one huge problem: she can't be picked up. If a hand goes anywhere underneath her, she bolts. If I grab her, she turns into a ferocious mass of flailing claws, made worse by the fact that she can't be picked up to trim the claws in the first place. She was due in April for her yearly exam and shots, which gives me the rare opportunity to trim the claws, apply Advantage, and other things that ought to be routine. She is completely docile at the vet. I had unsuccessfully tried numerous times since April to trap her and fling the hysterical cat into the carrier, but never succeeded. Either she'd sense that something was wrong and stay just out of reach, or put up a tremendous fight and leave me gushing blood as she escaped. Cancelling so many appointments was an embarrassment, although the vet is well aware of the situation and is very good about the cancellations. I had tried a tranquilizer once before, chopping the pill into small pieces and putting it into people tuna. She cleverly ate all the tuna and left the tiny pieces of pill on the plate. As irked as I was, it was difficult not to be impressed. Last night, Milo and Watermelon Man had vet appointments, and I raised the question of a sedative again. Being six months overdue for the shots, I was starting to have real concerns about Calico. We decided to try a different pill. This morning I pulverized it and put it into people tuna. She wolfed down about 80% of the serving, and climbed onto the couch where I was reading the paper. She seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood, purring and generally being happy. I waited about 45 minutes, hoping she'd fall asleep (yeah, right), and decided to make a grab for her. I picked her up, getting one yowl and no flailing claws. It was almost a non-event. I carried her over to the cat carrier, put her inside, and closed the door. As I speed-dialed the vet, the howling and struggle started, but there was no way she was going to get out. It was 7:45, and they gave me a 10 am appointment. I warned that I'd probably be there over an hour early, as she is so scared at the vet as to be quiet and handleable. By 8:30, the howling was getting quite severe, so off we drove to the vet. I clipped her, combed her, and applied Advantage in the waiting room, and they actually saw me early, around 9:15. She checked out completely healthy, got all the shots without incident, and off we went. By 9:45 we were back home. By noon, she actually had forgiven me and is nuzzling me on the back of the chair as I type. For 3 weeks, she'll be able to knead me without drawing blood. Then the vicious cycle will start again. Art Art Temporary usercode - to be deleted when spam starts. Use MyBrainHurts at this ISP to reach me |
#2
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Wonderful!
Best wishes, -- Polonca & Soncek "Arthur Shapiro" wrote in message news:K0khb.12947$hp5.10437@fed1read04... Guess this won't be the most thrilling post ever put here, but I'm sitting here very happy. snip |
#3
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Yikes! Sounds like a real character... I've heard of people using either
Feliway or some herbal remedies (passionflower extract) to calm down their kitties. -- Victor M. Martinez http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv |
#4
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Arthur Shapiro wrote:
By 8:30, the howling was getting quite severe, so off we drove to the vet. I clipped her, combed her, and applied Advantage in the waiting room, and they actually saw me early, around 9:15... [snip] For 3 weeks, she'll be able to knead me without drawing blood. Then the vicious cycle will start again. Hey Art, here's a suggestion. Actually, the solution is right there in your post: why not bring your cat to the vet's once a month, just to sit in the waiting room and clip her claws, apply Advantage, and perform whatever other maintenance you need to do? You don't need an appointment to do that. I'll bet your vet wouldn't mind your spending half an hour in the waiting room once a month, clipping Calico's docile little claws off. And it wouldn't cost you anything, either. (Though perhaps you could bring them some candies or something as a thank you.) Joyce |
#5
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In article , wrote:
Hey Art, here's a suggestion. Actually, the solution is right there in your post: why not bring your cat to the vet's once a month You don't understand!!! If I could, I would! There are cats that would prefer not to be picked up. There are cats that don't like to be picked up. There are cats that HATE to be picked up. There are cats that go berserk when picked up. And then there's Calico. They've said I could bring her in any time to do routine maintenance. But getting this cat into a carrier is considerably more difficult than, say, mediating the dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians, solving global warming, or finding Jimmy Hoffa's body. BTW, you can see some shots of her on my personal site at http://members.cox.net/mybrainhurts/CalicoStory.htm Looking at her, you wouldn't think she's a living terror. Art Temporary usercode - to be deleted when spam starts. Use MyBrainHurts at this ISP to reach me |
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in article SZphb.13655$hp5.13383@fed1read04, Arthur Shapiro at
wrote on 10/9/03 10:48 PM: In article , wrote: Hey Art, here's a suggestion. Actually, the solution is right there in your post: why not bring your cat to the vet's once a month You don't understand!!! If I could, I would! There are cats that would prefer not to be picked up. There are cats that don't like to be picked up. There are cats that HATE to be picked up. There are cats that go berserk when picked up. And then there's Calico. They've said I could bring her in any time to do routine maintenance. But getting this cat into a carrier is considerably more difficult than, say, mediating the dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians, solving global warming, or finding Jimmy Hoffa's body. BTW, you can see some shots of her on my personal site at http://members.cox.net/mybrainhurts/CalicoStory.htm Looking at her, you wouldn't think she's a living terror. Art Temporary usercode - to be deleted when spam starts. Use MyBrainHurts at this ISP to reach me Wow. She is beautiful. Maybe you could sneak up on her when she is sleeping and put the carrier over her first then flip it and shut the door. Hmmm. Pretty complicated I guess. Karen |
#9
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On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 03:48:10 GMT, (Arthur
Shapiro) wrote: In article , wrote: Hey Art, here's a suggestion. Actually, the solution is right there in your post: why not bring your cat to the vet's once a month You don't understand!!! If I could, I would! There are cats that would prefer not to be picked up. There are cats that don't like to be picked up. There are cats that HATE to be picked up. There are cats that go berserk when picked up. And then there's Calico. They've said I could bring her in any time to do routine maintenance. But getting this cat into a carrier is considerably more difficult than, say, mediating the dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians, solving global warming, or finding Jimmy Hoffa's body. BTW, you can see some shots of her on my personal site at http://members.cox.net/mybrainhurts/CalicoStory.htm Looking at her, you wouldn't think she's a living terror. Art Temporary usercode - to be deleted when spam starts. Use MyBrainHurts at this ISP to reach me Quite a success story, and I enjoyed the pix. |
#10
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Arthur Shapiro wrote:
They've said I could bring her in any time to do routine maintenance. But getting this cat into a carrier is considerably more difficult than, say, mediating the dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians, solving global warming, or finding Jimmy Hoffa's body. LOL! But, you did get her to the vet this past time, right? I guess you don't want to give her a sedative once a month, is that it? BTW, you can see some shots of her on my personal site at http://members.cox.net/mybrainhurts/CalicoStory.htm Looking at her, you wouldn't think she's a living terror. She's beautiful! And she doesn't look like a living terror, you're right. Although in that last photo, at the bottom of the page, she does have a certain baleful glare in her eyes. (My cat Roxy is an expert at the Baleful Glare.) Joyce |
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