Cross Eyed and Painless

So, we had a fun week with the fat orange cat. Back 7 years ago, when he was a kitten, I took him home from the shelter in a carrier in our car and he proceeded to poop and puke all over. Then I took him to the vet a month or so later in the carrier in the car with the same explosive results. Which means I haven't tried to take him to the vet since. It hasn't been a big deal since he doesn't go outside. But the other night we had a bat in our house and Archie is a hunter. He had the bat on the floor with his paw on the poor bat's chest (do they have chests?) before I even had a chance to freak out too badly. John was nice enough to wake up (after I yelled and shook him) and take the bat outside. Of course, I started to worry that the bat may have bit Archie and we would soon have an Old Yeller situation on our hands. I figured it was high time I decided to bite the bullet, get over Archie's car problems, and get him the vet for a rabies shot.

At first I thought the carrier might have been the problem. Maybe if I just put him on a leash and he could see out the car windows, he would be happier, so I took him on a dry run the night before his appointment. As you can see from the top photo, Archie being on the leash didn't exactly do the trick. He didn't poop or puke, but he did yowl the entire ride.

I felt so badly that I took him to the side garden and let him stress/anger eat as much catnip as he wanted. I'm an enabler that way.

By Wednesday afternoon when I was supposed to take Archie to the vet, there was a violent storm and downpour (another set of circumstances that Archie hates) and I decided to just put him in the cat carrier anyway. He still cried the second I put him in the car, but I was glad I had him in the carrier, because there were two very energetic puppies in the waiting room when I got there. He was fine in  his carrier while we waited.

When we went to meet the vet, he decided he would just rather not leave his carrier. So, I tipped it upside down and the vet and her assistant tried to unwedge his paws from the walls of the carrier. It looked like they were trying to deliver a breech baby into the world.

The vet said that she wouldn't want Archie to gain any MORE weight, but he was a big cat and he's never going to be 10 lbs. I know exactly how he feels. He was very stoic when he got his two shots, but then wailed the entire three block long car ride  home. He was also even needier than normal for a couple of days, which meant neither John or I slept that well on account of our bed being invaded by the fat, orange, baby.


I guess we'll see what happens when he goes back in August for his teeth cleaning...