Belita needed a second round of shots and PK was due for his, so I called the vet. Mike followed me so he could help wrangle kitties at yesterday's appointment.
The wrangling started earlier than that. Belita clawed her way out of the cardboard carrier not even halfway to the vet. I lured her into reach at a stop light and held her while I drove. I stuck her back in the box at another red light, but she scratched me and wriggled away again before we got to the vet.
PK was subdued during the drive, ensconced in his sturdy plastic carrier--subdued until we tried to get him out of the carrier for his exam and shots.
My California vet would tie a bottomless Dixie cup over PK's head so he couldn't bite and put him in a kitty straitjacket that had a Velcro opening at the neck and zippers at each leg. Once trussed, he'd stop calm down enough for the exam.
I asked the technician at the new vet if they had something similar to deal with combative animals. After he saw PK in hostility mode, he left to get their cat bag. Only it was nothing like the straitjacket.
Instead, their cat bag was a rectangular metal frame covered in blue mesh fabric that opened and closed like a pair of salad tongs. The cat is sandwiched between the two mesh panels at one end and the metal frames at the opposite end are lashed together so the cat can't escape. I took pictures with my cell phone, but they don't capture the full indignity of the apparatus.
Since PK could see through the mesh and shift around inside the bag, he did not calm down much. The vet had to redo one of the shots because the needle didn't go all the way in and PK spat and swatted at him. Poor vet was puzzled; Abbys are supposed to be amiable. This one, not so much.
Both kitties were subdued the rest of the day. Tonight, they are back to their usual selves, tearing around the house and tackling each other with gusto.
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The one time I didn't have my camera and wished that I did (probably a good thing) was when Jed was circumcised - for some reason it was done a week or so after he had left the hospital so I took him to his pediatrician to have it done - they had a restraint/tray that she laid him down and strapped him in to resist movement - to this day I remember the name of the apparatus printed across it in big letters - THE CIRCUMSTRAINT
Oh, my. I can just imagine the sales pitch...
Yeah, that thing is beastly--one of the reasons I didn't have my boys snipped.
I know I should not say it...but...circumcison helps reduce the risk of HIV infection...and it's easier to do it when they're younger...
going to go hide now!
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