![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Cats and classes
Third day of classes. Survey of Multimedia Technology promises interest, and Introduction to Ethics seems like it'll be pretty great. Also, the teacher has a dry sense of humor that I like.
Biking home at night is much nicer than biking to school in the afternoon. I suspect I'm going to be enjoying my Tuesdays and Thursdays for this reason.
Before classes, though, I had to help my mom take Pudge and Nanni to the vet. Pudge needed some blood work done for his hyperthyroidism, and Nanni just needed her physical and a vaccination. Pudge was a relatively good sport for the visit. Nanni was a whole different story.
My god, I don't think I've ever seen a cat so afraid of the vet's office. She hunkered down in her carrier and wouldn't come out for anything, and she started trembling. I picked her up and petted her for a while, but she eventually squirmed out and went to press herself into the farthest corner of the room and shivered. I'd put my hand on her ruff and I could just feel her shaking like a leaf.
She's had some bad experiences that ended in uncomfortable vet visits, so I can't blame her for being so scared. And I'm sure it didn't help her peace of mind that while we were there, there was also a dog in back who was crying and carrying on like he was being tortured. We asked the vet about this when she came in, and she explained that the dog had had a broken toe that had been casted, and the owners had let the cast get wet despite having been specifically instructed not to do so. As a result, the dog now had an infection. So we understood why he was so upset, but of course you can't explain that to a cat. The cat doesn't understand the dog is in here being treated for an actual medical problem and she's just there to be checked on. All she knows is she's in a place she doesn't like and she can hear another animal suffering.
I spent most of my time in the corner with Nanni, holding on to her and petting her and speaking softly to her. It seemed to work to an extent, as she stayed very put and didn't seem to shake while I had her. She was still nervous and hyperventilating, though. I've seen her hysterically upset before (when she got her cast and came home with an Elizabethan collar - she hated that thing) but I've never seen her quite like that. I mean, she was terrified. She was just so pitiful I sort of wanted to cry. XD;
She seemed to forgive us immediately upon returning home, though - mere minutes after we got in, she was up on the cat condo silently demanding her food, and happily accepted her usual scritchings.
I love that cat.
Pudge, for his part, pretty much just yowled a lot and sulked around. At one point, when I was holding Nanni to soothe her, he crawled over and parked himself on my knees. This theme was to be repeated more than once while we were waiting - me holding one cat while the other hid under my chair/sat on my lap/squeezed behind my back. I felt like the Cat Whisperer. XD
Nanni appears to be in good health; we're a little less sure about Pudge. We'll have to see what his titre says, I guess.
Biking home at night is much nicer than biking to school in the afternoon. I suspect I'm going to be enjoying my Tuesdays and Thursdays for this reason.
Before classes, though, I had to help my mom take Pudge and Nanni to the vet. Pudge needed some blood work done for his hyperthyroidism, and Nanni just needed her physical and a vaccination. Pudge was a relatively good sport for the visit. Nanni was a whole different story.
My god, I don't think I've ever seen a cat so afraid of the vet's office. She hunkered down in her carrier and wouldn't come out for anything, and she started trembling. I picked her up and petted her for a while, but she eventually squirmed out and went to press herself into the farthest corner of the room and shivered. I'd put my hand on her ruff and I could just feel her shaking like a leaf.
She's had some bad experiences that ended in uncomfortable vet visits, so I can't blame her for being so scared. And I'm sure it didn't help her peace of mind that while we were there, there was also a dog in back who was crying and carrying on like he was being tortured. We asked the vet about this when she came in, and she explained that the dog had had a broken toe that had been casted, and the owners had let the cast get wet despite having been specifically instructed not to do so. As a result, the dog now had an infection. So we understood why he was so upset, but of course you can't explain that to a cat. The cat doesn't understand the dog is in here being treated for an actual medical problem and she's just there to be checked on. All she knows is she's in a place she doesn't like and she can hear another animal suffering.
I spent most of my time in the corner with Nanni, holding on to her and petting her and speaking softly to her. It seemed to work to an extent, as she stayed very put and didn't seem to shake while I had her. She was still nervous and hyperventilating, though. I've seen her hysterically upset before (when she got her cast and came home with an Elizabethan collar - she hated that thing) but I've never seen her quite like that. I mean, she was terrified. She was just so pitiful I sort of wanted to cry. XD;
She seemed to forgive us immediately upon returning home, though - mere minutes after we got in, she was up on the cat condo silently demanding her food, and happily accepted her usual scritchings.
I love that cat.
Pudge, for his part, pretty much just yowled a lot and sulked around. At one point, when I was holding Nanni to soothe her, he crawled over and parked himself on my knees. This theme was to be repeated more than once while we were waiting - me holding one cat while the other hid under my chair/sat on my lap/squeezed behind my back. I felt like the Cat Whisperer. XD
Nanni appears to be in good health; we're a little less sure about Pudge. We'll have to see what his titre says, I guess.