Healthy Kids Checkup Day

Kaline and Baggle in the vet’s waiting room

Ah! The rain this weekend and a few rays of sun this morning have made the lawn next door look so sweet and green! Yes, our neighbors are home and garden enthusiasts. For our part, the crocuses are sprouting up all bright purple and yellow out of the last of the brown leaves from last fall. But it’s starting to look all springy! In fact, last night we had our first tornado powwow in the basement of the season! The kids meowing in their carriers while the basement TV kept beeping telling us how close the police sited, not a funnel cloud, but a confirmed tornado! Ah, the exciting birth of spring!

The house is still standing and the kids got over the trauma of being put in the carriers quick enough. I had success bribing them with treats for a short stint in the basement once, a couple years ago when David called home from work and told me to get the kids and get in the basement, but we haven’t had any luck with that since. That first time we were only down there for about ten minutes before the all clear. Last time was about a half hour total and, well, I guess their tolerance for the treats in the basement thing is about ten minutes. Last night, we didn’t even mess with bribing them, we just collected them in the carriers and went downstairs.

They sat in the carriers and cried like children who’d been caught trying to steal a candy bar and were “locked up” to teach them a lesson until Mom and Dad came to pick them up. Then after that little trauma, this morning was the annual trek to the vet. David was scheduled to give platelets a half hour after their appointment, so we put the kids’ carriers in his car and I followed in my car so I could bring them home and he could go straight to his appointment from the vet’s office. I got to bring the zip-lock snack bags with the fecal samples. That’s right. He got the cats, I got the poop.

The assistant at the vet’s office is not a baseball fan at all. She called to confirm their appointment with David. She pronounced Kaline's name /kuh-LEEN/ like an unusual spelling of Colleen, rather then /KAY-line/ like Al Kaline, for whom she was named. I tried calling her /kuh-LEEN./ Her ears didn’t even move. Obviously, Kaline prefers the proper pronunciation of her name!

When we checked in, that same girl asked about kuh-LEEN’s shots and why she was scheduled for feline leukemia but her brother wasn’t. In fact last year Baggle didn’t get feline leukemia and Kaline did. David told her that Baggle didn’t because he’s an indoor cat, in fact they both are. They don’t interact with other cats at all. So, Kaline didn’t get feline leukemia this year because she’s an indoor cat. Feline leukemia is the shot that has always made her so sleepy and sick-quiet for a day in the past. It was nice to hear her purr right after getting home this year!

Kaline packed herself in behind Baggle in his carrier.

They called us and we brought the kids in their carriers into the exam room, putting the carriers on the table and opening the doors. Just like last year, Baggle cowered back in his carrier, not interested in getting out. Kaline stuck her head out for a sniff or two, tentatively looking around. Then she left her carrier, just like last year, and went into Baggle’s, squeezing behind him to hide in the corner! The doctor came in and pulled Baggle out first, since he was in front. I think that must have been Kaline's plan all along!

Baggle has actually lost an ounce since his last visit. He’s 17 pounds and 5 ounces instead of 6! Kudos to Science Diet light? He’s been having some littler box issues, and since he is a 13-year-old cat, or will be next month, they took blood to do full lab-work on him. We’ll get those results tomorrow. A steroid shot helped his problems last fall and they want to be sure there isn’t anything more serious than his age that effects the irritable bowels.

Kaline is up to TEN pounds! A far cry from our 16-ounce find at the truck-stop in Monroe 3-1/2 years ago! The doctor says her weight is fine and she is in good health. She took a look at the eye that gets eye-dirt more often than we were comfortable with. The eye looks good and there is no sign of irritation. She says it may just be that one eye is more sensitive than the other and it waters more. The eye-dirt is normal and not the type to raise any concerns. So, our baby will just have to live with Mommy or Daddy cleaning the corner of her eye when she gets those spots!

So, After their checkup and shots, David took Baggle’s carrier out to my car and said “goodbye” while I paid the bill and then took Kaline's carrier out. Kaline was pretty quiet on the way home, but Baggle sang enough to keep me from needing to turn on the radio! Of course, when I got the carriers in and opened the doors, out charged two cats at full speed!