Animal ownership comes with responsibilities (07/16/07)

Tonight I expect to have claw marks on my arms and shoulders. I expect to have lots of fluffy hair in my mouth and wafting around my head. I expect to hear pitiful cries as I keep my hands firmly clutched to the mass of calico that absolutely despises her annual trip to the vet. My husband has the easy job. He drives and opens and closes doors, all the while telling the cat how mean I am for taking her out of her nice safe, non-moving house. He makes it sound like it was all my idea. He forgets to mention that he was the one who made the appointment.

None of our cats has enjoyed their trip to the vet's but Gracie may be the worst. Our last cat, Igor, loved sacks and we would just toss him into a bag and he was as happy as could be. He did occasionally demand to drive but overall he liked car trips. Our original cat, Sneaky, only required one of us to take her. She would explore the car while we drove and towards the end took up prodigious shedding anytime we put her in the car.

Not Gracie. She whines. She meows. She worries. She hides. Then she starts all over again. About half way there we give up trying to reassure her and just ignore her distress.

She is a friendly soul even if she is a scaredy cat. She is curious about the other felines wandering around the waiting room and seems surprised if they hiss at her. She would touch noses with any dogs that happen to be around but their owners seldom allow such overtures. She hides her face when they reject her advances.

I think we should get her a kitten to play with but I have been outvoted. Besides, if we got her a kitten she would have to share her precious snowman and her gasket.

You read that right. She has found a rubber gasket and has decided it belongs to her. Nevermind that she has literally dozens of toys. The gasket is the current favorite as it can be thrown and will roll. The other toys sit in a heap of neglect. I think part of the charm is that she knows it isn't a traditional cat toy. We think she opened a bag of plumbing supplies and removed the gasket before hiding the bag under some newspapers. If we could get her to do some actual plumbing that would be a plus.

We aren't taking her away from her gasket because there is something wrong with her. We are just taking her for a checkup and her annual shots. I firmly believe that animal ownership comes with the responsibility to take care of them to the best of our abilities even if they won't let us sleep late. Gracie has taken to patting my face if I oversleep and if I still won't get up she attacks my feet with teeth and claws.

She also tears through the house, skidding around corners and crashing into things, then comes to an abrupt stop as if to say, "What?" She continues to live up to her name by almost falling off the bed as she bathes and by posing on the newel post at the foot of the stairs. She turns somersaults and sometimes stalks through the house muttering to herself.

If it is like every other year I will have to make at least one quick grab for her to prevent her from attacking the vet. She doesn't like to be manhandled and prodded. Hissing and biting are the only way she knows to let her feelings be known. I tell her it is bad form to bite people but she doesn't believe me.

After today she will probably sulk for a couple days while protecting her gasket from her humans. I will give her a small can of cat food in attempt to appease her and she will cover the kitchen floor with gravy and bits of whatever is in those cans. It doesn't look like any food I recognize.

It is a small price to pay for the entertainment value she provides. The scratches she inflicts will heal and I know she will be set for another year because we have taken the time to make sure her life is as safe as we can make it.[[In-content Ad]]