Car Cat!

[susandennis]

Julio does not mind the carrier one bit. He had a great time. Watching everything. Not a peep or a whine out of him. We had to wait a long time at the vet but he was cool with that, too. He got his shots and his rabies license and failed his leukemia test so yeah!!

And, turns out he's only 4 pounds 4 oz or really only twice as big as when I got him. I was surprised he wasn't bigger.

Since he was so not unhappy in the car or carrier, we went to the grocery and stocked up with stuff. When we got home, I unzipped the carrier and he didn't move for a while. Unlike Biggie who can't get out of it fast enough.

Finally he got out and Biggie got to work licking all the vet stink off of him. Now they are happily bird watching, as usual.



Barring any unforeseen anything, we can remain vet-less for a really long time.

While we were there, a sobbing woman rushed in with her medium sized dog in her arms. One of the front desk people rushed out to greet her and took the dog and simply asked his name. And then whisked him away. Another then steered her over to the computers to get the details. They were so swift and so kind. I couldn't understand what she was saying except she kept saying "our regular vet wouldn't take us and even the emergency vet wouldn't". All I could think of was this poor woman driving all over town with her poor dying dog. They kept telling her she'd come to the right place and the vet was already checking out her dog and then they put her into an exam room. But, it wasn't long until you could hear her sobs escalate and then they lit the candle on the front desk.



So sad. This vet drives me crazy sometimes but I think next time they do, I'll just remember how efficient and kind they were to that woman.

Also I overheard them talking about opening up on Saturdays again! They used to be open 7 days a week and then the vet shortage hit and they cut back to 5. With really long wait times. I hope they are on the way back to the old times.

This particular office (they have three), is located in Capital Hill which has less than zero parking. The vet has some reserved spots in a garage next door but today I found a teensy smart car sized spot right in front.

As I was leaving, another smart car drove up. There are so few of us left that it's a rare sighting. The driver was a woman who was waiving wildly and at first I thought was just friendly but soon I realized she wanted my parking spot which I was happy to hand over.

I got a poke bowl for lunch that was delicious. I think I'll put away the groceries, clean up the kitchen and then sit down to some TV and crochet.

Oh shit. I forgot butter. Damn.

Comments

[halfmoon_mollie1]

I took Leona to the vet once and an older woman brought her very old lahsa (Layla) in. Doc Wojak asked me to wait for a few minutes and I heard him tell the woman Layla was ill and she needed to make a decision. He said something about the circle of life and she, unfortunately,left without her companion. When Doc Wojak came in to look at Leona he had obviously been crying. I always loved him for that. (I was crying myself....)

[msconduct]

It gave me a nasty turn for a moment reading about Julio failing his leukaemia test, then I realised it was the other sort of failed. Phew! What a champ!

[luscious_purple]

I have a friend here in Maryland who loves her Smart car. She's a visiting nurse and spends a lot of time running around the metro area to administer IV drugs and fluids to patients in their homes. Obviously, "good mileage" and "easy to park" were the things she was looking for.

[susandennis]

i love my smart car so much. if something happened to it, i'd scour the country for one just like it.

[rsc]

Julio and the carrier: Sounds like our last cat. We could take the carrier out and put it in the middle of the room and she would just walk into it. She would fuss a bit after we closed it and she realized she'd been caught – again! – but she was in general a pretty good traveller.

Her predecessor, if you even thought about taking the carrier out, would disappear into the remotest under-the-bed corner she could find.

I think one factor was that Guinevere (the good traveller) had been adopted during the spring while we were frequently shuttling back and forth between Cambridge and Gloucester, so she got a lot of car travel in at an early age. Applesauce had never gone anywhere until she was about 6 years old, and then only to the vet.

[desdemonaspace]

We have that candle thing at our vet, too. Poor woman.

Julio is a miracle cat - Max exits the carrier like a cannonball, before I'm done unzipping it.

[cdayzee]

How wonderful that Julio does well in the carrier!

Ugh, that poor woman :( The story made me cry. God bless your vet for their compassion.

[mollywheezy]

The story of the woman and her dog made me cry. I'm thankful for your vet's kindness and compassion. Our vet did that too.

[christopher575]

Vet availability is a big issue these days. We had a very hard time getting Steve seen in his last few weeks, even for nice expensive stuff like imaging. Our regular vet even stopped returning calls entirely. They're no longer our vet.

[susandennis]

I know several around here have closed down totally. Our closest emergency vet hung it up a year or so ago. My vet cut way back on services but is hanging in and I'm grateful.