The Cat

The cat showed up with a wound in his side. A rather nasty one, which had the diameter of a dime and was down to the muscle. We have two cats, but only Teddy shows up with strange wounds or disgusting illnesses. He is the cat which requires more grooming, and bathing him is definitely an ordeal.

Of course, the cat would show up with a nasty wound on Saturday evening. I called the vet's emergency line, and repeatedly got a busy signal. We live in a rural area, so there are not many emergency veterinarian services in the local area. Since Teddy didn't seem ill, I decided to wait until Monday for his vet appointment.


I got him crated up (which sounds so much simpler than the actual act of shoving a cat into a carrier) and we headed to the vet. One harried mother, a four year old running amok and "zapping" everyone with his imaginary laser gun, and a two year old hanging from the exam table. Not to mention the wounded cat, who was less than pleasant. I'm pretty sure they now have a warning note next to our file: "Tell family we have no available appointments."

While the wound in Teddy's side looked impressive, the vet looked at it and told us that it was fine- we should just smear some antibiotic cream onto it for the next few days. He thew in some oral antibiotics for good measure. Because if there's anything a cat loves more than cream smearing, it's swallowing a pill. If you don't hear from us by the weekend, we've all been horribly clawed to death.

Then the vet mentioned they could do a "shave down," to rid us of Teddy's terrible mats. I agreed, even before they tried to convince me that the Lion Cut was the newest rage among cats. They could have told me that Teddy was getting the Rat Cut, and I would have said, "Go right ahead!"


I retrieved him today. He promptly thanked me for his excellent medical care by peeing all over the dining room carpet. Cats like to share the love.

Pete, in the meantime, looks suspicious. He should- his appointment is on Friday.

I'm off to buy band-aids, leather gloves, and gauze. Fourteen days of oral antibiotics for a cat that is holding a grudge... this ought to be fun.