1:15 p.m. - 2003-05-28
Burroughs lost five pounds!!
I had an eventful morning. Actually, the correct word would be "exhausting". I took Burroughs and Zesto to the vet for their yearly checkups, which they are both about four months overdue for.
It was exhausting physically because they are both, shall we say, healthy cats and just hauling them in and out of the car is a feat for Arnold SchwarteneIcan'tspellit. Then, after getting them into the exam room, it becomes mentally exhausting because Burroughs is so huge and Zesto is so crazy, and even though I love our cat vet, she invariably gives us this very pleading little lecture about Burroughs weight and Zesto's deafness/craziness/special-needs-because-he-is-just-insane-ness.
Today, though, on the Burroughs front, we had a happy surprise.
The vet tech weighed him, and then said "This can't be right." She weighed him again. "Wow, I guess this is right! He's lost five pounds!"
"No way, the scale must be wrong." I'm a pessimist, and Burroughs is huge. We weighed him again. Sure enough, 15 pounds. Down from 20. Huzzah!! Hooray for Burroughs! Hooray for Weight Control Formula!
Being the ladies man that he is, Burr purred and drooled and meowled his way through the rest of the visit. He was purring so hard that we had to hold his nose closed so he'd stop while Dr. J. listened to his heart. And then a couple of the other vet techs came in to see his fabulous weight loss success story.
So Burr had a happy day. He has been feeling slightly lighter lately.
Zesto, on the other hand, was gearing himself up for a terrorist attack. All through Burroughs visit we could hear him growling and swatting at the sides of his carrier. By the time we got to him it had reached a scary sort of zenith. The carrier was rocking back and forth as though it contained a Tazmanian Devil.
"Do you want me to take him home and bring him back some other time, maybe with a heavy dose of tranquilizers?" I asked. "Or do you just want to get out the tranquilizer dart gun?"
Dr. J. looked nervous. I could tell the thought of doing any sort of exam at any time on this howling, psycho cat was just thrilling the pants off her. "Um. I think we could just give him a whiff of gas. It'll just take a minute, and then we should able to take a look at him. Maybe. I think." Her vet tech very gingerly took the carrier. It was emitting hissing and yowling noises worthy of a Stephen King movie.
Twenty minutes later, Zesto emerged, looking quite pleasant. Evidently he enjoyed the happy gas. They had even been able to put in the microchip I'd requested, so if he gets lost a shelter could scan him and contact us.
I think it's hilarious how this microchip technology works. Evidently, the animal gets a bar code, just like a package of food at the grocery store. And that bar code can be scanned with the same technology they use at the checkout counter!
Yup, Zesto now has something in common with a package of Froot Loops!
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