“No offense, Scout”

Scout cashed in on the Norris Family Medical Plan today with a trip to the Waverly Animal Clinic. On the way, he yowled and howled. Candy usually has a few choice words for us when a car trip is in the making but she was sanguine. The senior cat. She offered an occasional, mild, “Meow,” as we proceeded through construction traffic. That was all.

Candy was being checked for her hyperthyroid condition. Three weeks ago she started on transdermal medication after pilling her was a failure. The first two days it was a struggle but she swallowed the pills. The third day she hid in her guaranteed safe spot. On the fourth day we got ahold of her again. It was a two-against-one fight. Hubby and I lost. In any case, the transdermal meds have been going well… up until yesterday when she started refusing them. We think she’s just jelly and we’re hoping it blows over. We’ll give her a little space until things settle down around here.

Scout’s exam was next. He weighed in at a whopping 1.6 pounds. During his physical, the vet checked to make sure all his parts were present and accounted for. “His testicals are really small. Just trying to make sure he really has two of them. No offense, Scout,” she said.

It’s been four days and we were hoping to introduce the cats tonight but an afternoon call back from the vet put the brakes on that. On top of a mild eye infection, Scout has a double dose of parasites: both roundworm and giardia. They’re contagious to other cats as well as people. He’ll need thrice-medication dosing at irregular intervals for the next seven days and he won’t have a clean bill of health for three weeks. After that we can either bleach his litter box twice over (oh, sign me up!) or just toss it. You can guess which way we’re going.

On the bright side, Scout does seem to have learned that playing happens on the floor but extended petting happens on the bed, where I can sit or lay comfortably and still reach him. We spent a lovely hour after work just snuggling.