Ouch!

I wheeled the cats over to the Vet for their annual vaccination and general health check.  Hah!!

Parsifal hissed and growled all the time and especially when he was having his teeth checked.  Unfortunately he has some tartar build-up and gingivitis again so he is going to need his teeth scaled and, if necessary, removed.  Wisely, the vet decided not to attempt to take his temperature.

Poppy was altogether more difficult.  She started out yowling, hissing and growling before I had even taken her out of the kitty carriage and it got worse from there.  I had to muzzle her (luckily I had thought that the muzzle might be needed and took it along with us) before she could even be weighed and even with the muzzle I had to hold her by the scruff while she had her vaccinations and had her teeth checked.  She has a mild build up of tartar and very mild gingivitis but it is inevitable that she will need to have her teeth attended to at some time in the future so they are both going in together with a late admission so that they will not have to wait around for too long.

As they need to be fasted from 8.00pm the evening beforehand I am going to have two hungry, angry cats to deal with.  I will turn on the happy juice and hope that it will settle them a bit but I can see that every visit is going to be worse than the last one so not a good time will be had by anyone.

The Clinic is being taken over at the end of this month and the nurse suggested that I wait until after 29th February before I book them in to have their teeth done.  I just hope that the new lot are good or I will have to return to the Cottesloe Animal Hospital and either buy a new car or take them in an 'animal friendly' taxi.

They didn't used to be like this in the olden days when Parsifal's pica was at its height although he had to be sedated for his untrasounds.  Poppy has never had anything so traumatic to set her off.  Oh, well ...