It’s hard to be an indoor catMarch 8th, 2006 @ 12:00 pm
It’s hard work to be a responsible pet owner. Especially when it’s time for your pet to go to the groomers, a groomer who blacklisted him around town.
Our furry, orange Persian cat. Who’s a little bit mean and won’t let us comb him. Oh, he’ll let us bathe him. He likes the water. But don’t even try to comb him out after the bath. Because he will cut you.
Today was “spa day” for little Preston. We like to try aversion therapy with him by calling it something other than what it really is. That doesn’t really work, but we keep trying. It was The King’s turn to take him in today. Since The King has more of a tender heart then I do, I’m the one that has to actually stuff Preston into his cat carrier. There is usually a plan to this. The King gets the carrier while I find Preston and talk to him in my inside voice, so as to keep him calm. This morning there was a slip up in our usual plan.
The King got the carrier out of hiding before I was able to pick up Preston. He automatically booked it under the bed. That’s when The King told me I’d have to pull him out from under, because he just “couldn’t do it”. Yeah well at this late in the game, I physically can’t. Nope. There will be no bending down and reaching under the bed for this pregnant lady.
Preston was retrieved by The King and handed off to me. He had his claws out and really didn’t want me to hold him. No matter how lovely of a tone I used when I spoke to him. And you can forget about going into the carrier nicely. No, I had to stuff the poor guy in it. Once I got him stuffed into it, he pushed his squished Persian face up against the front of the carrier and looked at me with his huge cat eyes. And I cried. Me. The one with the cold heart.
I told them they had to just leave. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I closed the door behind them and went back to eating my breakfast. Trying not to think about how I’m going to have to take my baby in for shots in a few months. That’s when I heard a faint knock on the door.
It was The King. He’d forgotten his bag for work. He left Preston in the hall and ran inside to get it. Which I’m sure freaked Preston out even more. You can’t just leave him in the hall (but you really can’t bring him back in either. That would just confuse the poor guy.).
I sent them on their way, again, and started getting ready for work. I called The King once I got to work to make sure Preston had survived. He said he did fine. Except for the heavy breathing. (See, our cat doesn’t purr, or make noises. He just breaths heavy and snores. It’s very odd.)
We haven’t heard from the groomer yet today. That’s a good sign. It means they were able to do their work. Phew. Because the cat, he needed his belly shaved in the worse way. Now just a few more hours before he’s home again.
Poor guy. It’s hard to be him.
The cat
girl from florida
said,
March 8, 2006 at 3:08 pm
AWWW! Poor Preston. My cat’s a Siamese and she grunts and snores too. But I think that’s mainly a persian thing (because they have no extended nasal canals). Hopefully he was a precious little doll for the groomer
Ashley
said,
March 8, 2006 at 3:39 pm
Poor Preston. Hope he makes it through.
Nap Queen
said,
March 8, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Poor guy!!! Funny though, my husband had to get one of our cats into the carrier to go to the vet today (she’s like preston and will RUN if she hears the carrier). She ended up having a bladder infection and only weighed 8.2 pounds
Nap Queen
said,
March 8, 2006 at 8:08 pm
I posted the elmo picture
Mrs. Ca
said,
March 9, 2006 at 5:42 am
My cat would do the thing where she’d spread out her legs so we couldn’t fit her through the door of the carrier. So we tried taking the top off instead, but she figured us out pretty quick. She’d then spread her legs out wide so she’d catch on one edge and we couldn’t put the lid on. It was too cute.
janet
said,
March 9, 2006 at 7:59 am
please please just tell me you didn’t take him to the same groomer where they shaved my sister’s persian (i blogged about it a few weeks ago) without permission! I’d like to think there are enough groomers in the greater Seattle area that you could avoid the evil place that did that…
Avorie
said,
March 9, 2006 at 8:19 am
Poor darling! It’s bad enough to be blacklisted, but getting to the groomer is half of the horror of getting your hair cut!
My cat is strange. He loves his carrier and begs for me to get it down so he can spend “quality time” in it (ie. naping). He’s not so keen on car rides though.
Lori
said,
March 9, 2006 at 9:23 am
Poor baby. I’m sure he’ll survive. It’s hard to watch your pets suffer, though, even just emotionally.
We keep our cats’ carriers out on the floor of our basement and open at all times, so as to avoid the “freakout” when it comes time to take them to the vet. In fact, they sometimes sleep inside their carriers.
PS - I’ve said it before here, but you are just the cutest pregnant lady ever!!
Megan
said,
March 9, 2006 at 9:57 am
Aww, poor kitty. I haven’t had my cat long enough to even take her to the vet, so I don’t know how she’ll react to being put it in a carrier, but I know if she doesn’t like it, *I* will end up crying.
That said, this is the cat that sits there quietly and purrs when I’m cutting her nails. Maybe she’ll like the carrier, too.
Hilary
said,
March 9, 2006 at 11:44 am
Yup, there they are. Your friendly neighborhood pregnancy hormones.
K.
said,
March 10, 2006 at 5:13 am
Taking your kid to get his shots will be the first time your heart truly breaks.
Lisa
said,
March 10, 2006 at 8:06 am
Poor Preston. (That’s a really cute name for a cat.) I hope today was a better day for him