Vet visits

you can imagine how the alley cat feels about that...

Last Saturday, Marv and I took a trip to the vet. He’s had a chronic gum issue for years now, kept at bay by regular teeth cleaning, antibiotics, and the occasional tooth removal once they get loose enough. With his teeth nearly all gone now, we can go longer between visits, and it mostly doesn’t bother his eating, but when it does flare up we have to go in for another round of treatment.

As you can imagine, the alley cat was not best pleased with this way of spending a Saturday.

**

When I picked him up in the evening he was still coming out of the anesthesia, pupils wide and black, eyes like little saucers.

“Bring him back tomorrow for another shot of antibiotics,” said the vet as I settled my bill.

“Does that mean I don’t need to give him medicine at home?”

“Yes,” was the reply.

I’d hoped to not have to make another trip back, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Just one more trip for a shot, compared to the usual procedure following a visit for mouth treatment: two different medicines that I have to give him, morning and evening, for a week. By day two Marv’s figured it out and taken to hiding in the hardest-to-access nooks under my bed to avoid it all.

On our return visit the following day, the vet once again said “I’d like to see him again, can you bring him in tomorrow?” and I realized that we were still doing a multi-day course, just in shot form. So this week has been punctuated by vet visits, but it’s been worth it. The second day I found that Pathao taxis were happy to wait at the vet’s for the same fare again to take us home, and it became a smooth, quick trip. Sometimes I let Marv poke his head out of the top of the carrier (with a firm grip on the rest of him) and watch the passing sounds and smells from the back of the taxi. He cranes his neck up and seems to enjoy observing; it is certainly better than a yowling cat in traffic.

Marv had his last dose of medicine today, and can now get back to more efficiently engaging in one of his favourite pastimes: eating. Also sitting in front of a cozy heater. Nights are chilly! He will also have better breath, which is important if you are the housemate of a cat as affectionate as Marv.