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Sneezy
I took Chumley to the vet yesterday, as I'd noticed he'd been sneezing a lot. Not lethargic, or off his feed or less than his usual cheerful-to-the-point-of-mania disposition, but definitely sneezing often enough that I was noticing it in the morning -- especially when he'd jump on my desk, let me pet him and then sneeze all over my hand.
Cats don't know about putting their paws over their noses. But I digress.
So to the vet we went. It's been a while since I've taken him out of the house, and he seemed very distressed about the carrier -- he definitely didn't know that I was going to pop him in it, so that took him by surprise. He's a fast mover when he puts his mind to it, so you don't want to be running after if you can help it. He protested loudly every time I moved the carrier. We got him from a shelter, so I start anthropomorphizing and imagine that he's worried I'm returning him to Kitty Auschwitz. Actually, I swing from that to laughing at him and then back again. I'm not going to be able to make him understand that it's necessary to visit the vet no matter if it distresses him, poor guy.
Unlike other cats I've had, Chumley kept his back turned to the door of the carrier, refusing to look out. I would usually be able to at least stick my fingers in the little holds and offer some comfort that way, but I was steadfastly refused.
When I got him into the vet's examining room, he then refused to come out of the carrier. He has lots of extra toes, so he actually clung to the inside it -- the poor vet had to tug on him while I tugged at the carrier from the outside to get him out. And then he tried to slither off the examining table.
The vet is pretty thorough, and so she gave him the once-over, with particular attention to the head -- including occluding one of his nostrils so she could listen to him breathe through the other, and stroking his throat to see if she could make him cough, and so on, listening to his heart, taking his temperature, all that vet stuff which is the heart of diagnostic medicine.
The upshot of it was... he's probably allergic. There's an outside chance that it might be a sinus infection, but those would usually have a lot more discharge and involvement of the eyes -- also they tend to be one-sided.
Needless to say, Chumley did not once sneeze while he was at the vet's, or in the car, or in the carrier. He waited until I brought him back into the house and let him out. And then he sneezed eight times within like three minutes.
A friend points out that it would really be ironic if it turns out that he's allergic to cats....
Cats don't know about putting their paws over their noses. But I digress.
So to the vet we went. It's been a while since I've taken him out of the house, and he seemed very distressed about the carrier -- he definitely didn't know that I was going to pop him in it, so that took him by surprise. He's a fast mover when he puts his mind to it, so you don't want to be running after if you can help it. He protested loudly every time I moved the carrier. We got him from a shelter, so I start anthropomorphizing and imagine that he's worried I'm returning him to Kitty Auschwitz. Actually, I swing from that to laughing at him and then back again. I'm not going to be able to make him understand that it's necessary to visit the vet no matter if it distresses him, poor guy.
Unlike other cats I've had, Chumley kept his back turned to the door of the carrier, refusing to look out. I would usually be able to at least stick my fingers in the little holds and offer some comfort that way, but I was steadfastly refused.
When I got him into the vet's examining room, he then refused to come out of the carrier. He has lots of extra toes, so he actually clung to the inside it -- the poor vet had to tug on him while I tugged at the carrier from the outside to get him out. And then he tried to slither off the examining table.
The vet is pretty thorough, and so she gave him the once-over, with particular attention to the head -- including occluding one of his nostrils so she could listen to him breathe through the other, and stroking his throat to see if she could make him cough, and so on, listening to his heart, taking his temperature, all that vet stuff which is the heart of diagnostic medicine.
The upshot of it was... he's probably allergic. There's an outside chance that it might be a sinus infection, but those would usually have a lot more discharge and involvement of the eyes -- also they tend to be one-sided.
Needless to say, Chumley did not once sneeze while he was at the vet's, or in the car, or in the carrier. He waited until I brought him back into the house and let him out. And then he sneezed eight times within like three minutes.
A friend points out that it would really be ironic if it turns out that he's allergic to cats....
no subject
When I used to take my dog (who weighed all of forty pounds, soaking wet) to the vet, the vet had to muzzle him, and I had to hold him down on the examination table by laying my chest on top of him and putting most of my weight (at the time about 225) on him. He hated it.