— पांच हजार एक सौ चौबीस —
Evidently the last time we took the cats to the vet was April 7, 2019. Nearly three years ago. The time it took would have been two years, as we had an appointment booked for April 5, 2020—but, that was literally four weeks into the initial COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and it had to be canceled, without any means to reschedule until further notice.
We could have taken the cats in last year, but Shobhit and I both felt strongly that we didn't want to traumatize the cats even further by not being able to go inside with them, and for some time after the clinic finally reopened, they had a policy where they just took the pet inside without letting people in. A big part of this was the veterinarian who runs the clinic, who is apparently immunocompromised. I finally double checked last month, though, and their policy had apparently changed: they merely required proof of vaccination and the wearing of masks, both of which have now long been required basically any public place anyway.
So, here are the takeaways from yesterday's 5 p.m. veterinarian appointment for both Shanti and Guru. Apparently cats are considered "senior" once they turn
eight. For Shanti and Guru, that was six years ago! Now, Dr. Castor tells us, they are considered "geriatric." Jesus! I know they're about to turn 14 (on March 1), but damn.
Heeey, wait a minute! Apparently
the American Association of Feline Practitioners regards "geriatric" cats to be 15 or older. They have another year! I'm going with that. I'm sure Shanti and Guru are relieved.
Anyway. Let's go over them in turn. First, Guru, the one both Shobhit and I assume will not last as long as Shanti: I need to pick up some Miralax from a drug store (note to self: do not confuse with Mucinex). Putting a small amount in his food should help ease his recent constipation issues. It does not sound, however, like we have any real tools to combat his persistent vomiting. Not that won't cost a fortune, anyway, and neither Shobhit or I want to spend a fortune, especially when we are already told the probability of such tests yielding anything concrete is low. That said, with an enlarged thyroid and some apparent hypertension, we did go ahead and have blood work done. That was by far the most expensive charge for the appointment, at $150. We should hear back on that in about a week. Guru is also slightly less in weight than he was three years ago, but evidently not enough for the vet to be much concerned about it.
We did have Dr. Castor express Shanti's anal glands again. This was pretty nasty, as it was a lot like popping a pimple, except instead of squirting out pus, little shoots of poop shot out. A rather memorable moment was when Dr. Castor compared it to popping bubble wrap so in a way it was sort of satisfying. That was sort of bonkers and also cracked me up. She charged us $35 for that. I'm not even sure that was as much as she
should have charged. But then, maybe the bubble wrap comparison makes up for it. Dr. Castor shaved some of the fur off from around Shanti's butt, and she didn't even charge us for that. Also, Shanti has lost a pound and a half, so Alexia's recent observation that Shanti has lost some weight proved accurate. The only other thing was a small bump on Shanti's head, right by her left ear, which has been there for a good year or more. Dr. Castor checked it out and said 99% of the time something like that is benign, and we should only be concerned if we see any sudden and rapid changes to it. Well, so far so good, I guess.
The only other charges were $69 for one exam and $55 for "additional cat" exam. The total came to $309, which was significantly lower than either Shobhit or I expected. Shobhit was so glad to see the place survive the pandemic ("Barely," said their receptionist), and so taken aback by how "economical" the charges total was, he rather surprised me by wondering out loud if some kind of donation could be made to help them out. I don't see anything of that sort on their website, but I may look more into it.
Beyond that, the cats and their stress from just having to go somewhere took a new turn: when the two of them are together inside the carrier, Guru tries to bury himself into any corner he can find, which means basically trying to burrow himself under Shanti. Shanti did not like this and became very hissy and hostile with him. In fact, she kept growling for a while even after we got them back home, which was unusual and odd for her. After a few hours she seemed to be back to her old self again. Guru, for his part, even tried to burrow into Dr. Castor's crossed legs, which I
took a photo of for my requisite checkin on social media.
The cats both came to bed with me when I went to bed last night, perhaps feeling more need for reassurance than usual. Today they are the same as ever.
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Once Shobhit and I got the cats back home, we took a brief walk over to Trader Joe's for just a few supplies for dinner. We then made burgers for dinner, only not with traditional veggie patties, and instead with fried potato patties Shobhit made. They actually turned out quite tasty. Shobhit is now burning through some of his SAG screeners for voting in the SAG Awards, and I went ahead and watched
The Power of the Dog with him, my second viewing being particularly illuminating. How did I not even consider in my first viewing that Pete killed Phil deliberately? Once that occurred to me, it seemed more and more obvious. When I watched the first time, I thought it was accidental. I don’t think so anymore. I actually like the movie even more after second viewing.
That took up the rest of my evening though, so there's little else for me to report on today. Except that I plan to return to the office tomorrow, spend Scott's last day at PCC there with him, and then go to a "goodbye dinner" after work with just him, Noah and Tracy.
Right now though, shortly I will be having this year's annual review with Eric. I guess I'll have to report on that tomorrow. Ditto the "Scott's virtual sendoff" happening over Microsoft Teams at 4:00.
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[posted 12:28 pm]
