Vet Visits

Today Bujang and Tanaka would be going to the vet for their annual vet visits. We will be seeing Dr H, who has just come back from stint in feline medicine. We were told that this was his speciality. Tanaka would be getting his vaccination and Bujang would just get the usual, maybe a blood test also since he is already 7 years old but it depends on his mood of course.

I brought Ms Akira for her annual check up. She sang _all_ the way to the vet and even grumbled while we were waiting for the vet. Then she had to be examined from underneath her towel! Dr H took it in his stride and recommended some things for her over grooming. Megat and Totoro of course will not be going as they had just seen Dr L last month.

I hope all goes well.

Vet Visit

The boys were excited to see a new carrier outside...Tanaka jumped into it almost immediately

The two boys after the visit...

Toro getting a well-deserved rest after his vet experience...

I made this appointment almost a week ago but this morning when I arrived at T, the reception asked me if I had an appointment. Shocked I told him who I spoke to and he then checked the computer. Then he told me that I had made an appointment at B and not T! Oh-Oh...

But as no one else was waiting he said I should just wait and he would register us. He also said many other people had made this mistake as the practice has clinics in quite a few places. When we were waiting, a couple came out with their dog and they started talking about Bujang as iIsaw them looking at him. "Where did you get your cat?" the man asked me. I told him that Bujang is just a street cat and has no pedigree :) He seemed surprised as he told me that he has never seen a street cat so big! Come to think of it, many people have asked me if I had brought in Bujang from overseas!

Dr H (from Pretoria) saw both Toro and Bujang for their check-ups. I was not able to schedule their annual check-up last December and so that was why we were there this morning. Bujang hissed at him and so he was very wary of Bujang. I asked him if it was possible to trim Bujang's nails but he was reluctant. He did not want to stress out Bujang even more. I totally understand why Dr H was not eager to come anywhere near those nails :)

He very quickly checked Bujang's teeth (strong and white), his eyes (very bright), his ears (very clean), his heart (beating very strong), his paws and nails (as long as his teeth) and his other vitals. He also remarked that Bujang is a very muscular for a sterilised cat. I must admit Bujang is muscular and strong although I really have no idea why he is that muscular. Maybe it was a combination of diet and all that milk and exercise he had when he was younger. Finally Dr H advised me I should try to re-condition him and offer him his fav treats and try to cut one nail a day. But I should not stress him out with the nail-cutting and should just try one at a time, not ten. He did however manage to cut one of Bujang's lethal nails at the end :)

Then it was Toro's turn. I was worried about his UTI and so after Dr H had checked all his vitals and pronounced him beautiful and healthy, he set out to feel Toro's bladder. He told me that the bladder was no swollen but he would do a urine test just to be sure to see if there are crystals or blood. He was about to use the needle when his assistant said that Toro had urinated on the exam table. Toro did not look stressed or surprised. Dr H laughed and said that it was not often that a cat would oblige so quickly. He also said that Toro urinated because he was holding onto Toro's bladder quite firmly for the needle.

After tests, I was glad to see that there is no blood in his urine and his Ph is 6.5. Dr H said that this was no cause for worry eventhough a cat's optimal Ph for urine should be between 6.1 to 6.3. There were also no crystals in his urine. This was a great relief as Dr l had told me to allow Toro to eat wet food but Toro does not like wet food at all. He prefers dry and more than that he prefers Megat's renal diet.

Dr H's parting words for us was to get Toro to eat dry food with some salmon or beef. Oh yeah! I don't think Toro would even look at that!

After that, we stopped at the pet groomer, which was a few doors down from the vet and so Toro had a good bath and clean-up :)

It was agood day at the vet's for all.

Annual vet check-ups

Tanaka had a little fever today and he had been sleeping most of the day away...

I did not expect Tanaka to have a fever after his vaccination yesterday , Tuesday ,as he had had no fevers during his last 2 vaccinations. Yesterday he took his vaccination like the mancat that he was and was awake the whole day, playing.

His check-up went fine and he has lost some weight from his 4.8 kg last year. He is now 4.4 kg. It pleased us no end although I was a little worried when he was not his usual greedy self at dinner time. The vet found nothing wrong with him at all and eventhough he does eat less, he does eat well and he plays all the time. So I guess he has just figured out how much he wants to eat. He is also not that into treats at all, preferring to play instead.

She has a bald belly and bald inner hind legs from over-grooming...

All is not well with Ms Akira who has over-groomed herself and now has a bald belly as well as bald inner hind legs. Thank goodness she has no red spots nor sores so the vet was not overly worried. I think its because she is bored sitting in her room all day, under blankets and she is rather fearful of Tanaka who takes every opportunity to examine her closely.

We had ruled out mites although she will be undergoing revolution monthly to make sure she is not itching from something. The vet also gave her Bach No 7 for Grief and Mourning, to make her calmer as Fear is not working for her at all.

I had also tried to encourage her to get out of her room in the mornings by putting all the boys in the bedroom so she could have the run of the house but she does not like to go out in the morning for fear one of the boys would run after her. She prefers running and jumping about at night when every boy cat is either in the room or in the night cage.

The vet said that there is essentially nothing we can do as the grooming would be because of stress since there is no other physical aspect and Tanaka _is_harassing her a lot. He said I could put Tanaka up for adoption so that main cause of her anxiety would be gone but I told him that I that is not an option at all. So I still have to figure out what else I can do to help her as she has a sweet nature and a very loving heart- for people, not cats.

PS. I had wanted to microchip Ms Akira but we found that she already had a micro-chip. Since I did not micro-chip her, then the SPCA must have done so as I got her from the SPCA when she was about 4 months old. She had 3 other siblings, all tri-colour. It is a great mystery. So now only Bujang does not have a micro-chip. I think I would need a much braver and stronger vet to microchip Bujang than Dr Loon :)

Annual checkups on Easy Saturday

After the vet, time to nap...

"Is Bujang in a good mood?" the vet asked. I told her that Bujang seemed relaxed this morning and he should be ok. It took some persuasion from me to get him on the vet's table and once on it, he kept still. The vet gingerly checked his ears and teeth and then we put him on the weighing scale. Oh dear. To mu surprise he got on it quietly. 7.75 kg!!! I expected Dr s to tell me about the neccessity of putting him on a diet but she didn't. In 2 years, he had put 1.75 kg from 6 kg 2 years ago.

Then it was time to trim the nails. All of us took a deep breath and the assistant held him gently. Dr S very gently told him he was a handsome boy and it would not hurt him to trim his nails. Then very quickly she did 3 nails before he growled a warning. Oh-oh! But with great dexterity, she cut the other two and then she let him take a breather. After a few seconds, she went to his other side and did the same. He growled once or twice but he did not struggle (unlike the time when Dr l had tried to trim his nails).

We all breathed a sigh of relief when all his front paws were done. i told the doc there was no need to trim his back paws. So we bundled him up and he relaxed in his carrier. :))

Ooo..I am so tired...

Dr S wanted to check Toro first as he always behaves himself at the vet and this time was no different. He was 5.63 kg. I guess that was quite ok for him although of course he should be 4 kg. She checked his ears and there was no mites. I was worrried that his ear mites problem was not solved as his left ear sometimes gets rather dirty. The doc saw that he had a little eczema on the left side of his head and gave me something for him.

Then the boys, Cousin R and I spent some time outside so they could see the streets of S but Bujang kept meowing. The people who came to see him all said 'wah..so big..". But Toro managed to win them over with his pretty blue eyes and good looks :)

I am glad it was not such a bad visit for the boys.