Tag Archives: veterinarian visit

Post 519: a surprise at the veterinarian’s

Andy needed a refill on his blood pressure medication today, so I called ahead to have the medication prepared in tuna flavor, the original flavor I got it in. The chicken flavor I had it made with the last refill didn’t agree with Andy or he just likes tuna better. Anyway, tuna it is for my little fuzzy prince!

I arrived at the clinic before the medication was ready, so sat down next to a woman with two carriers. It was the only seat left, but it turned out to be fortuitous: The person in the other seat was Tara, the veterinarian technician who gave me Andy and Dougy!

Tara doesn’t work at the clinic now, so she hadn’t heard in months how the boys are doing.

Oops! It's "weggieboy", not "weggyboy"!

Oops! It’s “weggieboy”, not “weggyboy”!

I brought her up to date on Andy and Dougy, handed her my “business” cards, which feature the boys, and let her know she could watch videos on YouTube and read about the boys on my blog. (I just noticed today I misspelled “weggieboy” on the Dougy card.)

The surprise at the veterinarian’s? That I ran into Tara and we caught up on where the boys are? Well, that was nice, but the real surprise was in the two carriers with Tara. In one, a Birman queen who is the boy’s paternal auntie! In the other, a step sister, also a Birman queen! I’ve met the boy’s mother, and now a step sister and an aunt.

The aunt is very sweet-natured, and I see the family resemblance to this aunt in Andy more than Dougy. Andy has a rounder face, whereas Dougy’s is classic Persian, that owl-like disc face. Both boys, though, have faint, very subtle hints of their Birman father’s markings, which is similar to Siamese cats. The boys are much darker, of course, so those features show only in certain light or if you are looking for them.

I didn’t have a lot of time with the boys’ relatives, but I was enough to appreciate how beautiful and sweet-natured Birman cats can be! Watch out boys. I want one!

Post 321: Andy’s home!

Andy spent most of the day at the veterinarian’s. I went to pick him up at 4:00.

His veterinarian called me into an examination room to review the findings, showing me this two page document of test results that mostly were in the normal range, except for blood pressure (high) and platelets (low).

He explained the significance of these results, but I couldn’t focus…. The presentation looked like medieval plainchant notation, and the explanation largely passed over my head as I tried to grasp the significance of the aberrant test results.

Test results or Medieval plainchant?

Test results or Medieval plainchant?

There was no ultrasound test today, but there may need to be one down the road. I take Andy back March 17th for another blood pressure test and examination, perhaps to learn if the ultrasound’ll be needed to establish why his heart appears enlarged. At least that test is pleasant, though he’ll have to have a patch shaved in his fur to allow the test.

Andy was very ready to come home, and he was especially ready to eat like a starved kitten!

Andy was very ready to come home, and he was especially ready to eat like a starved kitten!

Best news of the day was that most of his test results were in the normal range. He is a young adult cat – two years and seven months old – so should be in relatively good shape. Still, I will need to give him a daily dose of Benazepril, a heart medication. I’ll have to look it up on the Internet to learn more about the drug.

Andy's medication can be flavored many different ways, and I decided to have it flavored like tuna fish since he likes that. Best of all, it is in liquid form.

Andy’s medication can be flavored many different ways, and I decided to have it flavored like tuna fish since he likes that. Best of all, it is in liquid form.

Even though I have full confidence in Andy’s veterinarian and faith that all things will work out, this has been a stressed out day for me. Yeah, but not so much as for Andy and Dougy, who moped around the house, looking for his brother all day.

(I suspect Dougy felt a little less happy to see Andy when Andy hogged the wet cat food when I put it out, blocking Dougy’s access to his portion!)

Best of all, though, Andy’s home! We missed the little guy.

Andy and Dougy at four months

The closer we get to Andy and Dougy’s Big 2nd Birthday on 1 July 2013, the more nostalgic I am about that stressful time when they were two sick kittens, a period that pretty much covered the first two and a half, three months I had them.

Fortunately for me, I made videos of the boys so I’d remember them as they were, and have a way to see how they’ve grown and changed. The following video is on my YouTube account, http://www.youtube.com/user/phainopepla95,
but I’ll spare you locating it among the 150+ videos there:

Gad! They were cuties! They were just starting to grow out their Persian hair. They are smoke Persians, so that new hair foretold how handsome this pair of cats were destined to be.

Maybe this video is more interesting to me than to others. I made predictions about their personalities then that are a hoot now. Andy as a “lap cat” is my favorite. It didn’t happen. Neither boy likes more than a little hold time, though they are friendly cats. Dougy as an explorer is true still, though both boys have normal cat curiosity about everything. Dougy is the camera hound still, but Andy is considerably more curious about that thing pointed at him, and he always wants to come over and sniff it.

Dougy still went by “Doogie” back then, the Scottish pronunciation of his name and mine. I’m not sure when I decided to throw caution to the wind and just call him “Dougy”. So what if people accuse me of vanity for naming my cat after myself? Dougy definitely fits the name, as does Andy his. “Douglas” and “Andrew”, their full names, not so much. He answers to “Dougy” so he isn’t confused with me. I’m the one who answers to “Doug”.

My Dad and I shared “Douglas” as first names. We had different middle names, so I wasn’t a junior, though no one ever got that straight, including family. I didn’t want my wee cat to go through that hassle, too. Before you call Dougy “Junior”, be aware his middle name, James, isn’t mine! I made sure of that!

Their big day is close now. The boys were born on Canada Day, 1 July 2011. No significance, I suppose, to that, though it is an easy date to remember!