This morning we had a 10:00 appointment to bring our three cats into the vet. Now, each of my cats has their own personality. That's the greatest thing about cats, IMHO. Sammy is 6 years old, big and orange and fluffy, and is the boss of the house. He generally has a friendly and laid back disposition and isn't afraid of anything. He has been riding in vehicles with me since he was a kitten. I also leash trained him so into the car he goes with no hesitation and off to the vet. It isn't as easy with the other two kitties...Hailey is my little sweet and shy kitty. She is about 2 1/2 years old, about 7 pounds, and her fur is soft as velvet. She's one of the most beautiful soft cats I've ever known. She runs and hides whenever we have company and it took her a couple of months to really warm up to Todd when he moved in with me this year. But once she warms up she is a sweet kitty, and watch out! She loves to play! If she doesn't have anyone to play with she'll settle for most anything else, with shoelaces and her own tail being at the top of her list. Anyway, getting Hailey into her carrier isn't an easy thing to do, even when I tried to distract her with kitty treats. And I have a lot of experience getting cats into carriers because I worked for the SPCA in San Francisco once upon a time...
Blackie is our big black outdoor cat. He adopted Todd a couple of years ago down in Bakersfield, CA. He is very vocal, he talks all the dang time and you can't get him to shut up for anything! He has a great personality, is very affectionate, but also is a street smart cat. We brought him up to Springville back in January and he's been living a good rural country cat's life since then. Blackie doesn't get scared by much, and it's not too hard to get him into his carrier, but once he's in there he does not like it! He actually broke the carrier today trying to get out. We had to turn it upside down to prevent him from getting out the top that he broke.
Miraculously we made it to the vet's office in Porterville, about a 20 minute drive from Springville, without too much trouble. But the entire way we had three cats meowing. Sam doesn't meow unless there's another cat in the car. And his meow changes from his everyday standard meow to more of a yowl. So he's a yowling but otherwise cool and having a good time as he's looking out the windows of the car. We laugh as people in the cars passing us are staring and not believing they're seeing a cat riding in the backseat like a dog would. Meanwhile Blackie's trying to get out of his cage and he's yowling. And Hailey's scared to death and every now and then we hear a dainty frightened little high pitched "mew!" Well, I tell you, by the time we got to the vet's office I was already exhausted!
So we bring the cats in to the vet's office and Hailey and Sammy go into one room to get their booster shots. Hailey is so scared that when the vet gently takes her out of the carrier she doesn't even move. Sammy, who looks cool and collected and in control, actually isn't and he hisses at the vet but, fortunately, he isn't offended. The vet has seen worse! Meanwhile Blackie goes to the back to get tested for feline leukemia and whatever else. The vet says Blackie didn't seem concerned at all at what was happening and gladly let the vet shave a small patch of fur from his front leg and take a blood sample. He is just happy to be out of the carrier. And turns out he's healthy and he's neutered already! We figure he's about 10 years old and who knows what kind of life he lived in Bakersfield before Todd came along so both are good news.
Then it's back into the car and back home. Hailey is so shaken up that she doesn't even make a single peep on the way home, but Blackie yowls every other second and Sammy follows most of these yowls with his own. 20 minutes later, thankfully, we're home and I walk Sammy inside. Blackie gets out of his torture carrier and shakes it off goes and lies in the sun like nothing happened. Todd lets Hailey out and she runs behind the couch and we haven't seen her since. But no doubt in a little while she'll recover and start hunting shoelaces again... Meanwhile I take a nap 
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The mountains are calling and I must go. ~ John Muir ~ www.tarol.com
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