Tuesday morning I called the vet and made an appointment to bring in the kitten to get checked over, and they told me to bring it in Thursday morning. That gave us a couple more days to get it used to us and a little calmer.
Every day it seemed the little thing picked up more and more habits from our other two cats, with some comical results! For one thing, this little kitty's legs were so short, he had to take 2 or 3 steps for one of theirs, and it was laughable seeing it try to keep up with them! Also, every toy that we had was dragged out and played with, and with a very fierce intensity. It provided us with quite a few chuckles.
We did notice that it walked a little funny sometimes, like it had a bit of trouble keeping its balance, but didn't know if that was from it being so young and still growing into its legs, or something else. I added that to my list of things to ask the Vet.
Thursday morning, it was NOT easy getting the little thing into the carrier. It totally panicked on me! But I finally succeeded and we headed to the Vet's office. All the way there, the kitten was traumatized, and not reacting well. Mr. Dizzy and I both feel it was bringing back bad memories for it; probably the last time it had been in a carrier, it was dumped and left for dead! That was NOT a fun drive to the Vet, but we finally got there and I hauled the carrier inside, hoping being out of the car would calm the kitten down.
It didn't.
The whole time we were sitting in the waiting room, it was frantic. I was honestly afraid it was going to hurt itself trying to get out of the carrier. They finally got me into a room, and the first thing we did was open the carrier and let it out. I immediately picked the kitten up and cradled him up next to my chest, with his head right under my chin. It was shaking with fright, but I kept talking softly and petting it, and eventually the kitten calmed down.
By the time the Vet came in the room, things were going much better. But, when I tried to pry the kitten loose so the Vet could check it over, kitty decided to hang on for dear life, and it took both of us to pry him off me! But, we finally succeeded, and the Vet started his checkup.
First thing I found out is that the kitten was a Dude, not a Dudette. So, finally we knew for sure! The Vet took the kitten into another room to check him completely over - - ear mites, fleas, ringworm, worms, everything. I waited in the examining room while they did their work. Periodically the Vet or one of his assistants would come in and give me a report - - yes, he had fleas and worms, but no ringworm, and the balance problem was probably caused by the fact that both of his ears were totally filled with ear mites! They gave him a worm treatment, and treated him for fleas and the ear mites, and decided to leave it at that for that day.
At least I knew he was a "He", and was healthy, and we would see if the ear mites were the cause of his balance issues. Anything else would have to wait for another day; I was not going to traumatize him any further for the moment.
He didn't fight the carrier as much when we were ready to leave, and was a bit calmer on the way home. When we got back to the house, I let him out, and he seemed so happy to be back, his whole body started quivering! I petted him a bit longer and talked with him, and then he started playing with the toys. When I left to go to work, he was back to being his happy little self.
Now that we knew he was healthy, it was time to find the Lil Dude a home.....Heaven knows we don't need a third cat!
To be continued.....
No comments:
Post a Comment