Out of Sorts

Today didn't quite go as planned for any humans OR cats in this household.

We started the day off with a trip to the vet for Lilo's yearly check-up.  All was going just fine until it came time to stuff force get Lilo into the pet carrier for transport to the doctor.  First, I had to coax her out from under the bed with a plate of EARLY tuna (this was 9:30 AM... they get tuna at 7:00 PM).  Once she came out from under the bed, I scooped her up and carried her downstairs to the carrier that was waiting on the floor in the living room.  Oooh, she got one sniff of that carrier and said, I AIN'T HAVIN' NONE O' DAT, WOMAN!!!  I knew I couldn't let her go, else I'd spend the next hour trying to get her and get her into the carrier.  She was hissing and mewling and getting worked up into a tizzy.  Smokey started getting into the mix as well, which isn't a desired effect, to say the least.

I held Lilo tight and stopped trying to stuff her into the carrier.  I spoke gently to her and told her that I wouldn't hurt her or make her do anything that would hurt her.  Eventually, she (reluctantly) went in the carrier and I slammed carefully shut the door behind her.  Poor kitteh!

We made it to the vet's with 5 min. to spare and got into an exam room fairly quickly.  The vet tech and I gently removed Lilo from the (now) sanctuary of her carrier so she could be weighed and inspected.  All Lilo wanted to do was "hide" -- which was basically her leaning up against my abdomen and tucking her head down between my body and my arm.  Just like a kid, if she can't see you, you can't see her.  Anyway, the only thing she got stuck with was a body temp thermometer up the kitty arse, as she got her rabies and HCP 3-year vaccines last year, so it could have definitely been worse for The Lilos.

Moving forward, both cats were a little on edge for a while after I got Lilo back home.  It wasn't until about an hour after we'd been home that I realized the fatal mistake I had made:  I used the same carrier that was used to transport Putt Putt to his new home.  That would explain why Lilo wanted NOTHING to do with going into that carrier (she usually doesn't fight it that much) -- it smelled like him, like Putt Putt (of whom both Lilo and Smokey were terrified), and why Smokey was acting funny towards Lilo (she had remnant scents of him, of Putt Putt on her from being in the same carrier as he was).  All I thought was FUCK.  Well, ain't hindsight 20/20, eh?

So, fast-forward to when Jon and I got home from our anniversary dinner (number two, thankyouverymuch).  We made a pit-stop at PetsMart and ended up buying what we call a "bra" for the cats -- basically, a harness and a leash.  Jon thought it would be fun to walk them around the yard.  Let's just say that Lilo wasn't having it at all.  She felt uber vulnerable in it, and Smokey knew it (for the second time today), and they had quite the kitteh scramble until Jon could separate them and throw Smokey in the laundry room and close the door.  A short while later, they seemed to be getting along just fine.

And then?  They weren't.  I don't get it.  I even sprayed the "good pheromone" spray that is supposed to calm them and let them know that things are OK and good.  Right now, I have one small, gray cat that is being very vigilent and sort of bullish and I have one tiger cat appliance on my counter top.  Grrrreeeeaaaat.

And it all could have been avoided had I used the correct carrier.  MOTHERBEACH!!!!  (That would be a reference to the movie, Bad Boys, where a shop owner tells Will Smith and Martin Lawrence to "Freeeeeze MOTHER BEACHES!!!"  As in "mother bitch" -- he confuggled mother fucker with son of a bitch.)

For now, we're walking on egg shells (from cage-free chickens, thanks) with the kittehs.

Anywho, moving right along.... today, mom brought Subway sammiches for lunch and spent a few hours hanging out with me while I waited for the glass people to come replace my windshield.  They were scheduled to be here between noon and 5 PM today.  Mom left around 2:30 or 3:00 and they still hadn't arrived.  I finally decided to call Progressive around 4:15 PM to check on things... and found that the appointment never went through into the system, so the glass company didn't know they were supposed to come visit me.  FUCK.  The claims guy I spoke with on Sunday night was having technical difficulties with his computer / system, but he never suggested that I call on Monday to verify that the appointment was valid.  FUCK.  Today's claims guy got me a reference number from the glass company, meaning that an appointment for me is, indeed, scheduled for Wednesday morning, between 8:00 AM and noon.  Oh, boy, that narrows things down a bit, doesn't it???  So, hopefully, I'll have a new windshield by this time on Wednesday.  Oy.

So, here's to hoping that Wednesday is a better day in the kitteh department and the windshield department.