Adventures of Jolee Bindo & the Cat Pedicure
So apparently someday I am going to be the type of parent who freaks out over minor disasters and runs up huge medical bills, if my cat is any indication. I was sitting at the computer yesterday morning, when I heard a strange sort of low meow. It didn't sound like Jolee's voice, so I thought it was a cat in the alley. Come to find out Jolee is limping around, holding one paw up off the floor. I have no idea what he did to hurt his paw, and he swats me with the other paw when I try to look at it. So I resolved to wait until Mike got home from the gym and see if he was still limping.
He was, so I thought I'd better take him to the vet in case he hurt himself, though lord knows how he contrived to injure his foot when he is an indoor cat. I didn't want to be this horrible person who hears their pet injure himself and then have the vet be closed the next day because it was Sunday and then go in on Monday and have the vet think I am a horrible pet owner because my cat obviously has broken his foot in some bizarre and unexpected way and I let him suffer for two days... So. The instant I put the cat carrier down on the floor, Jolee freaks out and morphs into this flying ball of claws. He raked both of our hands, and clumps of white fur were drifting on the air. Finally I managed to scoop him up in a towel and drop him into the cardboard box he came in back in February (advantage of the cardboard box being that it is top-loading and the carrier is not). He proceeded to yowl in an unearthly fashion as we drove to the vet.
The vet lifts him out of the box and puts him on the table. Jolee's eyes at this point are the size of round blue saucers. He refused to limp. The vet let him jump off the table to observe how he landed. The damn cat is fine. He takes a look at his paws and says it looks like he stepped in something sticky at some point. Also, the claws on his extra Hemingway toes were way too long and turned in toward his other toes. I knew this, but I hadn't really figured out how I was going to attempt to hold him down and clip his toenails. I have never had a cat who required special toe grooming. They told us to wait while they took him in the back to cut his nails and shave the clumps of fur from between his pads. We heard the hum of various grooming tools, but fortunately no sounds indicating a cat attack. They brought him back into the room, where he proceeded to knock over a row of veterinary supplies on his way onto the windowsill. There he sat regarding us suspiciously and contrarily.
I will say that after his rather expensive pedicure (I spent $80 on a pedicure FOR MY CAT-- how depressing), he is very purry and willing to dispense love. Purr! Purr! Love! Love! I thought it would take him longer to get over being angry. But no. It appears he really thought I was putting him in a box to take him away. Once he got back home and realized I wasn't, it was love love love from there on out.
I suppose I will have to maintain his pedicure, because it seems he might have hurt himself by landing in a way that caused one of his extra nails to pinch him uncomfortably, and that was why he was limping. And the vet clearly thought his feet were unkempt. I do not want my cat to have icky feet, after all. Also, Jolee has been determined to be three or four, most likely.
Cannot believe the damn cat was limping pitifully around the apartment on one leg, though. Faker.
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