Mighty Quinn

Today was vet day for poor Quinn. Or perhaps I should say Quinn day for the poor vet’s office.

As you may remember, Quinn is a rescued street cat. He’s very thick furred, velveteen grey and gorgeous. At home, he’s a love. He hangs out with me all the time, snuggling up against me, nudging to be petted, purring constantly. He’s also my official greeter. No one could possibly be coming in to my house for any reason other than to visit Quinn. The only thing is all of this must be on his terms as he hates being picked up or confined in any way.

You can imagine that one tiny quirk makes going in for a check up an, um, interesting experience. Last time I took him, I gave him a mild tranquilizer at home so he’d be nice and mellow for the wonderful people at the vet’s. Hahaha! Didn’t quite work out as planned. His adrenaline kicked in and he went ballistic. Eighteen pounds of claws and teeth, all swiping at once. They wrapped him in a heavy blanket and were wearing thick, leather gloves and he still did some damage in the time it took to give him one shot. This earned him a notation in his chart. “Gets violent.”

So this year the plan was to take him in and let them knock him out after he got there. My part was easy. He’s very curious so all I had to do was fold up a towel and stuff it in the carrier. He went right in after it to investigate and I latched the door. When I dropped him off I asked him not to hurt any of the nice people who were merely ensuring his health and well-being. I suspect getting him out was a challenge but everyone there seemed to be intact when I went back to get him so I guess it wasn’t too terrible for anyone involved.

On a side note, I said hello to the kitty who visited during Hurricane Irene. She’s very, very pregnant but still just as sweet as can be. If anyone is interesting in adopting her or one of her kittens, please contact me.