The Joy That is Leo

We took Leo to the vet last night, and bad, good, great and wonderful things happened. It was a very relieving, yet worrisome visit.



I made an appointment with my very favorite vet, Dr. T, and was anxious to find out how he was doing after one week with me. I was also really worried, Leo's been coughing and doing this air-gasp thing so I was hoping and praying it wasn't anything serious, but as a pet lover with a past, was absolutely certain it meant he was dying.

So we test and shoot him before we leave, and pulled out the cat carrier. Leo took one look and walked away as quickly as he could hobble, Niko climbed in it and Roxanne decided to nap on it. This is a common practice in our household. If there is a box shaped object, Niko must be in it, and Roxanne is always aiming to be on top. (She is a bit of a tramp.)

We evicted Niko and Roxie from their new toy and tried to coax Leo into the carrier. No go. I tried to direct him into the carrier using my hands. No go. I picked him up and tried to place him in the carrier. His panic was pretty clear - he's terrified of the carrier. So we got a harness with a leash and carried him to the car. He was happy as a clam in the backseat - until I hit a pothole and woke him up. The further I drove, the more I worried. This practice sees dogs and cats, and there's always a bunch of dogs in the waiting room. I consider putting him in the transport crate that is STILL in my car from 9 months ago. We decided to play it by ear. No reason to worry - Leo spent the whole time waiting to be called back laid out on the admission counter sucking up lovin's and attention from the admitting girls. He was well on his way to being stolen by them.

We went back to see Dr. T and she learned his story, listened attentively (this is why I love Dr. T) and suggested an xray. She weighed him and found him up to 10.5 lbs. And he's so bony it hurts your eyes.. imagine what he's supposed to weigh! We decided we would go back in a couple weeks to follow-up with a second round of bloodwork. There was a scary moment for the vet tech when Leo panicked during xray, but all went really well. Dr. T examined the xray and pronounced him clear of asthma, masses or fluid where it shouldn't be. She thought his heart was slightly enlarged, and said there was a mild murmur, so now we have a heart kitty. I was not thrilled about that, but it's still early days for our young Leo.. who she thinks is 10 or 11 years old. She decided he might well have a respiratory virus and gave us some things to do for him. All in all, I am very relieved, and I'm sure there are a bunch of Leo followers who feel the same way.

Niko.. not so happy. When we came home, his facial expression very clearly said, "Why did you bring him back?!" And life goes on..