May 19, 2009

• Oy vey.  This morning was the appointment to take Magellan back for a recheck and his first vaccination.  I brought up that I suspected he had ear mites, about which the vet was dubious, but he went ahead and swabbed his ear.  Hmmm...looks like maybe he does have ear mites (which I erroneously theorized he got from Zeus).  The vet took Magellan into the back to clean out his ears, and mercy Maud....!  It was frightful sitting and listening to the agonized kitten shrieks and screams.  Magellan did NOT like having his ears irrigated. 

  When the vet returned with a wet, bedraggled Magellan, it was to say that in fact he'd had a severe case of ear mites, to the point he (the vet) thinks he was virtually deaf.  Hundreds had been removed.  Then Magellan had to have stuff put in his ears to kill off any emerging mites from leftover eggs; he was eager to return to the cat carrier, let me tell you.  Anything to escape the House of Horrors disguised as the PetsMart vet office. 

  After Dmitry returned home, and after giving everyone lunch, I asked Dmitry and Joe to help me get Zeus into the carrier.  You understand, this is the first time Zeus has left the house since she entered it over eleven years ago.  I told the boys what was needed was steely resolve and firm determination.  Joe had a "how hard can it be to put a cat in a carrier?" expression, which vanished as soon as he tried.  I don't know whether it takes a community to raise a child, but it surely takes one to get Zeus into a cat carrier. 

  Finally the deed was done and off we went to PetsMart, Zeus complaining every inch of the way.  I had to leave her, as grown cats get sedated to have their ears irrigated.  I was surprised, upon picking her up, to learn her case was mild, especially as compared to Magellan's.  Apparently Magellan's was of a level that reached the point of impressive.

  Also had them squirt the flea stuff on her, as I've tried and tried at home but to no avail.  Zeus is not what you'd call cooperative, and she still has those darn rear claws.

  As Kenny (who was with me when I collected her) noted with amusement, "That is one stoned cat."  It took awhile for the sedation to wear off, and while Dmitry found the sight of poor Zeus weaving drunkenly around quite entertaining, I didn't.  Poor baby.  She tried twice to jump up on "her" recliner, only to fall back both times.  Finally went ahead and picked her up to put her on it, causing her to meow with bitter recriminations.  She did, however, settle down for a nap.

  Speaking of which, when I came home it was to find this:

  

  Magellan had managed to climb up on my recliner and make himself at home. 

  BTW, today Kenny got a surprising amount done on the back porch:

  

  See the beat-up bench in the back?  That came from Atwood, Kansas, where my father's from, and his grandfather was the town's doctor Way Back When.  We've had it for years, and many a pumpkin's been carved on it, along with other activities.  It's literally falling apart so I was planning on junking it, but the distressed looks on the faces of various children caused me to rethink that plan.  Kenny is going to overhaul it, including staining it.  The family heirloom is going to be rejuvenated!    Actually, I'd been thinking I need something upon which to put munchies, etc. once the screening is completed, and the bench will do nicely.

  As soon as the back porch is finished, Kenny will start on the front porch, which will effectively give me two new "living" rooms.  I'm going to vastly enjoy being able to watch the fireworks this year without being eaten alive by mosquitos, that's for sure.

  • 8:04 pm
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