Rarely has a cat been so well-behaved at the vet's...

[Snoof]

Choo-Choo got a bit upset when we were walking down the street towards the vet's, and meowed a lot. But as soon as we got there and his box was by my feet, not a peep. I checked, and stuck my hand in (it's one of those boxes with a flap on top to stick your hand through) and scritched him, to which he responded (amid a plethora of mentally barking dogs) by rolling onto his back

I got loads of comments on how relaxed he was, bless his little white socks. At one point he yawned and stretched, and his front paw came out of the cage as he stretched - cue a chorus of "Awwwwwww!" from the other people in the waiting room.

The vet's first words were - "He's supposed to be 18 months old?!" but when he checked (teeth in good condition ) he saw that he does have his adult teeth.

He has an inflammation/irritation of his skin because of how flea-riddled he is, so the vet gave him a steroid injection to calm that down. He told me it'll work really fast and Chookie (as i've taken to calling him ) should be feeling a lot better in a couple of days at the absolute outside.

We're also in the process of worming, I brought up my concern that a whole dose of wormer might make him ill as I suspect he's had the worms most, if not all of his life, so he's had half the dose and will get the other half in a week (at which point I'll probably get meowed at quite angrily!).

I'll be getting some "before" pictures in the next couple of hours, then this afternoon I'm going to comb him thoroughly with a flea-comb (thank goodness I flea-treated the house a few weeks ago ) and put frontline on him.

Then I'll just need to get the CPL voucher sorted (hopefully I'll get that sent off this afternoon) and he'll be neutered as soon as that comes in, provided his condition is good enough for it.

Yes, I know I should've made them take care of the neutering. But the man of the couple that had him previously is having health issues and claims he can't get the voucher sorted etc, between all the doctor's visits (funny how he can spend massive amounts of time in the pub ). I was really worried about Choo-Choo Bear in the meantime, and they kept putting it off and putting it off so I rang CPL and asked them about their voucher scheme. The people who used to own him are giving me a tenner towards the rest of the cost, tomorrow. Otherwise they will face the wrath of their local's landlady who knows exactly what condition he's in and doesn't appreciate them for it at all.

The good news is that he's not been drooling massively on himself because he has bad teeth (yay!) but because of how miserable he's been because of the fleas. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of him after he's been combed and frontlined - it depends on what time the boss gets here with his camera as mine is still on the fritz.

I was very impressed with his behaviour, anyway

Oh, and somehow, magically, when given a clean littertray that's the correct size, he does use it without complaint

[dinahsmum]

Choo-choo sounds such a lovely boy.
After just surviving a flea invasion ourselves (how? Could one have jumped off Chester into the carrierwhen we collected him, then sat there & waited till the boys used the carrier again? I dunno? - anyway) and been the main victim I can testify as to just how 'lousy' one feels when bitten to bits. And with a small puss-cat there will be a significant blood loss as well (lots of liver and spinach for the boy!)
Looking forward to pics!

[Naomi]

Must admit that I don't very often see a very well behaved cat in the vets when I've visted and Moli is no exception to that

She'll jump about in her carrier, hissing and spitting any dog that even considering looking in her direction or is brave enough to venture too close to the carrier

[CathyW]

u should of heard the fuss barnaby used to make, he used to deafen everyone, and when he had to stay in for an op and overnight, well put it this way they where glad he went home, he didnt shut up all night, and bit n made a mess of the nurse, they said he was strong minded (that was polite LOL)
but the other 2 are pretty good,
that steriod jab he had is good reggie had one,

[Snoof]

He's really shockingly relaxed, Nae. I hope it means he's not been actively rejected by his previous owners, emotionally speaking. He does kind of seem to want to crawl into laps, but then thinks better of it and just stands there, sometimes with his paws on your leg.

He is, however, pretty much unfussed by other animals (even when they stuck their noses against the box I can't believe how little some people control their pets!) so on his end, introductions should go pretty well.

So much to do, so little time!

[Sweet]

Awww bless the little boy, I cannot wait to see the pics x

[dandysmom]

After all he's been through, and then to behave so well at the vets!! What a sweet natured little guy he is! Mine have always been holy terrors at the vets ecept Dandy who thought this was a fun new place to explore and meet new people & smell odd & interesting smells! Didn't even object much to his jabs!

[MrsH]

What a wonderful temperament he must have to be so laid back after such a rotten start. He's probably stunned at all the love he's getting now, bless him.

[Snoof]

I've just combed him and removed a whole lot of fleas, and then cleaned up his fur a lot with dry shampoo. He was lovely and well-behaved throughout, and it turns out his fur is absolutely amazingly soft when it's clean!

He'll be frontlined tonight before I go to bed (as I don't want to risk rubbing it off him and don't want to deprive him of the company he adores so much), then tomorrow there will be more of the dreaded combing.

He's eating like a champ and very playful... But very aware of his position (i.e. pretty submissive). I think he'll fit in perfectly fine