Married to the Empire

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

A former vet visit

I can easily get Doogie in his carrier to go to the vet's now, but it wasn't always that way. The following story is an account of actual events that took place in my home:

It was time for Doogie to visit the vet, so I pulled the cat carrier out of the closet. I set the carrier in the middle of the living room floor with the door wide open. I then went to hunt down Doogie, who was hiding because he heard me get out the carrier. I found him and carried him to the living room, but I couldn't put him in because Calvin was already inhabiting the carrier. (He thinks cat carriers make awesome hidey-holes.) I tried to lure him out, but he wouldn't move. I had to set Doogie down, which meant that Doogie took off in a sprint, pick up the carrier, and proceed to shake Calvin out of it. Calvin slid out into a furry, disgruntled heap on the floor.

I smartly shut the door to the carrier, then went to find Doogie again. When I had my little prisoner again, I brought him to the carrier. I opened the door and attempted to shove Doogie in. Doogie suddenly seemed to sprout extra limbs because cat legs were everywhere, and I absolutely could not get him in. He wriggled out of my grasp and took off running. I ran after him.

When I caught him a third time, I brought him back to his carrier only to find that Calvin was in it again. (In my rush to chase after Doogie, I forgot to close the door.) Not wanting to waste time, I picked up the carrier to dump Calvin out again, but Calvin, who is my smart cat, knew to hold on. He shoved his legs out to the sides and braced himself inside the carrier. (Seriously, this cat is intelligent.) I couldn't get him out, and I was running late for the vet appointment.

I remembered that we had another carrier in the garage. Only problem is that it was on the top shelf of the garage. I can only reach things on that shelf if I climb the shelves. Frustrated, but in a hurry, I scaled the garage shelves, moved things out of the way, and finally got hold of the extra carrier.

By then, 15 minutes had elapsed from the start of the get-Doogie-in-the-carrier ordeal to my entering the house with the extra carrier. When I re-entered the house, I found Calvin sitting blithely in the middle of the floor and Doogie was inside the carrier.

I swear I heard them both snickering.

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