Today was the day the cats had an appointment at the vet. It was a while since I brought them to see a vet last (I know I know, yearly check-ups) so I didn’t know how they’d react to it all. My plan was, since Jocke was away at work and we couldn’t use the car (don’t have a drivers license yet), I was going to place the transport cage on the back of my bike and just push the bike to the vet. That way I didn’t have to carry them all the way there and then all the way back. Unfortunately, both tires on my bike had no air and I had no way of filling them up, so I ended up having to carry them.
So, I packed all the things I thought I might need, some treats for the cats, Kami’s birth certificate, and my passport (I don’t have an ID card yet). Then I headed off.
Of course I took a jacket. Not a thick one, but spring here tend to look very warm and when you go outside it’s really windy and cold as fuck. Today was not a cold day. It was very warm, and sunny, and both the cats in one cage is really heavy to carry. It took me almost 1 hour and 40 minutes to walk with them to the vet. I had to take breaks now and then because the weight of the cage on my shoulders were hurting my back. Thanks to my trusty phone and it’s GPS I was able to find where the vet was and both Kami and Reika took the examinations really great. Of course they weren’t THAT happy with someone holding their heads and poking in their mouths (even if I do it), but they are alright with it. Both of them went and looked around the room we were in and Kami even jumped up on the examination table on his own. They didn’t like the door though, but that’s understandable. Weird things can come through doors. The vet told me that Reika needs a more thorough check up on her teeth because it looks like one or two has to come out. Kami on the other hand doesn’t have many teeth left so they really don’t want to remove the few he still has. They gave me some gel that I should put on his teeth and we’ll see if the gums around them look better after a few weeks. I even got some new dry food to give to Kami. Since he doesn’t have teeth to chew with he just swallows the dry food, and the food we have are really big since Reika needs them for her sensitive stomach. So, Kami doesn’t eat much because of that. We’ll see if he likes the new food or not.
The road home was not a pleasant one. At least not for me. I wasn’t looking forward to walk for 1 hour and 40 min again in the heat, especially since my back and feet were starting to really hurt and I was starting to feel a bit ill. So, after walking almost halfway I sat down on a bench and rested where it was pretty quiet so the cats didn’t get stressed from passing cars. An old lady and her tiny dog walked by and it really wanted to check on me and the cats. It licked my hand and then sniffed in the cage. Reika was not pleased and hissed at it, so the dog backed off. The lady started talking with me and me being who I am, I just can’t say no to talking to elderly folk, so I sat there and let her talk. It seems like she really wanted to just talk with someone and I didn’t mind at all. It did drag out a bit and my butt started to hurt from sitting with the cats on my thighs, but eventually we parted ways and she thanked me for the conversation and wished me a good day. I did the same to her and went into a gas station to buy myself something to drink. I wrote to an old colleague as well asking if he mind helping me carry the cats home. He didn’t mind and helped carry them the last part. It was nice on my back I can tell you that. I thanked him and as soon as I got inside all clothes flew off and into the shower I went to take a cold cold shower. That was really nice.
What did I learn from this. First off, it seems I have a pump attached to my bike (Jocke told me this when he got home). Second, there was a shorter way I could’ve walked (I saw this when I was halfway home on my GPS). Third, I’m never carrying the cage with the cats like that ever again. My poor feet and back!
But I am very proud of the cats!
