Two hours and $400.00 (with a 10% discount) later, the cats are done with their annual exams. Not sure how long it would take and knowing I couldn’t bring seven cats in all at once, the clinic just set aside a block of time for me, starting at 3pm today.

Wisely, well before appointment time, I had found the carriers (in the garage, ick) and spent some time cleaning them thoroughly. Unwisely, I lost track of time and didn’t even get ready to leave until 5 ’til 3pm.

I decided to start with Spritel and Maggie. They get along and I could fit both of them into a carrier. I found Maggie on the bed and Spritel on the bedroom floor. I picked up Spritel first and carried him out to the dining room where the carrier was waiting. When I returned to the bedroom, Maggie was nowhere in sight. She’d apparently heard the carrier door opening and closing and knew it didn’t bode well. I finally had to call Dale down to help me flush her out from under the bed, then I had to keep Spritel in the carrier while Dale put Maggie inside. I hauled the heavy carrier out to the car and we were off. Fortunately, we live only about a mile from the vet so we weren’t overly late.

After Spritel and Maggie were done, I went home and loaded up Bailey and L.B., this time in separate carriers. Dale helped me load them into the car. L.B. yowled loudly all the way to the vet. Another ‘fortunately,’ the clinic was holding the same room for me, so I just had to let them know I was back and I could head right into it. I had to make two trips to get both cats into the clinic because there’s no way I could manage both carriers at once.

Dale helped me unload those two, then we crated up Loki and Velco. This time, Dale was able to go to the vet with me, so we each lugged a cat inside. Dr. Wells took Loki back first. When he returned with Loki, Dale took Loki home to get Pumpkin and Zoë. Dr. Wells finished with Velcro long before Dale returned. I was wondering what was taking so long.

Dale finally showed up with Pumpkin, about 20 minutes later. Poor Pumpkin had freaked out when Dale tried to put him in the carrier, fighting and peeing on the floor before escaping. Dale had to clean up the mess then track down Pumpkin. When he found him, Pumpkin was back to sweet and loving until he caught sight of the carrier. He escaped again. The third time, Dale was able to get him into the carrier.

I figured he’d just not bothered to get Zoë when he suddenly pulled the car keys out of his pocket and said, “oh, go get your dog.” Zoë was her usual spastic self and overjoyed to be at the clinic, such a contrast to all the cats. When Dr. Wells returned to the exam room, he took Zoë next to weigh her (the reason we brought her) then did poor Pumpkin’s exam.

Each cat had the usual wellness exam and rabies and distemper vaccinations. Dale and I opted not to get them the feline leukemia vaccinations since they’re all strictly indoor cats so the odds of them ever contracting it are extremely low. Zoë was weighed because she was at the top end of her recommended weight when she had her annual exam in July. I’d cut back on her food a bit and she’d clearly lost weight, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t too much. Looks like I did good, because she was down from 52lbs to 47lbs, and Dr. Wells was very pleased with her appearance and enthusiasm.

Overall, all the animals are in excellent health. Dr. Wells said we get the award for the most cats with clean teeth. While all but two of the cats are overweight (and all but two have gained since last year), Dr. Wells said they looked so good and healthy, he wasn’t concerned about their weight.

In addition to the exams and vaccinations, I picked up a 6 month supply of Revolution for Zoë and two bags of rawhide dental chews. The clinic gave up a pill plunger for the cats after I asked about buying one. And they also gave us a 10% multi-cat discount for the visit. The total was still over $400. *whew*

Now we’re all back home and tired. And Dale thinks he got cat pee on himself so he’s gone to shower. I need some Tylenol and a nap.

Oh yeah, I’m still boggled by the cats’ weights. I knew they were plump and I knew some had probably gained a bit since last year. Last year’s heaviest cat (Velcro - 18.6lbs) and smallest cat (Maggie - 8lbs) didn’t gain anything. The other five gained between .8lbs and 2lbs. Spritel went up a whopping 2lbs to 16lbs, passing Pumpkin who was second heaviest last year. We have two cats over 18lbs, Velcro and Loki. All together, the cats more than double the dog’s weight, totaling 101. 2lbs. That’s a lot of cat!