Went to the vet to have our toenails cut and pick up some Heartguard and Frontline, and the stress of being muzzled and having her toes clipped so agitated Rosie that she jumped down off the table and promptly took a massive runny shit on the waiting room floor, without even breaking stride.
Good times.
licensed to kill time
Wait, the vet cuts your toenails too? That’s full service!
JPL(formerly demo woman)
Why did they muzzle Rosie? I have to say if I were muzzled while getting my nails clipped, I’d shit on the floor also.
cleek
yeah, i’ve been to bachelor parties like that.
WereBear
Poor Rosie! Does she know she gets treats afterwards? That used to concentrate my dogs’ minds wonderfully.
Click here to see my 3 week old kitten.
If, that is, you think you can handle SO MUCH CUTENESS.
Jewish Steel
Yeah, that’s a pretty typical stress response.
My current foster sheds like he just took a trip to the Bikini Atoll when he gets stressed out. It’s freaky.
Kerry Reid
My very skittish boy cat had a trip to the vet last year. She asked, “Did you bring a stool sample.?” “Check the carrier,” I replied. Sure enough…
WereBear
@Jewish Steel: Is your current foster a cat?
I had a nervous boy who would, from a carrier on the floor of the backseat, get white hairs on the headliner of the car.
Linda Featheringill
Poor baby. Rosie, not John.
Rosalita
@WereBear:
OH! the cuteness is amazing! This is Tristan, yes?
steviez314
Sounds like Rosie’s a member of the professional left.
Mnemosyne
@WereBear:
CUTENESS!
I almost wish I could lend you Keaton for a few weeks to help out. He’s the best kitty mommy a kitten could hope for, as Charlotte and Annie could testify. The only thing he can’t do is provide milk, though Charlotte tried.
;-)
ETA: Charlotte with Keaton
WereBear
@Rosalita: Thanks! But it’s an easy task at that age.
Yes, Sir Tristan, as he’s known around the office.
Mr WereBear did the night shift and was exhausted, so I took the kitten to work and installed him under my desk, in his carrier with the heating pad.
He stuffed his face and is in nap mode now. I just know he’ll start meeping when I’m supposed to relieve the receptionist for lunch.
Chat Noir
@WereBear: Don’t know if you saw me say this last night in another thread, but the deliciousness factor in that kitten is approaching eleventy-billion. With all the doom and gloom of Democratic prospects in November, the economy, and the state of the world in general, thank you for providing pictures of your new baby.
Edit: one of my cats was diagnosed last week with diabetes. Oy vey! However, he is so good about getting his insulin shots and he’s on a new diet. His vet said he can still live a long, healthy life with proper diabetes management. His blood glucose level just measured its lowest level since I started measuring it last week.
jl
@licensed to kill time: I thought about that too. When Cole admitted to getting a pedicure awhile back, the thought never occured to me that he got it at the vet’s office.
On other hand, why should Cole get fancier treatment than his domestic overlords?
Violet
Poor Rosie! Did the vet have any suggestions to make it a little less scary for her next time? Poor thing. Really makes you wonder what her previous life was like. :(
Linda Featheringill
@steviez314:
Excellent analysis, sir.
[tee, hee]
Jewish Steel
@WereBear:
My current foster is half basenji, half border collie.
He has a pretty black and silky coat. Much longer than my purebred basenjis (my boy basenji is practically bald on his underside) but I’ve been told that english basenjis have a longer coat.
Sweetest little guy ever but he has separation anxiety. We’re working on it.
Rosalita
@Mnemosyne:
I love the pic of Charlotte trying to get some dinner… LOL
Glenndacious Greenwaldian (formerly tim)
Eh…what’s a runny shit on the floor of the vet’s office? I’m sure they deal with that several times a day; no biggie. Given her mysterious past, it’s likely Rosie has good reason to expel runny shit on the floor. Maybe it won’t happen next time, as now she knows she won’t be tortured there.
Also: does it creep out anyone else when pet owners refer to their animals publicly as their “baby” or “child” or “son or daughter or boy or girl?” Just asking.
Seems a little Whatever Happened to Baby Jane to me…
Rosalita
@Chat Noir:
I had a kitteh with diabetes. Doc said maybe she’d be around a couple of months…but she took her insulin like a trooper and lived another four years to age 16.
Rekster
I had a Cocker Spaniel that laid a steaming pile in the waiting room every time we went to the vet.
Martin
Dremel tool with fine sanding wheel + dog + treats works wonders for the nails.
cleek
@Glenndacious Greenwaldian (formerly tim):
a little bit.
but, whenever people ask if we have kids, my wife likes to say “Yes, we have two: they’re three and five, and their names are Pepper and Tricksey”.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Reason number 8,427 why I have only cats, not a dog.
WereBear
@Mnemosyne: That’s adorable!
Our Maine Coon boy is very interested in little Tristan. He loves to sit and watch him, and send him slow blinks of love.
I hope they will be buddies. The other two sure are. Not that they all don’t get along, thank goodness, but RJ’s got a big heart and would love a Special Buddy.
jeffreyw
Yay! And Mrs J took homer to the vet today for routine vax and the vet removed the cast! He’s learning how to run about without it. Still has an unusual gait, almost a bunny hop. He has learned what fun it is to climb up on shit. May be a mixed blessing.
jnfr
@Chat Noir:
I had to treat my old cat Luna for diabetes for years. She lived to a healthy 18 yrs old. Not bad. The shots are no real trouble and the needles are so tiny the cats don’t even seem to notice.
Best luck to you and yours!
morzer
If Rosie keeps performing like this, expect a call from the local teabaggers to inquire about her availability to run for office.
licensed to kill time
@jl:
Maybe his vet’s office is at the mall where the pedicurist is. Nah. I think he’s just doing the ‘me and my pets are one’ thing that lots of people do until they A) actually have kids, at which point the pets sort of recede into the background until B) the kids leave home, whereupon the pets become ‘like my kids’ once again.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Linda Featheringill
@jeffreyw:
What do we want? Pictures of Homer!
When do we want them? ASAP!
Chat Noir
@Rosalita: Thanks. That’s good to know; Sherman is 11 so I’m hoping he still has many years left. I got the lecture from my sister (who’s a veterinarian) how cats get obese when they are allowed to free-range feed and, hence, are prone to diabetes. It was all “blah, blah, blah” because I’d heard it from her many times before.
Sherman was losing weight but still had a good appetite and wasn’t acting like he was sick. So I took him to the vet, they ran a whole battery of tests, and they came back to diabetes. He’s at a good weight now (12 lbs., down from his heaviest of 17) so hopefully we can keep him there.
bey
@Violet: Gabester, my oldest kitty, has never arrived for a vet appointment without reeking of cat pee, despite living the life of Riley. He freaks out every time.
It’s a scary deal being bundled off to the vet.
Chat Noir
@jnfr: Thank you!
Exactly. A couple of times he’s looked at me like, “Hey! What was that?” but mostly he doesn’t seem to notice.
WereBear
@Chat Noir: Thank you. Right now he exists to make people happy.
No grains! Best thing for diabetic cat.
jeffreyw
@WereBear: I refute you thus.
MysticalChick
My grande dame Lucie (17) came down with diabetes (her brother had it as well). After a little while on insulin shots and a switch to a high protein food (Evo, fyi), she’s doing great and is totally off the insulin! If you’ve ever seen a cat with low blood sugar, it’s a scary thing.
Rosie just probably had flashbacks to wandering the hillside alone before she adopted John. :)
Punchy
I tend to shit when I find out how much the Frontline costs. Something like $12 an application (per month). Redunkulous.
Mnemosyne
@Rosalita:
She’s over a year old and she still tries to nurse! It doesn’t matter how many times he kicks her in the head to make her stop, she still lurrrves her Keaton. She buries her face in his fur and purrs like there’s no tomorrow.
@WereBear:
We’re pretty sure Keaton has a big chunk of Maine Coon — he’s got the tail, the fuzzy toes, the big ruff and, most importantly, the teeny-tiny meow. So maybe Maine Coon boys naturally have a maternal instinct?
Sapheriel
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:
Reason number 8,427 why I have only cats, not a dog.
ha, if only. one of my cats has emotional problems and doesn’t deal well with confrontation. when one of my wife’s ferrets started crawling over him while he was lying in his chill spot, he started hissing but didn’t move an inch. then, the stress caused him to start shaking, lift his tail and piss on the floor right behind him.
WereBear
Ack. My edit didn’t work. NO Grains! Best for diabetic cats.
And thanks for such nice things said about him.
Sapheriel
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:
ha, if only. one of my cats has emotional problems and doesn’t deal well with confrontation. when one of my wife’s ferrets started crawling over him while he was lying in his chill spot, he started hissing but didn’t move an inch. then, the stress caused him to start shaking, lift his tail and piss on the floor right behind him.
Mike B
@Jewish Steel:
I know what you mean. I tend to do that during job interviews.
WereBear
@jeffreyw: Awwwwwwwwwwww. Truly. But he doesn’t have the cast anymore, does he?
Takes him down a notch in the heart-tugging category.
Jane2
@WereBear: I overdosed on the cuteness!
wasabi gasp
Well, now you know where Rosie draws the line.
ChrisS
Jack and the cats are doing well, I suppose. Jack and the older cat are indifferent towards each other: she sleeps in his bed, sharpens her claws in front of him, and drinks out of his water dish. Jack and the younger cat have a love/hate relationship. He loves her and wants to be next to her and be her friend. She hates him with the fire of a thousand suns, and would prefer letting him out the front door and into the road.
Still adjusting, getting better. Working on the jumping thing and trying to teach him how to play. Fetch/retrieving is almost pointless. He just wants to play chase.
WereBear
Maine Coons have the nickname “Gentle Giant.” I don’t know if their hearts are bigger than other cats, but they sure wear them on their sleeves.
R-Jud
@Punchy: Yeah, I grind my teeth about the cost whenever I have to apply Zeno’s dose (it’s £10 or so a dose over here, even worse). However, it’s the only flea control product that prevents him breaking out in scabs and losing his hair– poor monster gets miliary eczema.
Jane2
@jeffreyw: Double dose of cuteness! Glad Homer’s able to terrorize you on all fours now.
Jewish Steel
@Mike B:
“…uh, we’ll keep you resume on file.”
Mnemosyne
@WereBear:
That would be Keaton. The poor guy is constantly worried because he has to take care of two cats and two humans all by himself! He woke us up at 5 a.m. again this morning because he could see the bottom of the food dishes and got worried that they were all going to starve to death.
There was a bit of a yelling incident the other day after he threw up on (and ruined) my favorite pair of sandals, and it took a lot of snuggles and baby talk to reassure him that I wasn’t mad anymore. If only we could train him to throw up on the linoleum like we did with Boris …
Michael D.
John: I suggest using Revolution for the dogs. It will replace both Frontline AND Heartguard. An all-in-one that my vet tells me involves less poison than doing it all separately.
Jon H
Rosie was just doing her dead-on impression of Ben Nelson.
geg6
@Violet:
This is what our Henry does every.single.time he has to get his nails clipped at the vet’s. Which is where it has to be done because no way will he let me or John do it.
Henry must be muzzled because he will cause grave, perhaps fatal, damage to anyone who tries to touch his nails. Better the muzzle than drugs, IMHO.
Punchy
Racist.
You Don't Say
Poor thing! One of my cats always took a dump in his carrier approximately 5 minutes into any car ride.
Our dog growled and barked at the vet last time we went. That’s no fun either. But you must know that since that’s probably why Rosie was muzzled.
WereBear
@jeffreyw: But there’s no question Homer is destined for greatness.
Persia
@WereBear: My kitten is cuter, but alas I don’t have a picture to prove it. But still, adorable!
Nick
Your Corporate Hand Out At Work!
usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-21-healthinsurance21_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Wonder how many progressives will use this to show how HCR was actually a good thing.
Gillies
Next time, put some peanut butter on the inside of the muzzle. That has worked for our greyhound, who used to freak out when we’d trim his nails.
Poopyman
@jeffreyw:
Ha! And I refute you both thus!
(Cute though, the both of them.)
WereBear
@Poopyman: The Cheese Chase! Very much a house favorite.
Poopyman
@WereBear: I got the idea from FourLegsGood, where that picture is cached, BTW. That was Spanky 3 years ago, and he and the others still jump on it from time to time.
kideni
My dog has been known to express her anal glands (concentrated liquid poo — what a way to start the day!) when getting shots or nail trims, and it takes two of us to hold her steady while the vet does his thing — she’s only 35 pounds, but it’s all muscle. When she was a puppy, she was fine at the vet, but somewhere along the way she decided this was all bogus, and my normally mellow buddy just turns into a ball of fear.
My cat, on the other hand, is totally cool about everything, even though his vet needs are more extensive. He’ll even sit still while they draw blood from the jugular.
And FSM all those kittens are freakin adorable.
Rosalita
@Mnemosyne:
I’d like to bury my face in Keaton’s fur too, he looks so cuddly!
Skepticat
@Chat Noir: Please visit http://www.felinediabetes.com. They saved my cat’s life several times with immediate, intelligent, and proper advice, as well as compassionate support. Good luck!
quaint irene
Not so much ‘boy or girl.’ I often say to Katie, ‘come on, little girl.’ My mother often greets her with ‘Well, hello, Miss.’
What bugs me is when people refer to me as her ‘Mom.’ Even at the vet’s office-‘Don’t worry, Kate, here’s your Mom.’
Unless there was some genetic hanky panky I wasn’t aware of, I don’t think I gave birth to my dog.
Rosalita
@Chat Noir:
I got the lecture from my sister (who’s a veterinarian) how cats get obese when they are allowed to free-range feed and, hence, are prone to diabetes.
Luthe
Since this is turning into an open thread, I feel the need to share the biggest example of the stupidity on the Internet I have found (today):
Capitalist Shrugged
The tag line is “What would happen if producers shrugged the world from their shoulders?” I will let you make your own judgments about the leanings of the blog’s proprietor.
Bob
she jumped down off the table and promptly took a massive runny shit on the waiting room floor, without even breaking stride.
Hmmm . . . sounds like a “blue dog” in an election year.
jeffreyw
@Poopyman:
Kitteh wars, begun, they have.
jeffreyw
Bah! FYWP!
flickr.com/photos/jeffreyww/5012523749/
Woodrowfan
@Glenndacious Greenwaldian (formerly tim):
Not really, but as I tell folks, my wife and I are a middle-aged couple with no kids except for 2 small dogs. You figure it out…
And yeah, we get called our dogs’ “Mommy” and “Daddy.” I prefer it to “Your Alpha”
BubbaDave
@Chat Noir:
My older cat was diagnosed with diabetes a couple years back; on the advice of a veterinarian friend in New Brighton I browbeat my actual vet (in Plano, TX) into trying her on Hill’s (prescription) m/d canned cat food. One year later we had cut her insulin from two units twice a day to one unit twice a day to one unit once a day to zero insulin, and her blood sugar remained fine. My vet was amazed. Apparently there’s a lot of research that suggests feline diabetes is usually the result of popular high-carb dry foods, and the “Catkins” diet can often eliminate those problems.
My younger cat was acquired after Razzle was diagnosed, so she’s been on moist low-carb food her entire adult life; she’s also my only cat in 30+ years of cat ownership that’s never been obese. Coincidence? I think not.
Woodrowfan
@Mike B:
My wife once interviewed a grown man who got nervous, picked his nose, then ate the booger. (he wasn’t hired).
WereBear
@jeffreyw: CUTENESS!
Good thing I had my booster shot.
Persia
@BubbaDave: As I’m about to get my first cat in forever, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on this, and it’s amazing the amount of carbs in ‘conventional’ cat food. No cat needs to eat mostly corn!
bemused
@Glenndacious Greenwaldian (formerly tim):
Ha, you think people calling their pets their babies is creepy? I was in a garden center paying for my plants and an older lady was standing near me with her little dog. I have no idea how our short conversation led this woman to share with me that her dog, after being let out to poop, was so sweet to turn his butt to her so she could wipe it before the dog came back inside.
I was speechless.
Mr Furious
My daughter left an uneaten hot dog on the table today and one (or both) of our new 20-w.o. kittens devoured it.
First non-Science Diet Kitten food they’ve eaten. I look forward to runny shits all over the house…
lol
I have a mother and daughter pair of cats. the first time I took them to the vet, I had them in seperate crates but they ended up getting stressed and meowing… which just worried the other one more. The mom eventually puked so I moved her in with her baby. And then they were both fine the rest of the way and the ride back.
So whenever they get transported, they always go in the same crate. Definitely makes things easier.
jeffreyw
@WereBear: I will take your word that you have had your shots since I refuse to do Facebook. Mrs J may take a look and chime in.
AnnaN
On the bright side, it wasn’t on carpet..
asiangrrlMN
To all the folks with the adorable kittens and cats, thank you so much. I really appreciate the shot of cuteness on this dreary day.
Cole, did Rosie get treats afterwards?
@quaint irene: Ditto this. I call my cats my boys. However, I never call myself their mom, though friends and family do. I know they are not my children, nor would I want them to be.
JenJen
@Violet: Oh, I’m hoping nothing traumatic happened to Rosie in her prior life that makes her react this way.
For example, I raised my little dog Strider from birth, and to this very day, he just can’t handle getting his toenails cut. Handled his feet constantly when he was a puppy, just the way my dad always taught me so that the dog would get used to it, and he was fine for about a year, but once he hit adulthood, he just wasn’t having any of it.
It takes two people (one to restrain him while he violently bucks, the other person to trim), a muzzle, and a high countertop just to give him a little pedicure. It’s a pain in the ass, but the Vet assures me it’s nothing I did, some dogs just can’t stand nail cutting. Weird, huh?
ET
You have my cat beat with the Rosie. My cat gets stressed enough by going to the vet that l get loud and plaintive meowing and a big puke in the car. Of course by the time I get to the vet he is stressed enough that he sheds up a storm while at the vet.
Poopyman
@jeffreyw:
Yeah, I’m at work, so Facebook is blocked and I don’t have any more internet-ready pics here. So I’m out.
asiangrrlMN
Oh, and pics of the trio (especially Tunchie) would be much appreciated.
My boys do the low moan of terror the entire ride to the vet and back. I have them in a double carrier, which I think helps. Raven had to be muzzled once (so I’m told. They took him to the back room), but for the most part, they are good boys. Poor Shadow goes absolutely rigid, though. Then, I lavish them with treats when we get back.
geg6
@JenJen:
That’s what our Henry’s vet says, too. Says it has nothing to do with any traumas, most of the time.
And I believe it because, though both our boys were rescues, Otis was obviously an abused doggie (and Henry was just given up by people too old to care for him) and he has no problems with cutting his nails. Of the two, Henry was the one who was better treated by his former owners. And it’s Henry that will try to kill you if you make any moves toward trimming his nails.
Dogs are weird. Which is why I love them.
ChrisS
Amiya howls whenever she’s in a crate. Aisha just poops. Jack loves going anywhere because he gets to see people and other animals. Seriously – he was having a great time at the vet’s.
Jack waiting for his treat
Amiya getting her drug of choice
Jack wondering why he can’t have teh drugs. (and a doped up kitteh scowling at him).
Amiya, mid-yawn, following her ‘nip indulgence.
gbear
Come for the snark, stay for the runny dog poop stories.
The soft turd of low expectations, so to speak.
JenJen
@geg6: Exactly! My other dog, Rocco, an Aussie Shepherd rescue who was severely neglected, literally rolls over on his back and puts his paws up whenever I go to trim his nails. He absolutely loves it!! And then, contrast that with Strider, who I raised with nothing but love and sweetness and attention and light, and he growls and starts bucking like a bronco just when I pick up the clippers.
Dogs are weird, and I just love ’em to death. :-)
Mnemosyne
Keaton absolutely HATES being caged. Hates it hates it hates it. Has a scar on his nose from when he was a kitten where he rubbed it raw on the bars of his carrier. So he howls and digs every time we put him in his carrier and take him anywhere.
Once he actually gets to the vet and is let out of his carrier, though, he’s fine. They were even able to clean his teeth without anesthetic because he didn’t have to be in a cage for them to do it. (That was the time he came home with lipstick on his forehead where the vet tech gave him a big ol’ smooch for being so good.)
Emma
@quaint irene: You don’t have to give birth to a child to be his or her mother.
I refer to our cats as, “the girls,” or “our girls,” and I don’t mind being called their mother. Obviously, I’m not a cat and they’re not human, but I am responsible for their health, happiness and well-being. I provide food, shelter, hugs and medical care and always will. So maybe there’s a better word for my relationship to them, but it’s sure not “owner.”
WereBear
@Mnemosyne: Yeah, that was Puffy, he hated the carrier. It would bulge and bounce around like that scene with the mindbeast of the Krell from Forbidden Planet.
But if I wrapped him in a towel and carried him, he’d go anywhere.
Sorry about the Facebook thing, my lunch hour was running out, and you know what pressure does to people.
licensed to kill time
@Emma:
I was going to say this earlier but got distracted, but I always just say “I’m his human!”
Anne Laurie
In case some people don’t know about this, your local big-box pet supplies stores’ groomers will trim dog toenails for a small fee — $9 here in the expensive Boston area. And our dogs adore visiting “the toy store”, so they happily hop out of the car, shake & snipe while the groomers do their work, and then spend a few minutes cruising all the excellent sniffs around the rest of the store and pick out new chewies. At least for us, it’s much cheaper than going to the vets, and our guys definitely find the vets’ office scarier than the pet store. However, the groomers WILL insist on seeing your dog’s rabies certificate on the first visit, so you’ll need to bring that along with you.
Anne Laurie
Actually, I seem to remember quite a few small children freaking out about having their nails trimmed / cleaned, because “it feels weird”. Of course a dog/cat nail clipped too deeply bleeds copiously, which doesn’t help, but even having their feet handled is “too stressful” for a lot of dogs. I try to keep our papillons’ furry soles trimmed down, for cleanliness and so they won’t hurt themselves sliding on the wood floors, but Zevon fights getting the hair between his toes clipped even harder than he does getting his nails cut — if he’s asleep in my lap, I can clip one or two nails before he wakes up, but one touch of the scissors & he turns into Jeckyll-dog, snarling & snapping.
quaint irene
Point taken. I just dislike the ‘cute-sie’ way it’s said when someone calls me her ‘Mom.’
I love my Kate dearly, and will always take the best care of her that is possible. Word for our relationship? She is my very, very good friend. A dog that has an amazingly kind heart.
Just Some Fuckhead
This is Batman, our recent rescue.
Cain
@Punchy:
If you have costco near you, you can get frontline there but it’s only for dogs. It hink you can buy online for cats.
cain
woohoo, comment 100!
Jackie
@Just Some Fuckhead: Perfect name!
Just Some Fuckhead
@Jackie: My 10 year old named him. We suggested “Obama” as a name for the cat because he is black and white but mostly white but the boy wanted Batman.
WereBear
@Just Some Fuckhead: It’s a great name.
frosty
“Good times.” Anybody know who originated this phrase and when? I hear it from my colleagues at work all the time, and it’s usually the perfect accompaniment for any kind of shit storm.
debit
@frosty: I remember it from Bill McNeil on Newsradio, usually said after he remembered something awful his mother had done to him as a child.
Mnemosyne
@Just Some Fuckhead:
We almost named Charlotte “WonderKitty” because she has a mask and a cape.
Anne Laurie
@Just Some Fuckhead: You gotta send me the story (which I’m sure is amazing), and a jpeg, so I can front-page Batman!
Just Some Fuckhead
@Anne Laurie: I sent it to John. Lemme find it and forward.
platonicspoof
@frosty:
The phrase was also used in a series of SNL skits.
Daniel
May I suggest clipping her toenails yourself and ordering the meds online. It’s cheaper and less stressful.