He had his yearly shave this morning (the reason the food came up last night). I’ll take pictures of him later. I’m happy it was done so quickly.
When Ciara was near the end, one night I was dreaming and in the middle of the dream a voice boomed out “Benny’s sick!” Of course, Benny didn’t look sick or act sick, but after all we were going through with Ciara and the loss of DeeJay and Annie earlier this year, it made me a little nervous. So, when I called to make the appointment last week, I also requested they do a blood panel on him.
When I brought him in, I asked if there was anyway to see if he might be done early. There’ve been a couple of times in the past where he was ready before the normal three in the afternoon pick up time. And today was one of those, Kelsey called around 11:30 saying he was done.
When I paid the bill, they told me his bloodwork was “beautiful”. Whew. They also told me what a sweet cat he was and what a very nice coat he had.
There are some people who think shaving a cat is cruel. At one time, I would have agreed with them. But one year, Benny gave me such a scare, I no longer agree. Some cats do better shaved.
See, Benny isn’t a big lover of hanging out in the house. At all. He likes it outside. During any kind of weather (think of the pictures I’ve taken of him in the house, dripping wet from the rain; he’d come in, dry off, go back outside and get soaked again, didn’t bother him in the least), hot or cold. And he’s got this nice thick coat of fur. Better for a cold weather climate than the heat we’ve got here in SoCal.
Anyway, one summer I found him outside, just laying there panting. He wasn’t moving much and I was very concerned he might be getting a heat stroke. I brought him in the house, wiped him down with a damp towel and let him lay on the tile in the entry way. He stayed there for a while, but went back outside. I mentioned this at my vet’s office the next time I took a cat in and they said “we can shave him for you”. And I made the appointment for him.
I gotta tell ya, when he got home, he was a completely different cat. He was so happy. He was super affectionate, he stretched out on the floor showing his tummy. He was a content, happy cat. It’s hard to describe the difference it made in his attitude. But it was for the better.
Brian doesn’t like the idea that he has to be masked (sedated) to get shaved, but Benny fights the shaving (he’s not like DeeJay who made the connection between the administering of fluids to feeling better) and it’s hard for it to get done properly. We might not do this again, since Benny isn’t a spring chicken, but I think if we have the pre-anesthesia bloodwork done, he should be okay.
Because it gets so miserably hot here and he so loves being outside. And by the time it starts cooling off, his coat is almost back to normal. And we want him to be happy.
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