We bite and scratch and scream all night..

This morning was the kittennats annual checkup at the vet. It was not a fun time.

The man and I agreed when we got the cats that there was a 'limit'. I'd never heard of such a thing but basically you pick an amount and if there is something wrong with the cat (or animal) and it costs over 'the amount' then, well....well it doesn't end all that well for the cat.

Its an awful awful thing to have to think about and this morning when I had to take two very annoyed cats to the vet I hoped they would be okay (the man was at work). Schroddy is about twice the size of Matilda even though they seem to eat the same and the scales at the vet confirmed that Schroddy is 1.1kg heavier. The rest must just be bigger fur or something. The vet was shocked they were from the same litter.

So it turns out Matilda's teeth need cleaning. I didn't realise that was something I was supposed to be looking out for and she's got infected gums. You learn something new everyday. Apparently the $60 cat food they eat isn't good enough and they need something else. Surprise surprise teeth cleaning isn't cheap. $360! So back into her cage goes Matilda and out comes a very angry Schroddy (complete with hisses) for her needles and worming and her teeth need cleaning too. Luckily they're not infected like Till's so the new food should fix that.

The vet suggests a blood test for Tilly seeing she is so tiny and I agree. Didn't realise it would involve shaving part of her. This is the kind of cat who doesn't like being held normally let alone being wormed, having needles and then having two vets try and pin her down to shave her. Her claws won out and the vet asked if I minded if they gassed her. Matilda has about twenty razor sharp claws that she has no qualms about using so I agreed. Schroddy and I sat in the waiting room and then the vet called me back in to talk about how much money I wanted to spend on the blood tests. Turns out there are all kinds of different tests. The most expensive was $180 but then the vet said I could get the $80 one and then 'upgrade' if it showed anything dodgy. So I did that and she totalled up everything the cats had been through that morning and without the teeth cleaning for Till it came to $260.

But even if the teeth cleaning was more than the 'amount' I couldn't have a pet put down because of TARTAR! Awful! But its still a big dent in our bank balance. Especially seeing Schrod will have to have hers done soon enough. I guess thats what happens when you get pets.

They seem to have calmed down now, Schroddy stormed out of her cage when I got home, and Matilda just strolled out (she was a bit subdued from the gas). Now they're doing as cats do and napping.

Have to go and pick the man up from work now. Will advise him he just spent today and yesterday working for the vet.

- Jen