Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Bobby and Suki go to the vet's

I brought Bobby and Suki to the vet's today, Bobby - for a check-up since he is also 13 years old (like Mac), and Suki - for her 2nd vaccination. 

The vet had earlier expected Bobby to also have bad teeth and tartar (like Mac), but surprisingly, when checked, the vet said he had very little tartar, and his teeth are still in good shape.  I was surprised, because both Mac and Bobby eat the same food.  In fact, Mac is more on dry food.  Bobby gets wet food now and then, because he's good at "persuading" us (read: blackmailing?).  The vet said it's sometimes due to the conformation of the teeth, not the food. 

Generally, the vet gave Bobby a clean bill of health for a 13 year old.  The only area of concern is that one of his testicles is twice the size of the other.  The vet said I'd have to monitor this, in case the size changes again.  The other minor problem is ear mites in his ears.  

We took time to pluck out his ear-fur, and then clean his ears up.  

While this was going on, Suki was also in the clinic, and well...Suki will be Suki.  The vet observed that she is very boisterous (whoa!!  She is???  Isn't that an understatement, actually?).  YES, she certainly is.  And even in that short time, the vet had to hold her by her scruff and discipline her.  He told me I MUST discipline her and be very firm with her, else she might turn out to be an aggressive cat later on.  

It is very difficult to treat an aggressive cat when sick.  

I was told that some vets and even their owners opt to put down an aggressive animal with a treatable disease simply because they cannot even approach the animal to feed it its medicine.  It bites and scratches.  The only other way is to sedate them, but sometimes the animal should not be sedated.  

Ok...I must discipline the naughty-one.  

Any tips - please share with me?  

I'm quite a hopeless disciplinarian.    

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My aunt is a vet and she say a little 'hit' on the head when the cat do wrong is the way to discipline. Once her cat 'poo'ed on her bed, and she took her cat to sniff the poo and hit her head abit. Since then, the cat never 'poo'ed anywhr except the litter box.

and i've asked my other friend who keep cats, and she told me the same thing. If her cats fight or do something bad, she will scold and sometimes 'hit' the cat's head, pinch the ear a bit, and 'hit' the cat's hand/paws.

i donno if it works, but basically its like how u teach the kids when they do wrong. A little bit of 'hit' and 'scolding' :)

hope that helps. :)

YenLing said...

Hello Dr. Chan,

Each time I read about Suki, I shake my head and laugh and sigh...what a terrible naughty fella!

Reminds me of my late cat, also a rescued cat (found roaming on grass with sulphur!)

The vet mentioned to me to get another bigger/senior/more aggressive cat to take 'him/her' down. It shows and tell the cat that, hey you better behave alright.there are alot more 'senior cats' out there and you are just a little one with a long way to go!

Also a tap on the nose work, even for dogs. Tap the nose, point your fingers and go - naughty! bad! bad! bad! no! no! no! Suki, bad cat. put her back into the cage and ignore her. Each time she does it wrong, put her back into the cage immediately and ignore her. Then, they'll get the idea - they really did something which makes mum unhappy.

give it a try. I know, I'm not very good either. I see their face with the 'pity look' I'll go back to OKLAH... =/