Monday was time for Peeper's big visit to the vet. We had a plan, and the first part went pretty well. Dave goes outside as usual to pet Peepers, I wait inside by the door. Dave grabs Peepers, I open the door, he rushes inside, I slam the door behind him. He tosses Peepers in the carrier, I slam the carrier door shut behind him. Perfect! But then, Peepers had a Level 1 FreakOut. He smashed his face and paws repeatedly into the side of the carrier to the point that he cut his nose and started bleeding. I ran off to call the vet and see if they could take him early - they could, so we were off quick as a wink. He was meowing plaintively, and trying to tear apart the carrier. Once we got to the vet's, they took him to the back room to do his blood test. And then we heard the noise. Things crashing and banging, and people yelling. We said, "Oh crap, that's Peepers". After about 10 minutes, during which we heard things being yelled from the back room like "Can you come in here!" (to yet another veterinary assistant - at least 3 people were needed!), we were called in to the exam room, where we found the vet holding a towel-wrapped Peepers. She said she had to sedate him, and was still waiting for it to take affect. Apparently, he had gotten free in the back area, and had tore all around the room, eventually getting to the ceiling, running around the highest shelves, stocked with food and equipment, that he knocked down. *sigh* Eventually, the sedation took affect, blood was taken, vaccinations given, and he was let go. Poor little guy, he was still so very scared and trying to run, but couldn't take a step without falling over on his side. We tucked him away in his carrier, and waited for a while in the office. Because he was so over excited, they needed to keep an eye on him, in case he had a bad reaction with his heart to the sedation.
But, on the plus side, his tests came back negative, so he can come and live with us and the other cats! Hurray! We're so blessed!
But it has been exhausting, though. He spent the whole first night under the bed, and wouldn't come out for love or money (or food or water for that matter). The next morning, he came out for short visits, and finally on Tuesday night, went to the kitty litter box (we were prepared for him to not go for a while because of our previous experience with totally freaked out/feral cats - they don't eat or drink or go to the bathroom for a long time, sometimes for days - I've actually heard that a terrified cat could actually stay in one place long enough to starve to death).
His first meetings with Baby and Molly haven't gone very well - he wanted to be friendly with molly, but she growled and hissed at him - Baby kept his distance, hissed, then pouted the rest of the day like "But I'M THE BABY!! NOT THIS OTHER GUY!"
But Casey...well, Casey is Casey. She was grooming him right away, and he loved it. Adorable.
*sigh*. Looking forward to getting Peepers neutered next week, and finishing the deworming, so he can have the run of the house, and they can work things out amongst themselves.
I think he's a lot younger than we thought at first. Outdoors, he was very affectionate, but seemed very sure of himself, and larger. Now that he's inside, he's reverted to total kitten behaviour, and even acted to Molly like she was a mommy cat (too bad, she grew up with ferrets and dogs, not other cats, so she's scared of cats! We have a house full of dysfunctional cats). :) Now that we've had a better look at his fur, you can see that he has two types of fur on his back, a soft downy part and a more adult, sleek type fur. The vet couldn't tell us how young he was without looking at his teeth (and that wasn't going to happen!!), so she'll check him when he's unconscious for his neutering surgery.
I'll keep everyone posted on his progress. :)
The Family