I took a Lion to the Vet!

[Guest Mutts4Me]

(this isn't off topic, promise)

Yesterday was my day off work. Normal people, when they get their day off from grueling 12-hour days, stay away from the refuge. Not me. I almost always go visit the kitties, without the stress of cleaning up after them, giving tours, and preparing their dinner.

Well, a vet appointment was scheduled for Friday afternoon for Lucky, a lioness, and Alex, a cougar. So I asked if I could go. Got weird looks, but they said yes! The cats have to be sedated before they go so that it's safe for the vet to examine them. Both are having foot issues, and they needed x-rays.

When we pulled up to the vet, some guy standing out there was staring at our trailer, kind of confused. Then he sees our license plate and says "Oh, that explains why it looks like there's a lion tail hanging out the back" So we go look, and sure enough, Lucky's tail is hanging out one of the scrape holes, about 6 inches worth. Hilarious :) And that also explains the excited people in the Subway parking lot when we had stopped for lunch. They were like "What the heck you got in there?" And we said we had cats, but we didn't understand why they were so curious, because it's an unmarked white trailer, specifically to avoid too-curious people. But they must've seen the tail ;)

Anyway, it was very interesting. We were there for several hours, getting all kinds of x-rays done. It was almost as weird as taking my fish to the vet. Except here they know us and aren't surprised by cougars and lions, whereas everyone was puzzled by the girl with the sick fish!

Oh, so I promised this wasn't off topic, and it's not because there were DOGS at the vet :) They have two dogs wandering there, a yellow lab named Ned and an old mix named Leo. Leo was awesome, a light brindle (love brindle). It was hilarious when we first saw him, because he was sitting next to their diluted torti cat - they looked like twins of sorts :)

They also had a dog there that'd just bitten the meter-reader, and the owners wanted the vet to give her her rabies shot and move the date back on the certificate!!! He said no. Oh, and in case someone was wondering, the biter wasn't in the least bit pit bull. I believe she was an Elkhound, though she was a bit smaller than what I thought elkhounds were. She'd just had a litter of pups, so they didn't want to quarantine her. Anyway, they had this dog loose in the clinic, letting her go up to people. Now, I don't like meter-readers, and I'm sure the dog wasn't to blame, but just on general principle, wouldn't you want to have your dog who just bit someone on a leash?? Cute dog, I've always loved the colorings of Keeshonds and Elkhounds. Plus her name was Sasha. This little girl who owned her was obnoxious though, and kept trying to make her do tricks, even though she was obiviously strung out at the moment. Plus she kept asking us stupid questions about the cats.

OKay, just wanted to share all that :) I'm so excited, can you tell!? I just hope Alex and Lucky don't hate me forever because they associate me with them getting poked a bunch of times and knocked out. They're a couple of my favorite kitties.

**okay, I just noticed my post count at 581 and thought that was funny because my birthday is 5/81. It's obviously time for me to go to bed ;)

[mouseatthebusstop]

did you leave the cat in the trailer untill the vet was ready?
trips to the vet are always interesting

[Malamum]

You are so lucky... you really do have the coolest job..... [sighs with jealousy] :D

[Guest Mutts4Me]

I DO have the coolest job :D

I get told that every day, lol, by people who're just dying to pet the kitties and can't. Though just yesterday a woman walked by while we were still cleaning and saw the drain and wheelbarrows full of nasty stuff, and she yelled "Ewww!!!" just like a 3 year old, and said "OKay, maybe I couldn't do this job!" We just stared at her, all of us covered in sweat, dirt, and other gross things, like she was an alien.

The end is coming soon enough, and I'm dreading it, though I'm getting more and more excited about seeing Scooter, Sasha, and the rest of the zoo.

Anyway, the cats stay in the trailer the whole time, unconcious. It's a farm vet, so they're set up with facilities outside so they can examine horses and cattle.

[Guest Anonymous]

aww i'm jealous! i want your cool job!! LOL i've always wanted to work at a zoo or be teacher, but i can't do eaither, with justin in the army, i can't stay in one place long enough to get any schooling done :(