vilakins | Claudia and Tessa at the vet

Both the girls are at the vet. :-(

Claudia had gingivitis a couple of months ago which responded well to antibiotics, but they said she had to have her teeth scaled. T took her in for blood tests last month and she was a little dehydrated so they kept her for a day to test that: she has some kidney problems, fairly treatable with diet, but they wanted her the night before an operation so they could start her on fluids early.

Tessa's had a cough and we took her in last week. The vet could hear a wheeze, but said she really needs chest x-rays to show up what the problem is; it may be lungs or heart (both of which will probably be treatable with drugs). :-( And an x-ray requires anaesthetic too, to immobilise the cat. After all, the techs can't hold them because they'd get too much exposure.

I lost a previous cat under anaesthetic while she was having her teeth done. OK, she had a weak heart no one knew about, they didn't do pre-op blood tests then, and anaesthetics are a lot better now and designed for cats, but I still worry. So we just took both of them in together to cut down on my worry time.

In other cat news, Tessa saw a cat twice her size off the property last weekend in no uncertain terms, and you should have seen the look on Vic's face as he watched from behind the safety of the front door. Vic often chases Tessa himself (more playfully than not, but it upsets her), but he was cowering. Now he's seen that side of her, he might respect her a little more.