Something Fishy

I covered a traumatic cat trip to the vets in an earlier blog and I regret to say that time hasn’t soothed the feline’s reaction to travel – they loathe it.  Loudly.

Current circumstances dictate weekly short trips by car for them and honestly, you’d think they were being racked or squeezed and spiked in a medieval iron maiden.  Seriously, these cats have taken complaints to a whole new (voiciferous) level.

Him Outdoors, always so cavalier about managing these things ( which could have something to do with the fact that he never has to!) volunteered to take over their temporary homing.  Involving a four hour car journey for them.

Taking pity on him (actually, in a preservation move to save their lives, cos if they start their chorus with him it’s likely they’ll be abandoned on the side of the road) I trundle off to the vet (sans cats) to discuss sedation and best tactics for a less traumatic journey.  The holistic vet suggests a more natural approach to deliver calm and reduce angst – a salmon flavoured gel pumped onto their food or rubbed on the back of their paws.  At a price equal to a long distance bus ticket, of course, but any port in a storm.

You would think that a cuddle, tickle and paw rub, delivering salmon flavoured goop onto their limbs would delight and please them.  Not so.  Speckle learned to disappear the minute the pump appeared while podgy Anushka, less nimble on her feet, developed an amazing knack for drawing her paws into her body with an iron grip.  Still, enough was wiped onto their fur (and my lap) to hopefully make a difference and they did seem to collapse into a lazy heap and doze more deeply afterwards. 

So much for the practice runs, now for the real deal.  Pump, wipe, drop into the cat carriers.  All good so far, they stare dopily through the mesh.  Place in car, close door and start engine.

“Yooooooowwwwwllll” came from the back seat.  “Meeeeeeeeeooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww” yodelled the carrier next to me.  In a series of unearthly howls we travelled two kilometres.  Once released into their new lodgings, they crawled under the bed and snoozed the day away, exhausted.

Result?  Yes, I’d say so.  If I want the cats to sleep deeply on the couch, this is the remedy.  If the goal is transporting them, the only solution appears to be a brick to the back of the head.