Like gerbils and créme brûlée...
I was reminded of this story while writing a comment to NMJ on her post about finding her new moisturizer smelled like bubble gum.
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When my cats were still just tiny kittens with eyes of blue, I had to take them to the vet a lot to get vaccines and such. At one point, I was given a vial of pink fluid and some plastic eyedroppers and told to administer a dose of the liquid to the cats by mouth twice a day.
"Will this be something they'll fight me on?" I asked the bubbly veterinary assistant. I have had experiences before where dishing out medicine involved cornering the animal and forcing it down their throat because they hate it so much. I was wondering if I should purchase falconer's gloves to protect my skin from supernaturally sharp kitten claws.
I'm sure I meant "on which they'll fight me," but she was kind enough to not point out my error.
"Oh, no," the very sweet, very empty girl informed me. "It tastes just like bubble gum!"
"Ah, yes," I replied dryly as she beamed back at me. "Everyone knows how much cats love bubble gum."
I wondered if she worked there in the pet clinic because the uniform was so close to being pajamas.
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Weirdly, I searched the entire internet and was unable to come up with an image of a cat blowing a bubble with which to illustrate this post. Does that seem right to you?
13 comments:
Moon, do you think the sweet, empty pyjama'd girl had perhaps tasted the pink medicine?
I think there is a connection between the pajama outfits and living in a world where one thinks cats actually enjoy bubble gum. Wait a minute, did this "woman" have a tail?
NMJ: I think she must have. Otherwise, wouldn't she have said it smelled like bubble gum?
GT: No tail. Now I'm just confused. Are you implying that she was a cat herself? Because then the gum comment seems to make even less sense.
My head hurts.
I was actually thinking "dog."
I just realized giving a pet, such as a cat medicine is probably just as difficult as trying to give a baby medicine they don't want. It is amazing, even at a very young age, how well a baby can coordinate head, hand, and foot movements in such a way to make administering medicine impossible.
I guess the only thing easier with a baby is that they can't really bite or scratch you like a cat, though they can poop on you :)
GT: Ah. Makes perfect sense now.
Struggly: They can't bite yet, but they remember all of the medicine, and that's why they behave so badly in adolescence.
Also: do not rub your baby's throat to encourage swallowing. Pretty sure that's a bad idea.
Really? No pictures? I thought you could get anything on the net by now!
My cat is in disgrace (again) - he has been drinking beer. He once blew bubbles with Guinness froth. Does that count?
Dogs seem to take medicine pretty well, as long as you hide it in something yummy...cats are wiley though, and aren't easily fooled.
I wondered if she worked there in the pet clinic because the uniform was so close to being pajamas.
Maht, I smiled at that. Among my many onerous duties as a teacher of English at a Japanese university, I am responsible for teaching a couple of classes of 1st and 2nd-tear nursing students (about 95% of whom are young women fresh out of highschool--a tough job, yes, but I manage...).
Anyway, every year I get them to fill out a short survey, and one question asks, "Why do you want to become a nurse?" Every year there are always one or two who answer, "Because I like the costume."
I always have to get explicit written directions from the vet after that whole incident when the cat was on birth control and I wore a cone on my head for a week.
Starr: I know! I was really pretty disappointed for a minute there.
Minx: I don't know if it counts. I'm really terribly confused by the whole idea. I'm sure your cat is in the right.
SilverN: They never fall for the old "coin behind the ear" trick either.
Kyklops: Thanks for confirming my suspicions. Please tell me that most of the people who would write that will never be my nurse for any reason.
Mist1: It was for your own good. No use sulking.
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