Hi, all. In my last post, I said there would be another story after we had breakfast at JCo. It turns out that the last post was a month ago and since then I have "disappeared" because many things have happened IRL. I'm not sure if anyone noticed my absence. Ha ha…
Anyway, I'll carry on with my extremely belated story. It's about our experience of cat grooming at the vet clinic for the first time.
Why don't we do it ourselves? There are several reasons why:
- Neither my husband nor I can clip a cat's claws. Especially to a fierce cat like Rainy. We know he's aggressive, so we want him to be handled by a pro.
- A few months earlier, my neighbor had helped us to clip Rainy's claws. At that time, she, who usually grooming her own cats, seemed to be struggling to clip Rainy's. He was too aggressive and got mad back then. Although in the end, the mission was accomplished. But I guess she won't do that again.
- A few days earlier, we were renovating our little third floor, replacing the broken wooden floors and getting rid of old items. Although it was a little renovation, there is a lot of dirt and dust in the house. Rainy had time to play near the dirty things. So we thought he needed a complete grooming package (bathed, ears cleaned, claws clipped, paw fur shaved).
- Rainy will be sterilized a week after. So we thought he needed to clean up before his big day.
So, cat grooming at the vet clinic, it sounds like a good plan, right?
That Saturday morning, we went to the vet to entrust Rainy there for a grooming session. The grooming session was supposed to be 3 hours, so we went to J.Co for breakfast and working while waiting for Rainy's grooming session to finish.
But, an hour later, I got a message along with a video from the vet's staff.
[ENG Translation]
Vet: Good morning, ma'am. We're sorry we couldn't bathe Rainy the cat, because he's stressed, very aggressive and attacking. We're worried that if we keep doing it, his stress will get worse. Thank you.
Me: Oh no, he got mad, didn't he?
Vet: That's right 🙏🏻
Vet: You can pick him up now, so he won't get more stressed because of the long wait at the clinic.
Me: I'm sorry to bother you 🙏
Me: OK. We're on our way there
Vet: It's okay, thank you
The video showed my cat hissing and resisting being bathed, scared of the sound of water and unfamiliar places and faces. Poor thing :(
(If you want to see the video, feel free to see it on my Instagram post.)
Well, it turns out that even in the hands of the pros, Rainy is still difficult to control. To avoid Rainy being more stressed and more aggressive, the grooming session was canceled. So, we picked up Rainy at the vet and went straight home.
At home, we clean Rainy with a special wet tissue for pets. Luckily, he's okay with the wet wipes. He's also often self-grooming, so his fur is kept clean.
That was our first experience of cat grooming at a vet clinic, that ended with an epic fail. It looks like we have to learn and be brave to bathe and clip our own cat's claws.
Thanks for dropping by. Have a nice day!
All pictures are mine, taken with Redmi Note 10s