Our new game plan was to use what worked during last year's ear debacle (tightly wrapping him in a towel and not using the car kennel) and layer on a ThunderShirt and pharmaceuticals. So I found him a large cat-sized ThunderShirt and we practiced the day before our vet visit.
The ThunderShirt was invented as a device to comfort dogs who are unnerved by loud thunderstorms or other loud noises. There is something about the light compression of the "shirt" that makes them feel supported and calm.
Elvis, looking disgusted at wearing his shirt ...
Some time after these ThunderShirts came on the market, people were reporting that their dogs - and later cats - were experiencing less anxiety in a variety of situations ... storms ... separation anxiety ... riding in the car, etc.
Dr. Rose and I also decided to experiment with "pharmaceutically enhancing" Elvis' public persona with 1/2 of a magic happy cat pill. The happy cat pill would normally "knock out" a regular cat, but it only "took the edge" of of our Elvis. Thankfully, it was enough!
Here he is in the car - sans car kennel, as that seems to make him LIVID on trips to the vet. Why he lounges around in it headed to the beach is beyond me ...
We had a good vet visit - Dr. Rose looked in his ears, looked at his teeth (!!!), poked around on his belly and vaccinated him without one swipe of the claws. He did get off a few threatening hisses at a vet tech that I tried to warn. Of course, the next one in the room he happily let pet him on the head.
We left, legally compliant and vaccinated, and Elvis was quite relieved when we pulled into the garage.
Unfortunately, two weeks later, we were back to see Dr. Rose because I discovered a strange, hard knot on the outer edge of Elvis' right wrist. It feels like a deformed or damaged joint, but after much inspection and a series of x-rays it was determined that he (somehow) damaged the wrist, resulting in a "jutting out" of fluid/cartilage from the joint, which formed this knot. The radiologist said osteoarthritis has set in the joint and there were signs of healing in one of the bones, but the actual joint is not damaged. Overall good news.
Although it seems tender and bothers him off and on, it's not really slowing him down and hasn't gotten any larger. Hoping to avoid any type of surgery to remove it, since he isn't the best patient. I'll spare you all the details of how we got the x-rays, but let's just say it was a team effort between me and the vet techs!
As a side note, Denny also went to the vet and was his usual pleasant self. Scared of them poking around on him, but never misbehaving!
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