Ah, life with cats
Yesterday, I got dragged out of bed and sent in to work 2 hours early because the bartender called in a panic saying that none of the computers in the restaurant could load our point of sale program. A few weeks ago, something weird happened to the other bartender, where the computers spontaneously uninstalled the program. The icons vanished from the computer desktops, the program folder was gone from the start menu, everything. Just wiped off, for no apparent reason. That time I had to go in at about 8:00 at night and install it again. So, assuming this is what happened again, Mom got me up and told me "the restaurant computers lost Jonas again. You have to go in and fix them, because they have a breakfast going on and Courtney needs to be able to ring them up!" It's not even 8:00am at this point. I normally work at 10am. I am not a morning person, so this did not make me happy.
I get there, go to the bar computer, and... the icon is right there. The program is still in the start menu. On all the computers. WTF? I try to start it and get a message that it can't access the server. Turns out the server froze again and needed to be rebooted. It does this all the time. All you have to do is go into the server room, shut it down and restart it. ANYONE can do this. Normally the guys in the pro shop do it, but they were closed that day for course maintenance, so they weren't there. I thought all the bartenders knew this, so I'm a little confused why she didn't try that before calling. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. It was just a weird fluke that it happened on one of the rare days the pro shop wasn't open. My bad luck.
So anyway, because of this, and because they're closed again today, Mom told me to take today off. Woo! This is good, because I'm always happy for an opportunity to sleep in, and on Sunday I'm going to have to get up at 9:00 to go visit a friend in St. Petersburg. I slept till 11 and it was lovely.
But on to today's tale. I realized the other day that I've been too lax with my cats' health. Kate and Ana were due for their yearly checkup and shots back in April, and the kittens (who are nearly a year and a half old now) were due last month. In the past, I never worried too much about the shots because the cats are always indoors, and because we were told that sometimes those shots can actually cause problems with cats later in life. Our vet thought that the reason our old cat, Midnight, ended up with whatever it was that killed him when he was only 12 was because of the yearly shots. Ginger, on the other hand, didn't get shots because she was too wild, and lived to be 17. So after doing the math, I was content to not worry about shots anymore. Problem is, they have indirect contact now with Piglet and Fuzzy, which means they might be exposed to things those shots protect against. Better safe than sorry, so I made an appointment to take Buffy and Princess in today and get them done. (I did them first because their vet is cheaper, and I wanted to see how much it would cost so I could decide if I should take Kate and Ana there next, rather than go back to their expensive vet, who charged $220 the last time I brought them both in for the yearly deal.)
I wasn't looking forward to this, because Princess is impossible to wrangle into a carrier. Usually, there is blood shed. But in the past, we've always managed it eventually. Today? Not so much.
I picked her up and carried her into the other room, where the carrier was waiting (one of those soft-sided ones that zips in two places). At this point, she wasn't suspicious, so she was fine with being toted around. But as soon as I scruffed her and dropped her into the carrier, she sprung back out before I could eve reach for the lid's zipper. Out like a shot, across the house and behind my parents' bed. *facepalm* So much for the element of surprise.
We closed all the other doors to limit her hiding places, used a broom to get her out of the bedroom, closed that door as well, and proceeded to chase her all over the house. Back and forth, around and under everything. That little cat is like a bullet when she wants to be. It's like trying to catch a greased pig. Scratch that: a greased pig armed with razor-sharp knives. Finally, we wore her down enough that she kind of gave in for a second and let me pick her up again. This time, we had the other carrier ready (the big plastic one with the wire door). Easier to hold the door closed on her with that one, and roomier for the two cats. I scruffed her again, dropped her in and slammed the door. Success! She immediately started to wail, which broke my heart. She's usually a really quiet cat. Probably a leftover trait from being born feral. She squeaks softly now and then but otherwise never makes a peep. Until you trap her in a carrier, then she howls at the top of her lungs.
Next was Buffy. We always wait until we have Princess before going for her, because she's easier to nab. Dad got her, scruffed her and I opened the carrier door long enough for him to drop her in. I had thought that having Buffy dropped onto her head would keep Princess inside the carrier long enough for us to slam the door shut. In the past, it has been. This time? Again I say, not so much. She shot up and out the door before Buffy was even inside. Dad dropped Buffy and I closed the door, but now Princess was loose again. And this time, she found a hiding spot. We couldn't find her anywhere. We were going to be late for the appointment, so after looking under and behind everything we could and coming up empty, we gave up and brought Buffy in alone. Poor thing, she did not like being by herself in that carrier. She howled all the way there in the car. :(
The appointment took about 15 minutes, because it was just the shots. I suppose I could have paid extra for a full exam, but it didn't seem necessary. It was more than half the price of our other vet, so I will definitely be taking Kat e & Ana to him from now on. I know the more expensive vet does full exams and fecal tests, and I'm sure that's important, but right now, I really only care that their shots are up to date. Last time it cost me over $200 for the two of them. Now I have four, so the cheaper the better! And it's not like this vet doesn't do exams. If I'd asked, he would have. But I'm trying to save money, so I didn't ask.
We found Princess after we got home, cowering inside this wood box we're using as a plant stand. I didn't even realize it was hollow. Poor baby. She's behind my bed now, and if she comes out and lets us grab her before 5:30, we'll bring her in. Otherwise I'll have to try again tomorrow, I suppose.
I still can't believe we had her twice and lost her both times. We should have known better and used 2 carriers once we had her in the plastic one. Oh well. Hindsight and all that.
ETA: Managed to haul Princess out from behind the bed and brought her in. Naturally, she's all calm and limp at the vet. She even slunk back into the carrier of her own free will afterwards, and once I got her home and put it on my bed and opened it, she refused to come out of it. Silly girl.
I get there, go to the bar computer, and... the icon is right there. The program is still in the start menu. On all the computers. WTF? I try to start it and get a message that it can't access the server. Turns out the server froze again and needed to be rebooted. It does this all the time. All you have to do is go into the server room, shut it down and restart it. ANYONE can do this. Normally the guys in the pro shop do it, but they were closed that day for course maintenance, so they weren't there. I thought all the bartenders knew this, so I'm a little confused why she didn't try that before calling. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. It was just a weird fluke that it happened on one of the rare days the pro shop wasn't open. My bad luck.
So anyway, because of this, and because they're closed again today, Mom told me to take today off. Woo! This is good, because I'm always happy for an opportunity to sleep in, and on Sunday I'm going to have to get up at 9:00 to go visit a friend in St. Petersburg. I slept till 11 and it was lovely.
But on to today's tale. I realized the other day that I've been too lax with my cats' health. Kate and Ana were due for their yearly checkup and shots back in April, and the kittens (who are nearly a year and a half old now) were due last month. In the past, I never worried too much about the shots because the cats are always indoors, and because we were told that sometimes those shots can actually cause problems with cats later in life. Our vet thought that the reason our old cat, Midnight, ended up with whatever it was that killed him when he was only 12 was because of the yearly shots. Ginger, on the other hand, didn't get shots because she was too wild, and lived to be 17. So after doing the math, I was content to not worry about shots anymore. Problem is, they have indirect contact now with Piglet and Fuzzy, which means they might be exposed to things those shots protect against. Better safe than sorry, so I made an appointment to take Buffy and Princess in today and get them done. (I did them first because their vet is cheaper, and I wanted to see how much it would cost so I could decide if I should take Kate and Ana there next, rather than go back to their expensive vet, who charged $220 the last time I brought them both in for the yearly deal.)
I wasn't looking forward to this, because Princess is impossible to wrangle into a carrier. Usually, there is blood shed. But in the past, we've always managed it eventually. Today? Not so much.
I picked her up and carried her into the other room, where the carrier was waiting (one of those soft-sided ones that zips in two places). At this point, she wasn't suspicious, so she was fine with being toted around. But as soon as I scruffed her and dropped her into the carrier, she sprung back out before I could eve reach for the lid's zipper. Out like a shot, across the house and behind my parents' bed. *facepalm* So much for the element of surprise.
We closed all the other doors to limit her hiding places, used a broom to get her out of the bedroom, closed that door as well, and proceeded to chase her all over the house. Back and forth, around and under everything. That little cat is like a bullet when she wants to be. It's like trying to catch a greased pig. Scratch that: a greased pig armed with razor-sharp knives. Finally, we wore her down enough that she kind of gave in for a second and let me pick her up again. This time, we had the other carrier ready (the big plastic one with the wire door). Easier to hold the door closed on her with that one, and roomier for the two cats. I scruffed her again, dropped her in and slammed the door. Success! She immediately started to wail, which broke my heart. She's usually a really quiet cat. Probably a leftover trait from being born feral. She squeaks softly now and then but otherwise never makes a peep. Until you trap her in a carrier, then she howls at the top of her lungs.
Next was Buffy. We always wait until we have Princess before going for her, because she's easier to nab. Dad got her, scruffed her and I opened the carrier door long enough for him to drop her in. I had thought that having Buffy dropped onto her head would keep Princess inside the carrier long enough for us to slam the door shut. In the past, it has been. This time? Again I say, not so much. She shot up and out the door before Buffy was even inside. Dad dropped Buffy and I closed the door, but now Princess was loose again. And this time, she found a hiding spot. We couldn't find her anywhere. We were going to be late for the appointment, so after looking under and behind everything we could and coming up empty, we gave up and brought Buffy in alone. Poor thing, she did not like being by herself in that carrier. She howled all the way there in the car. :(
The appointment took about 15 minutes, because it was just the shots. I suppose I could have paid extra for a full exam, but it didn't seem necessary. It was more than half the price of our other vet, so I will definitely be taking Kat e & Ana to him from now on. I know the more expensive vet does full exams and fecal tests, and I'm sure that's important, but right now, I really only care that their shots are up to date. Last time it cost me over $200 for the two of them. Now I have four, so the cheaper the better! And it's not like this vet doesn't do exams. If I'd asked, he would have. But I'm trying to save money, so I didn't ask.
We found Princess after we got home, cowering inside this wood box we're using as a plant stand. I didn't even realize it was hollow. Poor baby. She's behind my bed now, and if she comes out and lets us grab her before 5:30, we'll bring her in. Otherwise I'll have to try again tomorrow, I suppose.
I still can't believe we had her twice and lost her both times. We should have known better and used 2 carriers once we had her in the plastic one. Oh well. Hindsight and all that.
ETA: Managed to haul Princess out from behind the bed and brought her in. Naturally, she's all calm and limp at the vet. She even slunk back into the carrier of her own free will afterwards, and once I got her home and put it on my bed and opened it, she refused to come out of it. Silly girl.