xiao mao

Right. I took Xiao Mao to the vet. I was planning on leaving her and coming back when the surgery was over, but they told me to sit and wait in the completely vacant examining/waiting room. Before they took her back, I asked if she was a girl or a boy. One vet said girl another said boy....I should have known then that this whole Chinese vet thing was a bad idea. They took her to the back room and a few minutes later I heard her screaming bloody murder. I jumped up and ran to the back room--they must be de-clawing her awake! By the time I got back there, her scream intensified. I am a horrible pet owner, I told myself. When I finally pushed through the crowd of assistants and vets surrounding Xiao Mao, I realized they were only clipping her claws and she was being a complete baby.....ahhhhh....though, quite glad they weren't de-clawing her awake, I still wanted to make sure they were, at some point planning on de-clawing her. When the difference between clipping claws and taking claws out was finally established, the group of Chinese vets gasped in horror at the inhuman thought of removing a cats' claws (no smart remarks Patrick)...."We don't do that in China" I was told (well, call George W. up, the Chinese have trouble with human rights, but they sure have animal rights down).
Next was her shots. I can't imagine how a parent ever lives through taking his or her child for shots. Xiao Mao had three injections in her extra-neck-skin-spot. Each time she let out the most human-like scream I have ever heard from an animal.....it was if she was getting a spinal tap. I mean, my cat at home cries when she goes to the vet, but it is just because she is scared, she barely notices the shots at all. So, this torture thing was new to me. Apparently I was overdue for an emotional break-down because I started sobbing in the examining/waiting room while all the Chinese vets watched fascinated at the crazy foreigner and her screaming cat. I eventually pulled myself and my cat together and left. I am sure I left them with the impression that all Americans have an unhealthy dependency the comfort of their pet. Unfortunately, she has follow-up shots in two weeks!!!