It’s been a bit of a week of it here, Peppar has been off to the animal doctor that mummy and daddy call the vet a few times and he’s not at all happy about it. He doesn’t like the vet at the best of times, last time he was there mummy told me they nicknamed him the velociraptor 🦖! Peppar when he’s not at home with mummy and daddy is a big scaredy-cat cat and he specially gets like that when meeting people he doesn’t know or going anywhere other than being at home with mummy and daddy. Still mummy and daddy were worried about him so off he went.
Well, apparently Peppar wasn’t very well behaved at the vet and wouldn’t let them have a look at him and hissed at them and tried to bite them! He’s not a good like I am, I learnt early on that human vet doctors are there to help and certainly for me they made me feel so much better. I learnt to let them touch and feel me, open my mouth and even take my temperature which is NOT a nice thing to do. Sometimes it’s easier to just let them do what they need to do and get it over and done with. Peppar doesn’t share that view though. This meant that he had to go back again the following day, mummy said they were going to make him go to sleep so they could have a good look at him. The vet didn’t want to risk losing a finger or two as it was his teeth that mummy and daddy were worried about and that he wasn’t putting weight on. So poor Peppar had to go back and then a few days later he had to go back again, I was worried about him and I know mummy and daddy were too, after the first visit he had some bald patches and a nasty sore bit on his neck which he kept scratching and mummy said he was making it red raw, so they had to put on a bandage to stop him scratching until he went back to the vet who could give him a cat onesie to wear like little Angelin had after her lady operation.
Peppar is so scared when he’s not at home that he was sent home with the onesie for mummy and daddy to put on as they didn’t want to make him any more stressed. I think secretly they were scared of him and didn’t want to risk life and limb trying to get it on him. Peppar didn’t like it much but mummy and daddy said he had to have it on until he stopped scratching himself. The said it suited him and he looked really handsome in it. It’s been really hot here the last few days and mummy and daddy were worried about him getting to hot so we’ve been working on how to keep cool.
Peppar normally spends his time sleeping on mummy’s pillow or curled up in his snuggle bed but in his onesie he decided to find a spot up high and out of the way. He went up onto the top of the scratching post where it’s out of the sun and there’s a slight breeze to help keep cool. He still went to keep mummy safe overnight by sleeping on her pillow, it also meant that mummy could keep an eye on Peppar scratching and give his neck a gently rub to stop the itch and try to make him feel better. Every so often they give the saggy tummy part of the onesie a little wiggle to help get some air in but also make sure we have the cool pads out and plenty of water to make sure we can always keep cool.
I don’t like it when Peppar’s poorly as he’s my rock, he’s the one I go to when I need help and support and a snuggle, I’m the only one who’s allowed to snuggle with him other than mummy and daddy. I made sure that I’ve looked after him all week, made sure he’s ok and that the others left him alone and that didn’t pick on him for smelling funny when he got home from the vet or for wearing his onesie. I’ll always protect him, he’s my big brother and my best friend. I even let him have my cardboard box whenever he wanted it. I watched out for him coming back when mummy took him to the vet.
I knew mummy was worried about Peppar too as he kept having to go back for more tests and scans so I took the time to have a cuddle with mummy on the bed. I don’t do this often but I wanted to do it this time to show mummy that everything was ok and just show mummy that I care. I don’t snuggle with mummy very often and it helped me too as we both lay on the bed with mummy stroking me and me licking mummy’s hand and purring.
It all paid off and Peppar’s fine but needs a couple of teeth out (once they’ve done this he’ll only have two left!) which they’ll do in a few weeks, mummy said the vet said he needs time to recover from the stress of all the visits but mummy and daddy think it’s the vets that need time to recover from the stress of having Peppar there! Now he’s back home and he’s had his onesie off I can relax again safe in the knowledge he’s there for me again if I need him. Of course I’ll always be there for him if he needs me but I prefer it the other way round.
Jenny’s Story 