Pets

She gets one the night before an appointment and another one 2 hours before the appointment. I break open the capsule and mix the contents with a teaspoon of Fancy Feast. I also spray Feliway on a towel and put it in her carrier.

The problem is when she has to have an unscheduled visit and there is no time for the med to take full effect. Fortunately, she is very healthy and unscheduled visits are not common.

That works for simple checkups and vaccination visits. She can be distracted in the exam room with treats while being examined or getting a quick jab.

But it does not work as well when she needs a more thorough exam of something specific, like the time she had an eye infection and the vet needed to hold her close while opening the eye to put drops in.

It does not work at all for clipping her claws. She gets totally outraged over having her paws held and having anything done to them. They have to sedate her for that and a $20 nail clipping becomes a $100 or more visit.

When I was out of town visiting relatives, I boarded her at the vet's for a week. I hoped that a week of being fed and talked to by their staff, plus getting acclimated to the sounds and smells would make her more comfortable there. It did not.

When I returned, they told me that she had alternated between depression when alone and ferocity (growling, hissing, claws out) when they approached, even with food. They gave her Gabapentin but it did not help.

The vet assistant asked me to go with her to get Ember from her cage. It was a pitiful sight. Ember was in a back corner of the cage where she had completely buried herself under a blanket. All that was visible was the lump that her body formed.

I called Ember's name and the blanket moved slightly. It was like she had given up and did not believe that she had really heard my voice. I spoke again and she peeked out at us. When she saw me, she wiggled out from the blanket and came to the cage door, rubbing against it as I poked my fingers inside. When I put my fingers through the cage door holes, the vet assistant drew in her breath and said, "Be careful."

But Ember purred. I held open the carrier door and the vet assistant opened the cage. Ember quickly, peacefully went into the carrier.

At home, she examined every room and rubbed her scent on everything. She did not let me out of her sight for days. I felt guilty for having left her there for a week.