I took my cat Leifur to the vet for his rabies booster and yearly checkup yesterday. The vet and tech were great with him. Leifur didn't want to come out of his carrier. So we put the carrier on the examination table and removed the carrier top. Aside from five seconds on the scale, they were able to do the whole exam on his towel in the carrier bed. Leifur didn't love it (shots--who would?), but they really worked with him to keep the stress level as low as possible.

The worst part of taking Finn to the vet is the car ride. He cries every time, I speed up, slow down, turn - well, pretty much every moment the car exists. Once at the vet, he turns into Mr. Gregarious and loves all the attention he gets from the vet and the techs.

He did try to eat the vet's hair once. She had a good sense of humor about it, though.

Darby shakes like a leaf and winds her leash around my legs until I can't move. Once they get her in the back I think her innate fatalism kicks in and she resigns herself to her impending doom without further protest.

And, that's my cue. She was sitting out on the dock this morning watching the ducks go by, but now she is standing in the doorway looking demandy, which means I need to go put on a bra and outside clothes and head out for a walk.

I can only imagine what poor Zoe would do if someone surprised her that way. Poor Mr. Peabody, he was doing his job. How does he do in a car? I try and take Zoe with me on mundane errands and let her wait in the car. It gets her out and about more and seems to have a calming effect on her. She is restless when I am driving, but super good about waiting in the car.

I am about to drag her to the dog park to give her a much needed bath. She is stinky and shedding. I love the little fenced dog wash area at the park. It makes the task much easier.

Kato gets distressed in the car -- he whines the whole time, unless he can hang his head out the window, which isn't going to happen on the highway. But once we're at the vet, it is PARTY TIME for him. "Oh my god, all these smells! Are there other dogs here?!? Are you going to pet me??? Score! Oh my god YOU HAVE A TREAT FOR ME!!!"

He's always slightly discomfited by the exam/shots, but it's less of "Hey, that hurts STOPPPPP!" and more of a "Do you mind? You are in my personal bubble. We need to talk about boundaries." But he's exceptionally good at the vet.

The cats are another story. Slinky yowls the whole way there, and then at the vet her attitude translates roughly to "I KEEL YOU!!!" Toke just tries to hide in the corner of her carrier, and when she realizes that's fruitless, she goes all boneless, like "Okay, my life is over now. Do what you must." Drama queens.

The cable in my room has been out since Wednesday. My room is where the DVR lives.

Is it possible to move the box to another room? As in maybe just the cable and not the box? I didn't have DVR all summer and it was just torture to have no FF. Commercials are evil. At least since I was in NY I didn't know any of the political candidates so those were less annoying. I watch nothing live at home except sports occasionally. Even then I pause for long segments to have a buffer for FF.

But once we're at the vet, it is PARTY TIME for him. "Oh my god, all these smells! Are there other dogs here?!? Are you going to pet me??? Score! Oh my god YOU HAVE A TREAT FOR ME!!!"

Ah yes, this is Zoe too. She gets very annoyed with me when she can't play with ALL the friends though.

She gets very annoyed with me when she can't play with ALL the friends though.

Yeah, after the exam room door is shut, Kato will lie on the floor with his nose to the door, oh cruel fate that has kept him from the other dogs!

I can't give Mr Peabody credit for its being a warning nip; I think he bit as hard as he could, but she at least jumped away quickly.

My previous two dogs hated the car, because they were convinced that all car rides ended at the vet. Mr Peabody is neutral about the car. He doesn't get excited about car rides, but he jumps right in. He looks around when we're going slow enough for him to see things, and otherwise he sleeps. He likes the vet waiting room, but starts getting anxious when we go back to the exam room, and he shivers in terror on the table.

I had one cat who was hell to take to the vet, because she was so panicked by any kind of carrier that she would stick her head through the smallest of holes and then get stuck. The only thing that worked was to throw her in the car and drive with my fingers crossed.