TheBanyanTree: Forgiveness

[Janice Money]

First, have you tried wrapping her like a baby in a towel?  Before she gets to see anyone doing anything related to getting the carrier out?

Second, "rabies booster"!  Wow!  Yeah, I knew you have rabies over there but I managed to forget that in the years since I last saw that movie about the dog.  Can't even remember the name of the movie.  Old Yeller?  And it never occurred to me that cats can get it.  You have that other thing that rodents carry too, hunta virus, hanta virus, something like that.  Maybe, soon, we'll all have ebola.  Now I'm just going to forget about that too.  This morning we had an invasion of ants.  That's enough to worry about for now.

Janice

-----Original Message-----
From: TheBanyanTree [mailto:thebanyantree-bounces at lists.remsset.com] On Behalf Of Tom Smith
Sent: Friday, 29 August 2014 2:16 PM
To: thebanyantree at lists.remsset.com
Subject: TheBanyanTree: Forgiveness

We've had Kizzy 10 years. She has always been spooked about going to the vet. She was due for a rabies booster. It was time to get her in the carrier, a sturdy cardboard box with carrying handles and vent holes. Somehow, she *knew.* She did not want to be picked up. We had her surrounded, which made her panic. 
She made a dash past me and I attempted to grab her. By the scruff of the neck was the plan, but the reality was a black blur of slashing claws, and teeth sunk as deep as they would go, just above my wrist, where the pulse is. Out of the reasoning realm, I tried to pull her off and got the other hand bit and slashed, so I made a move like throwing a bowling ball with two hands and somehow we got free of each other. She disappeared. I had a lot of deep scratches and puncture wounds and pouring-out blood to deal with. The medical advice was to go the the ER.
 
A consequence of ER paperwork was animal bites becoming government business, and Kizzy was quarantined, sort of under house arrest. We caught a brief glimpse of her, the next day, and noticed one of her canine teeth was jutting out at an odd angle. Another emergency. She went back into hiding, but gradually relaxed enough to go for food and water the next day. 
Somehow Barbara, with a combination of charm, bribery and quickness, got her in the carrier, and we were off to a 7/24 Pet Emergency Clinic, Quarantine be damned. Her canine tooth had broken off, but there were other loose teeth. After another veterinary dental appointment, all that could be done, was done for her.
 
Animal Control called 10 days later. I said "Kizzy and I are both fine." That, fortunately, was the end of the public safety issue. I wondered if Kizzy and I would ever be comfortable with each other again. There was nothing to forgive on my part. She had only been instinctively trying to escape. If she never forgave me, I would understand. I wasn't going to push it. She now gives me the honor of sitting on my lap again, like none of this ever happened.

Image at:
www.flickr.com/photos/9482738 at N07/14879555700/