It was quite an adventure with these three.  Glad I only have to do that ONE
a year (this was for their yearly checkup & shot)

They were actually due last month, but we , erm, overspent on a picture
window for the back porch - TED said a month late won't matter since they're
indoor cats.

So I had three carriers out, opened and ready for their recipients.  No
sooner than I had set them down, Ernie was in one.  It is a BOX, after all.
He switched carriers at least once that I know of between the time I got the
carriers out and the time of the appointment.  When it was time to go, Ernie
was easy - just closed the carrier.

Mimi was another thing.  She wanted to play chase (yes, the little
butterball does more than lay around and eat all day), and when I finally
caught her, and get her to the carrier, Bam-Bam had the audacity to dart
into the carrier just before I tried to get Mimi in, so of course Mimi
didn't like that and squirmed and wiggled away.  And played chase-me again.
Fortunately, she wore her little tubby self out with the first round and was
much easier to catch this time.  And no Bam-Bam in the carrier, so Mimi went
in casually.

Then came Moe.  However, all the ruckus of corralling Mimi sent Moe into
hiding.  I looked in some of the usual places.  No Moe (LOL).  I didn't feel
like getting down on my hands and knees to look under bed(s) and sofa, so I
resorted to one of the "Moe Calls".  I got out one of the laser pointers.
This one is one of the short 'bullet' shaped one, attached to a key ring and
a clip.  These attachments make it jingle.  Moe recognizes that and knows
that upon hearing the jingle, the red dot greebling soon appears.  Sure
enough, no sooner had I removed it from it's hook, and, jingling it all the
while, walked from the back porch into the dining room (a whopping 5
steps!), Moe was poking her head out from under the sofa!  I lured her out
further with the red dot.  I let her hunt it for a couple of minutes, as I
walked closer & closer.  Then I nabbed her :D.  I go to put her in the
carrier.  She does *not* want to go, and pushes the carrier *away* from her
as I try to push her in!  I end up putting the carrier against a chair leg
(while still holding a fussy-cussy-squirmy Moe), and get her in.

I load all three into my dinky Jeep (next time I need to take more than one
critter to TED at the same time, I will remind DH to take the Jeep to work
and leave me the larger Land Rover :D), Mimi & Ernie in the back seat, Moe
in the front seat.  I proceed to drive the whole 1.2 miles to TED's office
(wow, 5 minutes unless you get the red lights on the way!), and get a
serenade in 3-part harmony all the way there.  Sometimes, it's even
*synchronized* 3-part harmony.  I thought, maybe, just maybe, the radio
tuned to easy-listening would calm them.

Nope - they just wailed louder, just in case I couldn't hear them over the
music (and I would never dare turn a radio on to my normal level with
critters in the car - their ears are much more sensitive than mine).

I get to the vet and take the cats in, one at a time, leaving my purse in
the Jeep (on the floorboard of the driver's side for 'security' reasons).
there was a lady with a 5-6 year old boy with her leaving with their cat as
I took one cat in.  Little boy was very curious about my cat, what was wrong
with it.... As they were leaving, I opened the door for them (my Mama
teached me good), and explain that nothing is wrong, it's just time for
their yearly checkup and shots, and told them that I have *two* more cats to
bring in.  As I'm taking the third cat (and my purse) in, a very
skuzzy-fuzzy-looking (and probably smelly, but I wasn't about the test
*that*) homeless man ambles past.  I know Bloomington has homeless &
whatnot, but I didn't expect him *there*.  He complimented me on the cool
pet carrier (I have one of these
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12435&Ntt=samsonit
e&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
and one that is older, leather & has 3 zippered doors (one end, the top,
and one side) and 2 zippered pockets (one end and also on the side that
opens), while the nylon one has 2 doors and one pocket that has no closure -
I got them as they have shoulder straps, handy with hefty kitties like
Tennessee & Ernie), and asked what they cost (about $40-50).  I am polite to
him, but as I don't want to be late for the appointment, and I have
"abandoned" the other two cats in the waiting room whilst I retrieved #3, I
scurry into the clinic (but he did creep me out) before the conversation
goes any further.

Inside the clinic, the 3-part harmony has died down to an occasional "mew?",
mostly from Ernie.  Ernie has an itty-bitty squeaky voice (except when
participating in the aforementioned 3-part harmony), especially for such a
big boy (we'll get to his weight later).  Mimi and Moe have decided that
quiet is better, and have tried to hide in the back of their carriers.

This is a very small, one-vet clinic.  The main vet, Dr. Michael, died last
year (almost a year ago!!!), leaving the business to his wife Lynne (the
main vet tech), and they have a couple of temporary vets coming in, retired
from their normal business, but kept their licenses active, until they find
a suitable permanent vet (I guess that means that they are looking for one
who loves animals as much as Micheal did, and won't want to change
everything and will accept Lynne as his *boss*, and who is also not in it
for the money, as so many are nowadays).

Anyway, the Dr. on duty Thursday is Dr. Larry (whose last name is
unpronounceable French), and he's a friendly guy.  He helped me bring all
three carriers into the exam room (I remember when I used to be able to fit
all four*** of these siblings in *one* carrier).

The first to be checked over was Moe.  When Dr. Micheal was still alive, she
was the last patient he saw before he went into the hospital :(.  He called
her "juicy"!  Dr. Larry agreed with that description, saying she is the
perfect size for a kitty cat (now Moe is lording it over everyone!),
weighing in at 8 lbs 12 oz. I always find it amazing that cats who won't go
*in* the carrier at home, won't come *out* of the carrier at TED's.  Moe was
in the only hardsided carrier that I used today, and decided that she would
hook her back leg, at the knee joint, behind the hinge on the door, so as I
pulled her out of the carrier, she came half way out, then drug the carrier
behind.  Took me a minute but I disengaged her leg from the carrier door,
and out she came, cowering like a fraidy-cat (pun intended).  Since we
occasionally get mice or other rodents in the house, I had them wormed, and
she took her medicine like a good girl.
She got her shot, while trying to hide in my armpit, the silly girl.  When
her exam was finished, I put her carrier up on the exam counter, and she
went in it like it was her home!  And hid at the back.  Poor little
tater-head ;)

Next came Mimi, our butterball.  She came out of the carrier OK, and weighed
in at a whopping 13lbs 13oz!  And her frame is the same as Moe's :(.  Poor
Mimi.  Dr. Larry *tried* to feel if Mimi's organs were normal, but he was
barely able to because of all her, erm, padding!  Then it was time for her
wormer.  She spit out the pill *4* times (he had that pill half-way down her
throat at least twice, and still she managed), yowled, screamed and spit at
him.  Fortunately, I was holding her and she didn't use her claws!  Since
she wouldn't take her pill, she got a dewormer *shot* instead!  She ran back
into her carrier when it was offered to her.

Then Ernie.  He strolled casually out of the carrier, and wanted to inspect
the exam room.  He weighed in at 16lbs, 9oz!  He's big - not too much fat on
him.  Since he grunts and wheezes occasionally - even snores! - I asked Dr.
Larry to take extra care when listening to his lungs, just in case Ernie has
asthma.  He took a listen and determined that he doesn't have asthma, but
possibly allergies, or maybe even he's grown too big for his own lungs!!!!!
I think it's the latter rather than the former as he only does it when he's
getting lurved and smurgled, and purring - you know how cats seem to be
hyperventilating while purring?  I think that brings it on.  Not too worried
about the snoring, as I do that too!  And so does Ping.... And D!!!!!  He
took his wormer meds like a *man* and didn't even notice the shots!!!!
Getting Ernie back into the carrier was a bit tricky as he was waning to
explore!  He's not shy, that big lug!

Then Dr. Larry helped me carry them back to the dinky Jeep.  And load them!

Back inside as I was paying ($200 - ouch!  Hurt me more than the shots hurt
the kitties!), another volunteer from the Humane Assoc. popped her head into
the door, saying "I thought that was *your* Jeep!  I hope all your kitties
are OK!". She's so sweet - and we never really get together except at other
HA functions.  I had to re-assure her that they were all fine, just that it
was time for yearly checkups for a couple of them, then we chatted for a
bit, and I told her about Missy, and her getting a new home (on the 20th! -
2 days shy of her 1 year annifursary with us!).  And yes, we will miss her,
but we think it's better for her to be an only cat, so we are sadly letting
her go.

And then I got to drive home, again serenaded with a 3-part kitty harmony
LOL!

***For those of you that are new here (or don't remember), there were four
siblings that we snatched away from their feral MamaKat before they
themselves could become feral.  When they were first brought into our home
we called them Eenie, Meanie (she was continuously hissing at me for the
first 12 hours, but she was so small I could barely hear the hisses), Miney
and Moe.  Their names morphed as they grew up into Ernie, Mimi, Minnie and
Moe.  Minnie we adopted out to a nursing student in Greenwood (about a 1/2
hour north of us), but DH cried over her - even though he wasn't home when
she went to her new forever home, & demanded that we keep the others.