Internet is 20 now (well, we really don't know for sure; he's somewhere
between 18 and 22, so I went with the middle age), and he is bound to
have some problems.  He already has an enlarged heart and asthma.  He's
had a pretty much chronic URI all his life that nothing will end
entirely, in spite of trying everything in the book (steam was the thing
that brought it from a scary level to a 'can-live-with-it' level).

Lately, he's been sneezing and hacking more than normal.  And I was
getting very worried.  So, off to the vet we went.  On the bus.

I've run out of friends with cars, or friends have run out of cars, or
both.  I have one friend with a car, it seems, and she had already run
me to PetSmart to get food and litter.  So she had done her helpful deed
for the month.  As Internet is easygoing (not that he likes travel on
wheels, like all True Cats* ;-), and it was a beautiful, sunny, warm
day, I decided the only option I had was to take him on The Bus.  Not
just one bus, mind you, but three -- each way.

I had fallen the weekend of the Stealing of the Lilies episode, and
wrenched my shoulder.  The cats had decided the cloth carrier (forgotten
under a table) was a great place to poop and pee (grrrrrr), and no
matter what, one washing was not going to clean it, and I couldn't throw
it in the dryer.  So I had to take a plastic carrier.

I knew I couldn't carry it all that way without doing some major damage
to my arm/shoulder.  Inspiration hit me, and I  got out the very small,
light carrier doo-dad my physical therapist had given me at the time of
the move.  It's very lightweight, foldable, and easy to use.  So I
latched the carrier on to that with bungee cords, and tried not to tilt
it very far.

It's amusing to take a cat on buses and watch peoples' reactions.  Some,
the Obviously NOT Cat People, do not look at you or the carrier at all,
but merely frown.  Others aren't sure what to think, and you can catch a
curious glance or a half-smile out of the corner of your eye.  Then
there are the Cat People, of course, who cannot help but have big grins
on their faces, and do everything possible to get a good look inside the
carrier, while whispering "hi, kitty", before launching into questions
about the name and age and all that of the cat.  The bus drivers, of
course, all look like they want to strangle me, but know darn well
animals in carriers *are* allowed on buses.

At any rate, we lucked out on the buses and caught them just right, so
it took a little over 2 hours to get there, as opposed to the
not-lucking-out time of over 3 hours.

Dr. Jenne say him this time (I've kept running into Dr. Miley at all my
last visits for some reason).  I like them both, but it was nice to see
Dr. Jenne for a change.

He was thoroughly checked out, and Internet being Internet, he was a
sweet, easy, good boy for the doctor and Alice the whole time, even when
blood was drawn.  The most worrisome thing to the vet was that he has
lost a lb. and a half since last August.  So we had to do thyroid and
diabetes checks.  His appetite is still excellent, so he didn't think
cancer or kidneys were involved.

Had to wait for the test results, but they came out fine.  Big sigh, big
relief.  He thinks it's old age, basically, and that I should put him on
a better, high caloric-intake food (of course, I just switched them to
the cheaper stuff.  Sigh.  I can't win.).  I do have Cosmo on Purina One
kidney because he has CRF, and has had for nearly 8 years now.  The rest
I've been giving Friskies cheaper-than-anything-but-Dad's food.  It's
dyed, they puke more, their poops stink more; I hate this.  But I am
hoping it is just temporary.  I don't think a few months of Friskies
will kill them.

At any rate, they recommended Purina One as being okay to give him, the
Indoor formula or just the regular Adult.  I got him the regular Adult,
since it looked better in terms of calories and protein than the Indoor,
and I'm introducing it to him slowly.  Hopefully I can get some weight
back on him; he's always been a little guy, but right now he's only
7-1/2 lbs. :-(

At least it wasn't anything major, so that is a huge relief!

Ginger-lyn

*Sabra was a True Cat, but he loved travel.  Go figure.