vagner is having a bit of eye trouble. he had an infection a few weeks ago. we took him to the vet, he got shots, antibiotic pills, and eye drops. everything looked like it cleared up. but you know cats - they're never what you think they are - and infections - which tend to be persistent these days. it came back late last week. we used the drops, which seemed to keep the infection from getting worse but wasn't making it go away, much to vagner's distress (he really isn't down with the football hold or having things dumped in his eye). by sunday it became obvious he had to go back to the vet.

we decided it was time to get a cat carrier.

unlike roro, vagner likes his claws. roro, for all her independence and "humans suck" attitude, protects her humans by keeping all claws in their upright position when playing or trying not to be held. perhaps she just doesn't like the idea of blood, but it is something we all have appreciated in the big, strong, muscle heavy cat. vagner, on the other hand, loooooooooooooves his claws. claws are good. claws get results, like making people jump, getting him loose, and making pretty red streaks whenever he wants. claws are fun! claws must be used all the time in vagner think. so, rather than risking a vagner escape, we decided it was time for a cat carrier.

the carrier is this cheap, put it together yourself, god awful plastic green colored thing - chosen, of course, by the children who apparently didn't look for beige or brown or something not so plastic green. children sent to the store are the grab it an go kind of people, if they can't see it they get something similar or call you 15 times until they still just grab something similar because they still can't see what you're talking about (it is a phone conversation, after all). we put the carrier together and and set it out for the cats to inspect and explore. the carrier got all the attention of a piece of uninteresting non-cat furniture (defined as something that can't lay on and shed fur onto to sharpen claws with).

while waiting for our ride to the vet yesterday, we put vagner in the carrier so we could be ready to go when the ride arrived. now, vagner is a very loud kitty when he's an unhappy kitty and is not at all shy about it. he lets you know right away he's unhappy. he doesn't try to get out of your arms then vocalize his displeasure, oh no. no, vagner goes straight to the yowling. LOUD yowling. and the longer he's inconvenienced, the louder the yowls. vagner could raised the dead with those yowls. and all that yelling gets roro's attention, and she suddenly finds the piece of non-cart furniture all that much more interesting. she even attempted to jail break with her paws. she didn't seem too distressed to find something she wasn't strong enough to do, but continued to explore and sniff, and climb over, the carrier, all the whole poking at the holes with her paws.

we get through the vet thing, manage to get him back in the carrier with less trouble than expected (head first and pushing him in with both hands), and get him home. disgruntled because he's been given more shots, and eye ointment this time, and a suspension antibiotic, once let out of the carrier off he shot.

and roro, our box loving kitten, wanders on over and inspects the carrier again. she climbs in and climbs out and climbs on top of it a few times. somehow, vagner being locked up in the carrier turned it from non-cat furniture into cat furniture, despite vagner's jail term being completely involuntary. pleased to have found a box with walls that prevent vagner from climbing into her box with her or decided to lay with her head while she tries to sleep, she climbs back in the carrier and lays down. settled, she looks around, then pokes a paw out and tries to shut the door. saxy, being a good human, helped out and shut the door. then, being a bad human, picked it up with her inside and carried her around a bit. other than one of those "bad human!" glares, she is completely unfazed. he sets it down and opens the door, only to have her again attempt to shut the door with her paw.

we have such bizarre animals.