Don't forget to hug your vet!

We took a rare trip to the vet today with our Zarley. She had developed sores/spots all over her backside and belly and was starting to pull out all her ass hair again, after enjoying a nice lush Summer. Zarley is a special cat, which is to say, she's a little...special. She has never quite mastered the litter box, for instance, digging a hole and getting in there and then pooping over the side onto the floor... and she still suckles, leaving holes and big wet spots on my shirt when I hold her. She even got STUCK IN HEAT once, which is another story for another time...
So as I was typing... every year Zarley ocd-like starts to pull out all the hair on her back end. But she's never had spots like this before. So we brought her in to the Danvers Animal Hospital, where they took excellent care of our Pip a few years back. Our doc was absolutely wonderful- gentle and respectful of Zarley and of us- I've visited vets who treated me like an absolute dunce and some who have been rough and gruff with the cats, and I am not a fan. Today's vet gave Zarley lots of love and praised her for her beauty and sweetness, and praised us for raising her up pretty well. Even while they were squeezing her anal glands (!) they were cooing about how beautiful she is, and what big paws she has. I bet they tell all the cats that they're beautiful, but still, a big part of me wants to believe they really meant it.
We generally don't take the cats to the vet unless there's a problem- Zarley hasn't seen a vet in around 5 years now- and we don't keep up on vaccinations, which I imagine makes us very bad pet owners- (sorry Sandi!) but they're indoor cats, and never mix with any other animals, and and good and healthy and "mature" now so I don't think it's necessary to kick out a couple hundred dollars for vaccinations every year. (Plus, I heard they may cause autism.) I always get a little nervous that the vet will judge us badly for that, or for the cats' nails being too long, or... something... Wondervet actually was fine with our vaccination policy and only gave her the legally-required rabies vac. The whole deal cost us a mere $125.50. (I think they threw in the anal squeeze for free!)
Money well spent for our little Zarley-kins, sleeping peacefully now and soon to be spot-free.


(By the way, the diagnosis is Miliary Dermititis... but NOT from fleas and not from mites. Allergies is the guess. A steroid shot should do the trick over the next couple of weeks! Sweet relief!)