Lily's Pond of Fictional Reflections

There's a weird spot on my cat's back, and since I'm totally overparanoid since the Invasion of the Evil Parasite of Evil, I took him to the veterinarian today.

She frowned at it, and said it didn't really look like ringworm - it was a bit too scabby for that, so she'd shave the area around it to get a better look. Okay, fair enough.

So she pulls out these clippers, and soon there's white fur merrily flying everywhere, and I'm thinking about how long I'll last smearing sunscreen on his back every morning before I start forgetting and he comes home with a bright pink back (or if it's even worth the trouble even trying, since he'd be able to reach it to lick it off within a few minutes).

Then she starts running the clippers into the edge of the scabby bit, trying to lift the scab to get a look underneath it. Wrenchwrenchwrench on the hair stuck in the scab, ramramram under the edge with the blade of the clippers, and Neung's flinching with every move she makes, but not trying to turn around and bite her or scratch her or anything other than to get away, because... well, he's a nice boy, and he doesn't attack humans no matter what. I'm holding onto his face, feeling him trembling in my hands and I'm arguing with myself over whether to protest the rough treatment, but presumably it's necessary to diagnose, or it won't heal properly unless the scab comes off, or something.

Then I start noticing the blood that's staining all the fur around the area, seeping out from under the edges of this scab that she's been trying to lift, and she's still trying to peel it off!

"He's so placid," she says, as she's wrenchwrenching and ramraming away. "It's amazing to find a cat this calm."

AAARGH! It's no bloody wonder she has trouble finding placid cats, if that's the way she treats the poor things!

Of course, in the end, it doesn't really seem that it all had any purpose because the conclusion was well - perhaps he scraped under a fence? Or it might be a burn, from sneaking under a hot car, or something? In any case, it's treated the same way you'd treat any skin lesion - a course of antibiotics and antiseptic cream to make sure it doesn't get infected.

Except now there's this big bald patch and an livid red open wound around the remains of the scab, where the whole thing had previously been neatly closed, and a kitty who's rather more suspicious about the whole idea of being put in his cat carrier to go visit the vet. I have to admit his owner is, too.

Gaargh. *shakes fist*