August is Walter’s month to visit Dr. Valeri for his annual exam and vaccinations. He was officially due next week, but yesterday, he was being exceptionally affectionate. Until I brought the carrier over. Then he was under the house so fast, I blinked and I missed him. He has a strong desire to be petted, so he wasn’t too hard to coax back out. I managed to get him in the carrier with only minor damage to me from a scrabbling kitty claw.

Walter talks non-stop when I’m out with him, and once he’s in the carrier, that talking becomes yowling. He yowled in protest most of the way to the vet clinic. By the time we arrived, he was down to a constant complaint. When we got there, a racing greyhound who’d just given birth to 8 pups and had one stuck in front of us. I tried to explain to Walter that his problems were nothing compared to hers.

The greyhound went to her exam room, and we were escorted to us. We weighed Walter (10.11 pounds — he looks and feels bigger). His temperature was normal, and the tech examined some scabs where I think Walter’s been getting beat up — he’s kind of a wimpy kitty. Then, we settled in to wait for Dr. Valeri to finish taking care of the greyhound emergency.While we waited, Walter crouched on the exam table, and I created a human cave for him to feel safe in. He talked nearly constantly but in a conversational tone. I petted him and he purred and talked while we waited for Dr. Val.

When Dr. Val was ready for us, Walter was a very good patient. Dr. Val’s only concern was if Walter was scratching or not, but I’ve never seen him scratching, so we think he’s just getting beat up. I don’t think either of us like that idea, but Walter is an outside kitty, and there’s not much we can do about it.

When we got home, I set the carrier on the ground and opened the top. Walter quieted immediately, stretched up while I petted him, and he looked around. After about 30 seconds, I let him go, and he hopped out of the carrier and disappeared.