Let's fast-forward a couple of years to summer of 2005. We are indoor cats, but we like to go outside on the deck. While out there, we like to hunt for presents for Mom and Dad. We've caught them beetles, and katydids, and giant dragonflies. But our BEST present so far has been the bat. Now, I'm not saying how, but somehow a bat got into the house and up in Mom and Dad's room while they were asleep. To let them know about the present, Cleo started making all kinds of weird noises. Dad ignored Cleo, but Mom got up to see the present. (She did not seem very grateful though, and since she was tired, she used a magazine to throw the (dead) bat away.)
Apparently, Mom was not supposed to throw the bat away. Mom's friend at work told her that if there's a bat in the room with sleeping people, the people might be bitten by the bat and not even know! Bats have very small teeth and do not leave marks or wake people up most of the time. So Mom had to call the Department of Public Health (Mom actually called 3 different DPH's because she's very thorough) who told her that she and Dad needed to get rabies shots immediately! Apparently, most of the bats around here carry rabies, and Mom no longer had the bat for testing. Well, they seemed very excited about this and ran right out to the emergency room. Mom had to get 5 shots and Dad had to get 6! (because he's bigger.) They had to go back four times over the next month for follow up shots. Mom said our present cost them a lot of money.
So you may wonder what happened to us because of the bat. Well, we had had our rabies shots so we all thought everything would be fine. But apparently, we are supposed to get shots every year (which no one told Mom - boy, was she pissed!) So when Mom called the vet, they told her to quarentine us for 10 days to make sure we were OK. (Boy, did Mom and Dad freak out during those ten days. Mom kept crying, saying we were acting weird, and must have rabies. Then Cleo scratched Dad (because Dad likes to tease us, and frankly, Cleo the Diva was NOT in the mood) and Dad thought we had rabies too. But we don't, they're just silly.)
So ten days later Mom called the vet back, who said to bring us in for the shots. We did NOT want to go to get the shots. Cleo hid waaaaaay under the bed, and Tidy spread her feet out across the top of the carrier so that Mom couldn't get her in. But Mom is smarter than us and she finally got us there. Well, once we were there, the vet didn't know what to do. So she called Animal Control at the police department. Mom was really upset. She said the police wanted to take us away and put us to sleep because of the bat present. Mom didn't know what to do. She called Dad, who said, "Run, Run!" So Mom picked us up, one under each arm, and ran out the door to the vet.
Well, Mom didn't know where to go since now we were all wanted by the police. (Mom has always been a law-abiding citizen. Really, we don't know what got into her.) But Mom wanted to do the right thing, so she called her mom and dad for advice. Her mom was worried too, but her dad was in a very important meeting. So Mom called everyone for advice, and finally her dad reached her on her cell phone. Her dad told her to call the police and cooperate. So Mom called Animal Control and left a message, then took us home. 60 seconds after we got home, there was a police officer at our door! Ok, that made us a little worried. But Mom talked to her for half-an-hour, and convinced the police that Mom and Dad could quarantine us for the next six months since we are indoor cats anyway. And the next day we went back to the vet for our rabies booster shots. But now we are not allowed on the deck anymore, and we are going crazy trying to catch the bugs through the windows!
Well, 1 run from the law, 2 months, 3 trips to the vet, 6 trips to the ER/Urgent Care, 21 shots, and $10,000 worth of rabies treatments later (thank goodness for insurance!), we are all fine. Dad thinks we're all nuts, Mom is happy no one has rabies, and we just can't wait to get back on the deck to catch more presents!
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Making the Money
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Doing the Laundry |
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What?
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Excuse Me... |
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Aaaagh...
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Cleo Studying |
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Stay tuned for more cat pictures. They get cuter every day!