Meeting the Cat People

I never thought about it until yesterday, but it is much easier to meet dog people than it is to meet cat people. Whenever I walk Maxx and we go to the park, I meet lots of dog people. Yesterday I was walking home from the vet with Sandy in the animal carrier bag hanging off my shoulder, and I unzipped the top a little bit so that he could put his head out if he wanted. I was surprised that he did want to. I thought he would cower at the back of the bag like he often does, but I think that maybe having the top open allowed him a small amount of control and made him feel better. At any rate, he stopped wriggling around and just sat there leaning against me and watching the world go by. It was much nicer that way. Let me tell you in case you don't know, having 13.5 pounds of cat scrambling around in a bag hanging from your shoulder is a real workout.



And I met a ton of cat people. They wanted to praise Sandy for being so brave as to stick his head out into the world because their own cats are fraidy, they asked whether he is ever allowed outdoors alone (no), the gave him the head-scritchity, they told me about their own cats... ultimately, they started telling me about their trips to India and before I knew it, we were comparing the unusual vaccinations we had had.

In short, it was just like meeting dog people, except that we started talking because of cats. I liked it. I wish I had more reasons to carry Sandy around with me outside. Maybe I should start doing it just for the hell of it... get a stylish bag, make him more of an accessory... like people do with chihuahuas.

Another thing I discovered yesterday is that cats can get acne. I was afraid that the bumps we felt on Sandy's chin were crusty wounds or tumors, but the vet told me that they are acne. Now I have what is basically kitty Proactiv, and I'm supposed to put in on him twice a day. I felt ridiculous about it until the vet told me that, left untreated, acne-fied cats may scratch up their skin because the breakouts annoy them.

So far, I have escaped serious wounding as a result of applying the kitty Proactiv, but I know from experience that he will only get better at finding the weak spots in my routine, and he will get me one of these days. I think that he could deal with the application, but the problem is that I have to distract him from licking the area until the stuff is dry. Ahhhh... pets.