The Amazing Traveler

Fetcher was an amazing traveler yesterday, flying to Denver as if he did it every day.  A couple little "meows" while waiting at the gate but otherwise just so calm you'd think he'd been drugged.  Actually, he did have the benefit of having his carrier wiped down with Feliway, a "cat calming product" which the vet gave us when I begged for a sedative for Fetcher.   Whether it was the Feliway or whether Fetcher is just one cool cat, we had a great trip. 

In the airport...

 ...under the seat in the plane....

 ...getting registered to be boarded at the vet's for a few days.

There was a mishap at the airport, though.

Paul took charge of getting Fetcher through security, something he very much wanted to be in charge of.   Mommy had told him that he'd have to take the cat out of the carrier and actually carry him through and was all set to do that.  But when we got there the TSA woman was calling out "Put all your bags on the belt" and Paul thought that meant "all your bags, even if there's a cat in it" and naturally assumed that once again Mom didn't know what she was talking about.

He plopped the bag on the belt and I turned around just in time to see it start to go through the X-ray machine!

I called out to the TSA person that there was cat going through the machine and pandemonium ensued for a few minutes while they tried to get the carrier out.  They reversed the machine but the bag was stuck; they tried to reach for it but it was in too far; so finally they got a big hook and tried to grab the bag with the hook.

As these attempts dragged on for a couple of minutes the line behind us backed up causing the TSA woman to decide that she'd better make sure that this didn't happen again and she yelled to all the people in line:

"People!  Don't put your cats on the belt for the X-ray machine!" 

It wasn't very funny at the moment since we were still getting Fetcher out of the machine, but later, at the gate I couldn't  stop laughing as I thought of all the people in line thinking "Do I have a cat with me today?  What bag did I put it in?  I'd better get it out!"  and I had the image of cats jumping out of purses and briefcases all along the security line.

Well, it appears from a bit of online research and a chat with the vet that Fetcher got a low dose of radiation and all should be well.  We'll see.  Add it to the list of perils he faces here in Boulder, along with bobcats and coyotes.  But he's off to a great start.

Here he is happily eating his food in his swanky "cat penthouse" at the vet's where he'll wait out the "moving in" chaos which starts here on Rosehill Drive at 10:00 this morning when the moving van arrives.