Bad Kitty Goes to the Vet: 01/30/16

Bad Kitty Goes to the Vet by Nick Bruel is the newest of the hybrid graphic novels. This time Kitty is acting up because she doesn't feel well. Her owners take her to the hospital for a check-up.

All of these longer books teach an aspect of taking care of a cat, even a high strung one. As you can imagine a cat who doesn't feel well probably doesn't want to be put into a box and taken for a car ride. (And a really deathly ill cat won't put up any sort of fight, something that is painful to see.)

The first act of the book, then, is the getting Kitty to the vet. Her owners have to wear Kevlar, heavy towels, and bubble wrap to get her into the box. They apparently don't know about scruffing (something the vet teaches them in the second act). They also apparently don't know how to act calm around a cat before putting them into the box.

The best person I know at this (beyond our vet) is my own daughter (who plans on being a small animal vet). She just has this calming aura about her and her body language that puts animals at ease.

But then there's the final act which starts with Kitty going to the feline pearly gates and being given a chance to redeem herself by doing one act of genuine kindness to Puppy. One star off for the unnecessary religious imagery.

What should have been there instead is a more up front approach to the fact that anesthesia can be dangerous to pets but is sometimes necessary. Kitty's diagnosis is downplayed, pushed aside for the whole cat heaven vs puppy heaven (where bad cats are sent to be chew toys) tangent.

Four stars

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