I brought Mera to the vet for his annual booster on Friday. He was trying to tell me what he thought of the idea.

I was still worried about his third eyelids.

It had improved vs three weeks ago, but it was best to bring him to the vet anyway. The grease spot on the forehead was from the motorbikes. He whimpered all the way in the cab.

I didn't collect any stool sample though. The clinic was quiet for a change. The vet asked if Mera is still fighting ( YES!!! ), eating well ( sort of ), energetic ( erm, no...), passing solid stools ( never seen before ), staying indoors ( NO!!) and OK in general. Since there has been no wounds, I guess Mera has been winning in the fights. The vet also shook his head, when I told him that Mera refused to stay indoors, and would sing whole night in the cage. The last blood test was in March so Mera won't need to do it again until March next year. Then after 6 months he will come in again for his booster in September. Senior cats need to have check ups every 6 months anyway.

The third eyelids are not eye infections as I thought. The vet called them "sleepy eye look". It is a sign that Mera's body is not well, he is fighting whatever bugs in his body. The vet asked me to watch Mera, and be careful when the weather changes drastically, from hot to cold and vice versa. It is when he may catch cat-flu ( !!!!! ).

The vet said since Mera was unwell and his resistance was poor, it might not be a good idea to give the booster now. Actually the same thought had also crossed my mind. Inside my head, I was already thinking of my shcedule, when the vet said: " Well, it is really up to you, if you feel comfortable with it...." I was thinking he was gonna to ask me if I want to proceed with the booster anyway, when he continued: ".....then you may want to give the vaccination yourself, 2 weeks later..." I was like: " WHAT?????! What if I poke into the blood vessels and he bleeds to death....GAAAAAH!!"

Then I thought, I had seen him doing the injections for so many years on so many cats, surely I could give it a try, and as what he said, it will save me a trip. The vet said we could do a trial run on Mera on the spot, using a vitamin injection.

5 shivering minutes later, I managed it. The skin was harder than I thought. It took me a while to poke the needle in, and I didn't inject fast enough, so Mera was growling and his muscle tensed up. But I got the basic idea. The vet said if I get cold feet, or just couldn't complete it, call the clinic straight away.

So this is the vaccine. I am supposed to draw out the diluent with the needle, poke it into the vaccine vial, shake to mix, draw out, then inject. The vet said alcohol swabs actually irritate the skin, so it is not required. Now then I recall, we also do not need to tap the syringe to remove the bubbles, I guess it being into the flesh and not the blood vessels.

So, the vaccine is sitting in the fridge now, with the needles, syringes and the de-worming tablets.

*cold sweat*