Yesterday it was time for the cats to get their shots.

This is a trip I dread. The cats spend the whole 40 minutes of the drive to the vet's screaming that they're going to die. They frantically thrash around in their carriers yowling. Inevitably Zo� pees in her carrier because her terror overwhelms her.

So to recap--forty minutes each way with screaming cats in a small car that takes on the pungent goodness of cat urine. Oh, and should the vet's waiting room have dogs in it, well, that just adds another layer of pure fun to the experience.

Oh happy day.

I had just about resigned myself to my fate when the spousal unit volunteered to take the cats himself after supper. It took all my self control not to start dancing a jig right then and there.

"Are you SURE you want to do that?" I cautiously asked, PRAYING that the man would not take back the offer.

"Sure, no biggie," he said, said he.

The cats had settled into the post-suppertime section of their much needed 22 1/2 hours of daily sleep, so scooping them up and depositing them in their carriers was simple. I'd already put a towel in the bottom of Zo�'s carrier to catch the inevitable deluge.

An hour and a half later, to my amazement, the spousal unit was home.

As I was freeing the cats, I noticed that Zo�'s carrier was dry. No urine. Hrm.

I asked him how the drive went. He said they were very calm and quiet, with Zubby just letting out the occasional mew to register his annoyance at being penned up. Hrm.

I asked how it went at the vet's. The spousal unit was the first person in, so he basically took the cats in, they got their shots, he walked out. Nary a dog in sight. Hrm.

As we talked, our cats wandered over to their food, nibbled and drank and then sauntered back upstairs to resume that badly needed 22 1/2 hours of daily sleep that had been so rudely interrupted.

So let's see. They go with me and they wail like banshees, thrash around like caged beasts and one of them always pees in her carrier.

They go with him and they are perfect.

Oh man, am I THAT scary a driver?

--Marn