Zelie's annual trip to see Santa!

Steph, Zelie and Santa
Originally uploaded by zeliecat.

Zelienople took his annual trip to see Santa at Petsmart on Saturday!

This year was quite interesting compared to past years. Zelie used to be a wonderful car-rider. Sure, he would meow and meow when we first got in the car, but after awhile he would fall asleep. Well, within the past 2 years, riding in the car has become quite a scary thing for him. He begins foaming at the mouth and has "little shoe strings" hanging from the corners of his mouth. (Have you seen the movie "Turner & Hooch"?? That's Zelie!!) It's such a sad sight!

So... this year, to make matters even worse... Bob and I brought Schadling (aka The Little One) with us. Bob has never taken his cats to visit Santa, so he thought he'd start with The Little One. Not only does Zelie not like riding in cars anymore... he doesn't like being around The Little One.

We put both cat carriers in the car and the meowing begins. The Little One sounding like someone was rolling over him and Zelie wailed away. One cat would meow and the other would answer back. Of course, Bob and I didn't help the situation by adding voices to their cries... "Where are they taking us?... I don't know." "Why won't they let us out of these cages?... I hate being near you." Within 10 minutes, Zelie had "shoe strings" coming out of his mouth. I felt so bad for him.

We arrive at the Petsmart in North Olmsted and after some cleaning up of Zelie... we head into the store. I was worried about bringing The Little One because he hates being around strange people, so I expected him to freak out. But, he was actually quite calm during the whole experience. Once Zelie was out of his cage, he was better too. (No more "shoe strings"... thankfully!)

It was quite an interesting afternoon. I'm sure it's one the kitties won't soon forget...