Cautious senior cat gets spooked by a handsy 5-year-old at the vet waiting room, prompting owner to raise his voice at the child to protect his pet: ‘Her kid has no right to touch my cat!’

Vet waiting rooms are oddly tense liminal spaces. They're not quite like a doctor's office, where anxiety tends to be more hooman-centered. But they're also not as casual as, say, waiting at the groomer. Everyone sitting there has a creature that they cherish in their arms, and the air always hangs with a weird mix of emotions, emphasized by the awkward the silence between strangers. Some pets are calm, others are visibly terrified, and others just want to sniff everything. For pet pawrents, the only real rules in this space are simple: keep your own animal safe, respect others' space, and wait your turn!

But that etiquette doesn't always translate when there are kids involved, as was the case here. When one pet pawrent took her 14-year-old cat, Patches, to the vet for a routine appointment, a small child spotted the cat and rushed over to pet her. When poor Patches panicked, the owner snapped in defense and shouted at the kid not to touch her cat, making the kid cry. Seems like cats and dogs aren't the only ones hissing and scratching at the vet's office.
 

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