Jag

Tom had to go to the vets for his annual jag yesterday. This led to an interesting discussion with Chanel later; she told me that where she lives in Warrington they say "jab" for injection or vaccination rather than "jag." I had no idea that "jag" used in this way is a Scottish word - I love language! Recently James referred to some clouds as "lenticular" meaning lens-shaped and this led me to wonder if the origin of the word "lens" was related to the shape of a lentil. I looked up its etymology and sure enough, the word "lens" in optics comes from the lentil-like shape of early double-convex lenses - lentil is "lens" in Latin. I find this fascinating.

Anyway back to Tom. He was relaxing on our bed in a happy and loving mood yesterday morning; whenever I passed by him he rolled onto his back to invite me to rub his tummy. Imagine his consternation when I produced the cat carrier, deftly placed him in it, and loaded him into the car. He cried loudly (not meowing, just wailing!) all the way to the vets (it's only 5 minutes drive!) and all the way back. Funnily enough he wasn't too upset when he was actually in the vet's consulting room, it's the journey that he hates. He got his jag and after a brief examination was declared a healthy cat with good teeth. Soon he was back home but when I then put his flea preventing drops on the back of his neck he was quite annoyed, and disappeared under the bed so that I couldn't disrupt his day any more! I'm so glad that Davie and Chanel will be looking after him this week so that he doesn't have to go to the cattery while we're in Lochinver, he's such a home-loving furry boy.