Maybe the reason I dread taking my cat to the vet is not her crying constantly from the moment when I wedge her into her plastic carrier to the moment that we arrive in the waiting room of the Kitty Klinic, where the presence of other similarly traumatized, on-guard cats intimidates her into silence. Probably the real reason I dread taking my cat to the vet is the brief but cutting pathos—human or otherwise—that flits through that waiting room on almost every occasion.

Today it came in the form of a man who entered while I was already there. He was middle-aged, trim but muscular, and tall. He was carrying a large garment box from Macy’s. My thoughts, in this order, were: That’s a small box for a cat, and then, Seems kind of inhumane for that box not to be ventilated, and then, Oh my god.

“This is Wanda,” he said quietly, and then, to punctuate his announcement, he picked up the ballpoint pen tethered to the counter with a little metal chain and wrote, on the box, “Wanda.” He sniffled a little.

“Okay,” the receptionist said, all business. “We’ll just need you to sign this to confirm that she didn’t bite anyone within the last fifteen days.”

The man filled out the paperwork and then took a wad of cash and cards out of his pocket. He sifted through them, sniffling again, and then proffered a shiny blue credit card. Something about that gesture—reaching across a counter with a means of payment, especially a credit card, an efficient way to close all manner of deals, not least of which is the cremation of a cat—that’s what did me in.

“We’ll give you a call as soon as we have her back,” the receptionist said, “which will be the end of next week, at the earliest.”

A long queue at the cat crematory, I suppose.

At this point I was summoned inside for Vespa’s appointment, where I learned that she gained half a pound over the last year and is, indeed, overweight. I’m supposed to put her on special prescription cat food so she doesn’t get diabetic. OMG SOMEONE’S GETTING CHUNKY. Just kidding, Vespa. You know you’re my girl.