“Doctor Glenn” Prescribes Cuddles—and Then Insists on Being Rocked
Katie had been trying to keep up with everything happening around her, even though she wasn’t feeling well.
The past few days had been busy, and she said she was dealing with flu-like symptoms along with allergies. Between feeling miserable and managing the demands of everyday life, she had barely given herself time to slow down.
She acknowledged that she needed to see a doctor. In the meantime, however, someone nearby was available for a very different kind of appointment.
“Doctor Glenn,” Katie called affectionately. “What do you think I need prescription-wise?”
Would he recommend cuddles? Kisses? A little quiet company?
Glenn’s approach to the consultation soon became clear: plenty of affection, a few questionable manners, and a strong preference for being rocked.
Karen apparently had a treatment suggestion, too. According to Katie, her prescription involved Katie giving her four treats.
Katie was understandably skeptical about how that arrangement would help her feel better. It sounded like an excellent plan for Karen, but its benefits for the patient were less obvious.
Glenn, meanwhile, began the visit on his best behavior.
Katie noticed the gray appearing around his face and admired his whiskers and the little areas around his eyes as he shed. The conversation softened into the familiar, affectionate observations people make when they know an animal well.
For the moment, Glenn was being exactly the companion she wanted.
“He’s being a sweet boy for me today,” she said.
There were snuggles and kisses, and Katie sounded grateful for the chance to enjoy them. After pushing through a difficult few days, she had found a moment that asked very little of her beyond sitting close and giving Glenn some attention.
“This is what I needed,” she said.
Her playful remarks about being healed belonged to the make-believe doctor visit. The comfort itself, though, was easy to hear in the way she spoke to him.
Naturally, a professional of Doctor Glenn’s standing deserved payment.
Katie offered chest scratches for his services, an arrangement that seemed much more reasonable than Karen’s proposed treat bill.
There was just one condition: Glenn needed to keep his teeth away from her face.
That request introduced a little uncertainty into the appointment.
Katie knew this sweet version of Glenn well, but she also knew his mood could change. Even as she enjoyed the cuddles, she joked that she was playing a dangerous game.
Before long, she recognized the shift.
“Oh, non-sweet Glenn is coming out,” she announced. “Send sweet Glenn back. I need him.”
The gentle consultation was becoming a negotiation.
Katie wanted to keep snuggling. Glenn appeared to have a more specific arrangement in mind. As she interpreted his behavior, simply standing nearby and accepting affection was no longer enough.
He wanted into her lap. He wanted to be rocked.
Katie supplied his imagined response herself: “Let me in your dang lap.”
It was the funniest turn in the visit. The patient had come looking for comfort, and her self-appointed doctor was now making demands about how he should receive his own.
Katie scolded him affectionately for his manners.
“That’s not very professional, doctor,” she told him.
She also explained that this was a terrible way to ask to be rocked. Glenn’s bedside manner clearly needed work, although Katie’s continued attention suggested he was unlikely to lose his position over it.
Soon, the conversation softened again.
Did he want kisses? Did he want to be rocked? Was this what he had been asking for all along?
Once Glenn got the closeness he wanted, Katie seemed happy with the outcome, too.
“You’re like a big furry weighted blanket,” she told him.
It was an affectionate description of the moment: Glenn settled close, Katie enjoying his company, and the earlier mischief giving way to another stretch of sweetness.
She admired his tiny foot and reminded him that he could be a very sweet boy when he wanted to be.
That familiarity made the exchange especially enjoyable. Katie could recognize the change from cuddly Glenn to demanding Glenn almost immediately, narrate it with humor, and still welcome the next snuggle.
By the end of the update, she was ready to stay right where she was for a while.
She wished everyone a better start to the week than she had experienced. Then, with Glenn close by, she announced that anyone looking for her would know where to find her.
Doctor Glenn had delivered a memorable appointment.
His professional conduct might have been questionable, and his treatment plan had somehow included getting himself rocked. But he had given Katie something she clearly appreciated: a reason to pause, laugh, and enjoy a little affection during a difficult day.
Does your animal have a “sweet” side and a “naughty” side like Glenn—or do they switch between the two just as quickly?
