oh, the stench!

i was ecstatic to retrieve my cat today! she had a very hard time being moved, but is now starting to come out of her shell and acknowlege that she indeed, knows who i am.
getting her out of zach's house was much more of an ordeal than i had imagined. i was prepared for the notion that she may be afraid, or not recognize me, but a huge part of me wanted to think that she would come running at the sound of my voice. that couldn't have been further from what actually happened.
first of all, she hid. she wouldn't come out from under zach's bed, and we had one heck of a time laying hands on her. there was one botched attempt where i got her and tried to carry her to the living room, but she escaped and hid back under the bed. on the second attempt, it was going to be straight into the kennel for her, because zach had to go back to sleep and girlcat had a vet appointment. zach prodded her closer to the edge, and i dragged her out. i started putting her in the kennel, but she of course, fought it. zach started to help, and right about then, i noticed the worst smell i have ever encountered in my life. girlcat expressed her anal glands out of fear! all over zach and her cloth carrier. the stench got louder by the second. i carried her out to sue, who was in the living room to ask what in the heck was wrong, and sue told me about the anal glands. then, it was out on the porch to air out for girl and her carrier.
i took her to the vet (with the windows rolled down the whole trip) and everyone kindly dealt with her odor (which, incidentally, doesn't just wash off). they even sprayed her business end with some anti-stink spray that vets have.
i got her back to missy's and she hid under my bed until about 11:30 pm. now she's coming out of her shell and only looks minimally pissed. she wags her tail when i talk to her, and she's started exploring keska's and oki's old cat tree, so she's coming along really well. and she still stinks to high heaven, but i love her no matter what she smells like.
that said, if she does the anal gland thing at the airport, i'm going to have to put her in cargo. they ought to bottle that stuff and sell it to pranksters. you could put one drop of it in your boss's desk, and work would be called off for a week at the minimum.