I got my cat from the shelter last year. She came to me recently spayed, a little underweight, but with a clean bill of health.
Now it’s time to take her for her annual checkup and I’m wondering what to expect at the vet. She’s an apartment-only cat, never comes into contact with other animals, and seems perfectly happy and healthy so I assume this will be a relatively easy visit. I never considered myself one of those people who treated their pet like a child, but I’m nervous for her.
Also, anyone in the NYC area: Any vet recommendations?
I’m not in your area, but here are a few general things to make the visit easier on your cat.
Put the carrier out for a few days before you go to the vet. She won’t be as afraid of getting in it if she’s seen it around (one of my cats will go sleep in hers when it’s out)
Put a towel or shirt that smells like you/her in there with her
Since she’s been at a shelter, she’s been with other cats so I wouldn’t be too concerned with that. Just keep her in her carrier until you get into the exam room.
She’ll probably be nervous since it’s a new experience, but that’s normal. Vets are used to handling scared animals. Since it’s just a routine visit, you probably wont’ even be there that long.
We always give our cats extra treats when they get home from the vet/groomers too. Not sure how much that actually helps, but it makes us feel better about having to take them.
I’m not in your area so I can’t make any recommendations, but you might want to look for a cats-only vet. One of the things that is so stressful to cats about a vet visit is the smell on unfamiliar animals who are also stressed out.
Get a sturdy carrier. Place her in the carrier with something of yours you have slept in - something washable. Not something you treasure. Some cats will get upset and urinate or defecate, and others will shred the carrier liner. Others will yell their fool heads off, announcing to the world that you are a cat murderer and a kitten molester and other unsavory facts about your personal life. Still other cats will chill and not make a sound.
When you get to the vet, do not take her from the carrier until you are in the exam room. This is for your safety and hers - you don’t want a large dog to come in and freak her out. She is safer in the carrier no matter how much she complains about it - and the receptionists have heard it all. Your cat broadcasting your bathroom habits won’t bother them.
When you get in the exam room and take her out of the carrier, do not be suprised if another cat’s worth of fur comes out with her. Some cats “stress shed” and can produce their body weight in loose fur in just a few moments. It will float through the air and try to get in your eyes.
The next step will vary from vet to vet. I am a former vet tech, and I used to work for the vet where I take my cats, so I hold my cats for shots, temperature, etc. If you are not comfortable with this, or don’t know how to safely restrain her, a vet tech will usually do it. At some clinics the cat is actually taken away to a treatment area to save the owner the stress of watching the cat get injected. It will depend on what you want and what the practice of your vet is.
After everything is over, do not expect kitty kisses for at least 12 hours.
My cats tend to stay a little calmer during the ride to the vet, if the carrier is placed where they can’t see out any of the windows. Don’t feed her right before leaving. Talk to her during the trip, and unless she’s doing her impersonation of the Tasmanian Devil, keep your hand in front of the carrier so she can see that you’re still there while you’re in the waiting room.
All cats react differently. We have three. One will practically saunter into the carrier by herself and not make a sound the whole time. One will run and hide behind the dryer the second she sees the carrier. One will allow herself to be put in the carrier, but will have a running commentary the whole way to the vet’s office about how horrible we are for treating her like this and there will be hell to pay once she’s out of this prison (although it pretty much just sounds like “mieurrr. mieurrr. mieurrr.” The second we get in the door of the vet’s office, she starts on the subsonics, very, very low and deep growls that sound like she’s about ready to take someone’s fingers off at the hand. You can actually feel the carrier vibrate when she gets those going…
I had a beautiful cat who hated the vets. I used to phone and ask them for the latest possible appointment in the evening, and ask them to make sure there were as few other animals in the surgery as possible, and preferably only cats. It wasn’t too difficult getting her into the carrier but she’d complain all the way to the vets - not because she didn’t like the car, but because she wanted to get out of the carrier and explore.
Once inside the vets, I had to put the carrier on the floor under the seat with the front facing the wall so she could see as little as possible. Counterproductive, possibly, but it seemed to keep her relatively calm.
On the vet’s table, she’d be hissing, growling, spitting and generally unhelpful, not to mention the time she got away and hid behind the fridge so we had to get the collar gripper thing to extract her.
Afterwards, she’d go back in her carrier, give my hand a swipe as I shut the door, we’d go home and I’d let her out. She would go straight out of the catflap into the garden. In a couple of minutes she’d be back in for a treat of tuna or somesuch…and then straight on my lap for a fuss and a snooze.
You’d never think this little angel could turn into a ginger ball of spitting fury in a matter of seconds!