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ailsagirl

(22,840 posts)
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 09:31 PM Dec 2020

Need advice about taking highly-strung cat to vet

I have an appt in the first week of January to take her in, and I've been stressing about it. She's "part feral" if there's such a thing and she's very much on her guard nearly all the time (except when she's sleeping). I can't even pick her up without her having a fit-- she's very quick and always eludes me.

So I'm wondering if anyone has an idea of how to put this skittish little creature into the cat carrier without a full-scale freak-out. She hides under my bed so it's hard to corner her. Anyone else have problems like this?

I'd be grateful to hear any ideas.

Thanks!

22 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Need advice about taking highly-strung cat to vet (Original Post) ailsagirl Dec 2020 OP
Can you ask the vet for tranquilizers? n/t Mr.Bill Dec 2020 #1
yes, ask vet for Acepro and put in pill pocket or crush it up and give some Churu gooey stuff to mix CurtEastPoint Dec 2020 #3
Gabapentin can be used for calming cats also. IcyPeas Dec 2020 #11
Maybe start getting her used to being in a crate/carrier now... Blue Owl Dec 2020 #2
This Freddie Dec 2020 #16
Cat carrier in a corner or under a table with towel or something NoMoreRepugs Dec 2020 #4
we use a carrier which opens on top. drray23 Dec 2020 #5
I used to pour mine into the carrier. Grab her by the furor behind the head LiberalArkie Dec 2020 #6
Yep. I had one we had to do that with happybird Dec 2020 #13
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Dec 2020 #7
CBD oil can help. Leave carrier out by her Phoenix61 Dec 2020 #8
Petco has a product called "calm moments", little soft treat- sized bits, easily crumbled into wet niyad Dec 2020 #9
Sneak up behind her with a towel torius Dec 2020 #10
fill it with catnip... samnsara Dec 2020 #12
My Leo takes gabapentin before vet visits happybird Dec 2020 #14
Thank you everyone!! Some very good tips and I so appreciate your taking the time! ailsagirl Dec 2020 #15
Great thread - I just had to take my three cats into the vet yesterday csziggy Dec 2020 #17
You really have your hands full!! ailsagirl Dec 2020 #18
Good luck with your cat csziggy Dec 2020 #19
If you can corral your three, I can corral mine ailsagirl Dec 2020 #20
Well, our horse vet used to do our cats csziggy Dec 2020 #21
Vet's alternative is hilarious!! ailsagirl Dec 2020 #22

CurtEastPoint

(18,552 posts)
3. yes, ask vet for Acepro and put in pill pocket or crush it up and give some Churu gooey stuff to mix
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 09:37 PM
Dec 2020

it in

Blue Owl

(49,934 posts)
2. Maybe start getting her used to being in a crate/carrier now...
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 09:36 PM
Dec 2020

Leaving it open and comfy, with favorite blankets, toys, treats, etc.?

Freddie

(9,232 posts)
16. This
Thu Dec 24, 2020, 07:23 AM
Dec 2020

Leave the carrier out and soon enough your cat will think “look, a box!” and crawl in for a nap. This always works for my boys but you have to leave it out for a while before the appointment.

NoMoreRepugs

(9,260 posts)
4. Cat carrier in a corner or under a table with towel or something
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 09:37 PM
Dec 2020

like a cat blanket might offer a safe space that becomes a refuge. Patience is paramount.

happybird

(4,516 posts)
13. Yep. I had one we had to do that with
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 10:48 PM
Dec 2020

Turn the crate over so the opening is facing up, firm scruff, and drop her in. She was fine in the car and at the vet, just *hated* the crate.

Response to ailsagirl (Original post)

Phoenix61

(16,954 posts)
8. CBD oil can help. Leave carrier out by her
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 09:48 PM
Dec 2020

food dish starting now. Slowly move food closer and closer to the door. I had a sorta feral that had to be boarded while work was done on my house. To get him in the carrier I chased him around the house until he was exhausted and crying then scooped him up and put him in the carrier. He was fine at the vet. I know it sounds cruel but it had to be done.

In general if you want her to be more trusting pull her food and hand feed her. Just don’t do that to get her in the carrier.

niyad

(112,435 posts)
9. Petco has a product called "calm moments", little soft treat- sized bits, easily crumbled into wet
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 09:53 PM
Dec 2020

food. Contains melatonin. About $10 per container.

torius

(1,652 posts)
10. Sneak up behind her with a towel
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 10:00 PM
Dec 2020

so your legs are over her and quickly cover her with the towel. Using your legs to stabilize her, and wrap her (leaving her head uncovered) in the towel so her butt and all legs are wrapped. Gently put her in the carrier where she can unwrap herself. (Leave the towel in the carrier). It helps to have two people, one to close the carrier.

samnsara

(17,570 posts)
12. fill it with catnip...
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 10:39 PM
Dec 2020

..I had a cat who lived on the top shelf of my closet. I had to put her dish up there too.

happybird

(4,516 posts)
14. My Leo takes gabapentin before vet visits
Wed Dec 23, 2020, 10:54 PM
Dec 2020

The doc has me pick up a pill a few days ahead of time. He gets way too stressed about nail trims and blood draws (of which he’s had many over the past two years).
It makes him super mellow, happy, and malleable.

Our vet gives pills in a fun way: set the pill on a flat surface and cover it with a little pile of Easy Cheese (that canned spray cheese stuff). The cats love it and snarf the pill right ip with their snack.

csziggy

(34,120 posts)
17. Great thread - I just had to take my three cats into the vet yesterday
Thu Dec 24, 2020, 01:08 PM
Dec 2020

And could have used some of these ideas.

We have a range of reactions - Maya is friendly and calm until she is held. My husband cornered her in the cat door to the porch (we have 10" thick walls and cat flaps on both sides so that makes a cat sized alcove. Usually she is good about not using claws and teeth but she got him a couple of times. It took about forty five minutes to get her into her carrier.

Sabra hides under furniture so we had a good half hour getting out from under a bed and a nightstand. Fortunately she goes passive though she growled and hissed at us while we were getting her out. That was about a half hour of excitement.

Lucas is the easiest - he was at the door of the bedroom where he and Sabra had hidden, so I caught him as he tried to come out the door. His carrier has front and top doors so he was dropped in the top.

So it was over an hour to catch three cats that were just going into the vet's for booster shots. That, even though after their last trip to the vet three weeks ago, two of the cats would go into their carriers here at home to hang out.

I think in a few months I will bring the carriers down from the attic and we will give them their once a week canned food treats in the carriers. That will give them time to forget yesterday and give us time to prepare them for their vet visit next year.

ailsagirl

(22,840 posts)
18. You really have your hands full!!
Thu Dec 24, 2020, 05:18 PM
Dec 2020

It wouldn't be so bad if my cat eventually resigned herself and let me catch her, but she'll be fighting tooth and nail (literally!) until I can get her in the carrier.

If I had another person to help, it would make it better but I can't ask anyone to help (covid).

Wish me luck! Somehow, I can get this done.

csziggy

(34,120 posts)
19. Good luck with your cat
Thu Dec 24, 2020, 05:57 PM
Dec 2020

Former ferals can be so loving but they are hard to deal with for the essentials.

Try some of the suggestions here - plus one of the things I have tried was the pheromone that calms cats - I sprayed that on the towels in the carriers. Feliway is one, but Petsmart had the little spray bottles in a different brand. If nothing else it gets rid of the fear pheromones left in the carriers.

I wish the carriers we have made it easier to open the doors so they are out of the way. Then we could leave them open for the cats to explore and find refuge in. If it weren't so hard to take the carriers apart and take the doors off, I'd do that! I'll have to find some bungee cords or something to keep the doors open if we try feeding the cats in the carriers.

ailsagirl

(22,840 posts)
20. If you can corral your three, I can corral mine
Thu Dec 24, 2020, 11:15 PM
Dec 2020

Fingers crossed!

Back when I was earning money, I would pay for a home vet visit if things were too difficult. Those were the days...

csziggy

(34,120 posts)
21. Well, our horse vet used to do our cats
Fri Dec 25, 2020, 12:09 AM
Dec 2020

But when the large animal practice split off and there were two, large and small animals, the vet I normally use doesn't do anything but horses and the occasional goat. For thirty or so years the worse we had to do was fasten up the cats in a confined space for the vet to treat.

One of our barn cats was fastened up in the feed room for the vet to give vaccinations. We stored the feed sacks on wooden pallets since the concrete floor would condense moisture and the damp feed would go bad. When the vet went in to give the cat his shot, the cat crawled into the 3.5" space between the parts of the pallet. The vet just moved him to just the right space and gave him the shot in between the boards. The cat was completely outraged and would never go into the feed room again, which was not good since part of his job was to keep mice out of the feed.

Now the cats have to be stuffed into boxes and carried to a vet. The practice I have begun to use with these three is only a ten minute drive away - nice since when we bought this farm in 1978 nothing was closer than a thirty minute drive.

If you can't train the cat to go into the carrier, start feeding it in a room with little furniture. Then you can put the carrier in that room the day they are going to the vet, feed the cat in there, and when it finishes, catch it with a towel to protect you and get it in the carrier.

We did that with Sabra the first time she had to go to the vet. Before we adopted her in September, she had been traumatized. We didn't even see her the first three weeks. We knew she was eating, drinking water, and pooping but she was invisible - a black cat under the bed. The first time she went to the vet, I put the carrier in the master bath, closed the door to the closet, lured her in with food, then she was easy to catch and get into the carrier. She is so sweet, she does not fight but is it heartbreaking to make her put up with handling if she doesn't want it.

ailsagirl

(22,840 posts)
22. Vet's alternative is hilarious!!
Fri Dec 25, 2020, 04:49 AM
Dec 2020

A very resourceful vet, sounds like!
I’m thinking I can put her in my bathroom where she can’t hide, then somehow push her into the carrier. Good idea— thank you.
Enjoy your holidays! 😻

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