Horrible behavior at the vet.

Hi everyone. I just moved to Los Angeles (Culver City more specifically) and I was wondering if there was anyone in the area who could recommend a good vet. one of my cats, Leeloo is almost due for her yearly check up and I'm kind of nervous about it because even though at home she is a sweetheart, at the vet she gets so timid and scared and she behaves like a nightmare! at my old vet before we moved, we wouldn't even take her out of the carrier in the end because each visit she just got worse and worse and bringing in a guy to hold her down in a towel wasn't even good enough. she even passed out once from one of her freak outs and they had to put her on oxygen! (she's pretty special hahaha) the thing is, my old vet knew her since the first day I had her and she was 4 weeks old. he watched her every visit get a little worse over her four years... and he was very, very nice about it even when she bit his hand once. I'm so worried about bringing her to a new vet this way, all crazy and untouchable.

my previous vet and I did attempt different kinds of sedatives and none of them worked, in the end he actually said they might be making her worse.

any advice on a good vet? and what I'm supposed to do with this cat?

How about a feline "house call" vet. They are a bit more expensive but it may be worth it not to have to deal with all the stress of taking Leeloo out of her comfort zone.

I've been using one here in Austin and it's made my life and the cats SO much easier. Plus, I notice that my cats get the vets full attention for about an hour and if I have questions between appointments I can just email or make a phone call and get answers.

I do the house call vet also. it made all the diference in the world for mine. For their stress levels and their behavior towards the vet. I am so glad I found a vet that would come here because my cats are B-A-D taking them to the vet. And knowing that I am not putting them under THAT MUCH stress is calming for us all.

I'm really not looking forward to taking Scaredy Cat, my semi-feral 15 week old girl to the vets in a week or two. I think that experience has a good chance of undoing some of the progress she and I have made.

The only saving grace is I think she might go kinda catatonic when she's really freaked.

Zane used to be so good at the vet, but lately he's been getting more worse each time I take him. I don't know why. It isn't as though any of the exams/procedures have been particularly difficult--just a standard checkup each time--but he's getting wilder and wilder.

My Meeko hates the vet also. She goes nuts even when she gets a shot. When she was 3 months she was very sick and almost died at the Er vet. Ever since then she has hated vets. I hope something can be done about your Cat. My friend uses the house Call vet but she had a scared cat and it made the cat scared to be in the house.

Pet Medical Center in Santa Monica is excellent. The costs are reasonable, and the staff is uniformly kind, concerned and skilled. They were recommended to me by someone else, and I strongly second the recommendation. Some family members who live near me also use them and love them.

Dillon used to freak out at the vet when he got older, he would hang on the window and try and get out! We got one of those carriers where the top lifts off and providing he stayed in the bottom part when the vet treated him, he was OK.

My problem with Barkley normally starts once we get into the car, no let me back track, once he's put into the carrier to make the trip to the vet. He cries this horrible guttural cry and sometimes thrashes around a little so once he's at the vet he's pretty wiped out. Plus, Im worried about taking him in because the last few times he's been there, mainly for his yearly shots, he's had such bad reactions that Im afraid it's going to psychologically scar him and he'll never want to go again. I can empathize with poor little LeeLoo . She's a beauty by the way!

I know how you feel. My oldest boy Asher is the sweetest cat ever and is very timid and sometimes afraid of strangers when they visit the house. He turns into the polar opposite at the vet. He becomes extremely aggressive...spitting, hissing, swatting, growling, scratching, biting, and doesn't let anyone come NEAR him let alone touch him. The last two times I took him to the vet for his annual checkup the vet couldn't even do a physical on him. It was so embarassing. This year I'm going to have the vet come to the house and check him out. I'm hoping Asher will tolerate that much better so you might think about doing the same thing for your kitty.

Originally Posted by Yuna

and what I'm supposed to do with this cat?

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Great question!

I tried a housecall vet, which caused one of my cats, normally a sweetie, to go temporarily insane (and attack me and the vet). Then this week I tried (the operative word being tried) to get the other one to the vet to have his chin acne looked at and he got very upset and the first one was looking at me as if debating whether he was going to have to kill me so I gave up.

I have no idea what to do at this point. Apparently tranquilizer guns aren't available. (I asked the vet.)

I used to be able to get them there. They weren't thrilled but they went. Now I'm worried I'll never be able to get them vet care again. My oldest cat died this year at the vet hospital, and I do wonder if in their cat brains, they "think" -- he was put in the carrier, taken out and never came back.