very fearfull cat

Four years ago we rescued a very sick kitty from the street.Our vet saved her life after a joint effort -hers and the cat's - that was on the verge of collapse due to an unexplained injury to her mouth and inner jaw. She's been with us since, and integrated fairly well with our other 15 indoors cats - but she will very seldom let herself be petted by us , and if so - only if she iniciates contact and then - only for very short periods. NEVER to be held or craddled or lifted -consequently - we have not been able to put her in a carrier and take to the vet - for much needed attention and care - routine and otherwise. She tolerates us in the same room provided we pretend not to see her... (this does not include her feline roommates - only us two two legged ones) HAVE ANY TIPS , ADVICE ? Sorry for the very long post - I promise to work on the editing next time. Thanks in advance for your help !

It sounds like your kitty is still fairly wild. Go to ferel care and read and follow this to the letter. It will help you to get your kitty to a place that will be good for you both.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Some cats just dont like to be held or touched Her life on the streets and injury most likely traumatized her. I think its wonderful that you rescued her and I'm sure she is much happier now than before.

Have you considered a mobile vet that comes to your house? If you need her to see a vet, that is.

With my parents cat ChiChi its impossible to get her in the carrier so we usually have a vet come to the house, and put her in the bathroom about 10 min before vet is scheduled to arrive.

Transporting traumatized cats to the vets can be very stressful for the owner and the cat. First thing to do is to get her used to the carrier. Leave it out (take the door off) in her favorite room, put soft bedding inside of it, put some catnip on the bedding, start feeding her inside of it, hang some toys up that she might play with so they dangle inside. Just get her used to the carrier.

Once she goes in on her own accord a few times, try putting the door back on, and when she is inside, swing is shut, don't latch it. If she pushes against it and gets out, don't worry. Just do that a couple of times, then latch it, and cover the carrier with a dark cloth. Keep her inside for 3 minutes, then release. Do this a few more times in the coming day. When you let her out each time, feed her a treat and praise her. Get her conditioned to accept the carrier as a good thing.

When you finally do take her to the vet, place a small dab of vanilla extract under her chin and under her nose, and cover the carrier with a dark cloth while transporting. Put your radio station on classical music during the drive over.

Good luck!

Thank you for the advice and support so far ! I'll try a combination/adaptation to our circumstances!The housecall vet is not currently an option - this cat stands still for no one... - but a re-negotiaition of our terms of endearment might be the thing (all the patience I own was given me by my cats). We already have many carriers open and accesible throughout the house - unfortunatelly Eeor (Cat #16) is not inclined to visit in them and most the other csts are. In addition we're currently trying to arrive at a 'detant' concerning five other of our menagerie - that after many years of peaceful neighbourly relations can not stand each other's sight. Fur flies!. after consulting a local behaviorist we supplied more facilities throughout the house (playstations, restaurants , restrooms), and managed to get Feliway plug-ins from abroad -all of which seems to be making some difference to the pitch and severity of hostilities. By the way - do you know of any sugestions regarding the placement of the plug-in device in the geography of the home to improve pewformance? I feel these postings of mine run all over the spectrum -I am just too ovewhelmed lately - my feline familly was a very peacefull one for almost 15 years and all of a sudden thins changed - though I've been told that the previous peace was actually the annomally... Thanks again!