Anesthesia or no anesthesia

One of my semi-feral cats has to be vaccinated and microchipped and after looking around I finally found a place willing to work with me (two other clinics turned her down). I have two options - bring her in in a carrier and hope that the vet can handle her enough to give her two shots and insert the microchip, or bring her in in a trap, have her put under and give her the shots and chip while under. They can also examine her if she goes under which they can't if she's awake for obvious reasons.

I didn't think putting her under was an option but now that I know that it is I don't know what to do. There are risks with going under general anesthesia but it would be a lot easier and she can be examined. The benefit of not putting her under is that it's quicker and possibly less traumatic, and of course safer. I think if done right she could be vaccinated without being put under but there is a risk that she would freak out, shoot up in the air and dart around the room like a bouncing ball.

What do you guys think? Anesthesia or no anesthesia?

Some semi-ferals will just freeze and let the vet do their thing without fighting too badly. And good handling can help--after all, wildlife vets are frequently able to treat wild animals without sedation. But if she's a fighter I think I'd go with the sedation. Did you ask what kind of anesthetic they'd be using? I would guess they'd only need a sedative, not full anesthesia, but I'm not sure what their policy is.

My Jack is semi feral, and he freezes when he has his check up at the vets. Even when l clip their claws he's the only one who doesn't squirm or make a squeek.

See what her reaction is when they handle her

I was hoping that she'd freeze. She normally does when I touch her. But when I had a friend over a few weeks ago who went into the room where she was she freaked out and did the bouncing ball routine. This cat can't really be handled at all. I can touch her when she's in her little house but otherwise she takes off. She's not completely feral but she's more feral than not.

I think I am going to go with anesthesia to be on the safe side. I really want a vet to be able to examine her. For all I know she has a tumor somewhere. I can't check. So it would be a great opportunity to have her examined. Also, they told me that if the vet feels that she can't be handled safely I will have to bring her home and come back to go with plan B.

I think they will put her under general anesthesia. They will treat her just like a TNR cat. This is a cat shelter that has a spay/neuter clinic and they deal with a lot of ferals. Now I just have to get a trap.

When I worked for Animal Control several years ago and we had ferals and semi-ferals come in, we would typically put them under. Anytime you're working with needles, vaccinations, and claws, it can be a real life (and skin) saver! Microchips needles are pretty large and will require the person chipping the cat to scruff them and have them hold still/cooperate enough to inject the chip, and scan it afterwards to make sure it was placed successfully. Then the cat will have to be restrained again for vaccination injections; if the cat is already fearful, it would really stress them out! Do that to a feral/semi-feral you will will likely terrify them and come back without a limb! If the cat needs to be examined by the vet like you mentioned, it would make things a lot easier and you would get a more thorough examination if it was sedated in that scenario. I would absolutely go for anesthesia; it will be less traumatic on the cat (it won't remember a thing), less of a liability for you, and it will be safer for those working at the vets office. Anesthesia does have risks, but in general, they are pretty low. They can also give the cat an injection of reversal meds if they see if is not waking up easily, and that typically works very well! Good luck!