My cat is afraid of my since vet blood draw

My 13 year old kitty has slept with me every night of her life (her little head next to mine); she wakes me up at the same time every morning with soft jabs to my eyes with her little paws and some creative and hilarious vocal coaxing; she won't even leave the bedroom to head for the kitchen unless I'm right next to her; she greets me at the door when I come home during the day; is always cuddled on my lap whenever I am sitting during the day or night; she gazes into my eyes as she kneads my chest and purrs up a storm. That was until 33 days ago when I took her for her first visit to the vet. We moved across the country six months ago and all her life she had been seen by a vet who came to the house. A new friend suggested I take her for a checkup and a senior blood panel because of her age. She was fine in the exam room, then the vet tech came in to take her out for the blood work. When he returned he said, "she didn't like that too much". From the time I brought her home, she will not step foot in my bedroom (that's where I put her in the traveling "Sherpa"), she hides on the opposite side of the house, she won't sleep with me, sit with me, look at me. If I pick her up to hold her, she doesn't struggle to get away, but she tenses up and won't look at me. Then she will run away as fast as she can the first chance she gets. I am absolutely heartbroken. The vet said she looked and seemed healthy and all her blood work was normal. She's eating, drinking, and eliminating normally. The only thing I can come up with is that she holds me responsible for getting hurt at the vet. She's really afraid of me! Help, please!!

I don't have any experience with this but hopefully someone who does will comment.  The only thing I can recommend is trying a Feliway diffuser, most pet stores carry them.  They mimic the calming cat pheronomes.  33 days is a long time usually a kitty would be back to normal by now, many kitties will act a little different for a few days after a vet visit.

Tuptake said:

My 13 year old kitty has slept with me every night of her life (her little head next to mine); she wakes me up at the same time every morning with soft jabs to my eyes with her little paws and some creative and hilarious vocal coaxing; she won't even leave the bedroom to head for the kitchen unless I'm right next to her; she greets me at the door when I come home during the day; is always cuddled on my lap whenever I am sitting during the day or night; she gazes into my eyes as she kneads my chest and purrs up a storm. That was until 33 days ago when I took her for her first visit to the vet. We moved across the country six months ago and all her life she had been seen by a vet who came to the house. A new friend suggested I take her for a checkup and a senior blood panel because of her age. She was fine in the exam room, then the vet tech came in to take her out for the blood work. When he returned he said, "she didn't like that too much". From the time I brought her home, she will not step foot in my bedroom (that's where I put her in the traveling "Sherpa"), she hides on the opposite side of the house, she won't sleep with me, sit with me, look at me. If I pick her up to hold her, she doesn't struggle to get away, but she tenses up and won't look at me. Then she will run away as fast as she can the first chance she gets. I am absolutely heartbroken. The vet said she looked and seemed healthy and all her blood work was normal. She's eating, drinking, and eliminating normally. The only thing I can come up with is that she holds me responsible for getting hurt at the vet. She's really afraid of me! Help, please!!

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Very sorry to read about this unfortunate experience .. While I haven't experienced this kind of response in my kitties following a bad experience at the vets, I do understand how this sort of thing can have a lasting impact and effect on different cats, depending on their circumstances. If it helps, this is not your fault. You couldn't have known or anticipated the outcome here.

It could be that the vet tech or vet had to scruff your cat, or she was handled roughly in the process of getting blood, which is unfortunate. I would not be comfortable with a clinic that insists on removing a cat to another room for blood work. If you are not adverse to seeing blood drawn or procedures that might cause some discomfort, then you should always be in the room (with the exception of diagnostic tests such as x-rays or ultrasound) when procedures are performed so you can see what is being done. 

It may take some time for your kitty to learn to feel comfortable enough to want to be close again, but you can help her through this. Below are some things you can try :

1. Spend some time with her, but not close to her. Just be around her without any expectations. Don't call out to her, but let her take the lead.

2. Talk to her while you are preparing her food.

3. Give her some of her favorite treats, first from a distance and without expectation.

4. When you see that she is starting to relax around you, then you can try to stroke her where she likes to be stroked, but only for a short time.

Don't react if the stroke is met with aggression. Always remain neutral.

5. Invite her to come and have some of her favorite treats, on your bed. If she is willing to stick around, then spend some time with her there, but with no expectation. Do this different places of the house.

6. Purchase some cat nip and sprinkle this on chairs, couches and in areas around your bed.

The idea here is to make it safe and inviting again for her to be around you, without expectation. Always remain calm and detached as if the incident never happened, but receptive if she is interested. Once you see that she is starting to relax while around you, then you can start to interact more with her. It may take some time for her to trust you again, but she will come around eventually.

I've recently had the same upset with my cat, she's very elderly and was completely traumatised by a blood test she had at the vets.

I now use someone who practices something called Applied Zoopharmacognosy, this basically is someone trained in oils and dried plants for safe animal use. She brings the oils and my cat self selects what she needs. I've used it twice now and on both occasions the calming effect has been fast and very obvious, I can actually see her physically relaxing, usually laying down near the oil until she's smelt enough, then shortly after she seems to return her to her old self. 

I'm based in the UK so don't know if many people are practising elsewhere, it might be worth emailing this lady if you were interested. PM me for her address.

The one extra comment i will make on top of @oneandahalfcats very helpful suggestions is to move her carrier out of your bedroom and hide it.  If she won't go on the bedroom because she sees this them removing may help.  I too have never heard of this, and while most of us are reluctant to quickly recommend things like prozac, it can work in cats and given the length of time since the vet visit, you may want to discuss with your vet a short course of something like that to get the anxiety down.

Thank you, all, so much for your suggestions. Denice, my next call will be to locate Feliway and give that a try. StephanQ, I put the pet carrier back in the garage the minute we got home from the vet! I'm not ruling out Prozac as a short term possibility to help her snap out of it. Hollybell, I may contact you regarding a more holistic approach if that doesn't work! And Oneandanhalfcats, thank you for the detailed checklist. It's going to be tough love on my part because I just want to scoop her up and hug her every time I walk by her. This is just tearing my heart out, though, so I'm willing to try anything to get her back. Thanks for taking the time to help.

Keep us updated, we're rooting for you!

I hope things turn around.  I can understand how sad this would be for you.   And the poor kitty.  

You poor thing and poor kitty!  I can see why you're so concerned about her and this situation.  Oneandahalfcats has given you some very excellent advice.  The only other suggestion I have is to get some feliway diffusers and plug them in around your home.  This will help her de-stress and help her relearn to trust you.  Keep us posted on her progress.