1st vet visit, how to keep nervous cat calm

I would like to take our younger, much shyer, skittish, and nervous cat in for a checkup. We adopted her a month ago and she's settling into our home well. How do those with cats like this keep them calm at the vet's? She's okay in the car, but she gets cornered and hisses in new places and with new people.

For the first visit, is bloodwork necessary? I've emailed the rescue we got her from to see if they have any documentation on her, which I totally forgot to ask about when we picked her up. If they've done bloodwork already (let's say, at/before the spay), I see no need to do it again only several months later. Both of our cats are indoor, no chance of going outdoor, so I will not be vaccinating. I see lots of people on the forums who do the initial kitten vaccinations. Kismet's a year old now, having been born and raised in her foster home and I believe the rescue we got her from said they don't vaccinate, but I'm waiting on their reply for more information... This article was also in the adopter's package that we received when we were approved to adopt. Input? I might inquire about microchipping though.

Story about experience with new vet might be kind of long. skip if it's too much!

We had Mo at the vet today and he was a huge ham. He was pretty relaxed in the car (they sleep in that carrier all the time), and was getting head rubs in the waiting room. Once we got into the exam room, he jumped out and explored, rubbed against all the techs', receptionist's, and vet's legs and was just happy to be alive as he usually is. He purred his way through the physical while my boyfriend held him, and had to be carried near a running faucet just to get his purring down so the vet could hear his pulse. Because he hasn't had bloodwork done before and is 9 years old with what felt like small kidneys, they suggested bloodwork, to which my boyfriend agreed. He was very eager to explore, so once the door opened and the tech scooped him up, he was pretty happy. When they got to the back, we didn't hear him for a while... then he meowed a few times, some pretty unhappy meows. Then VERY unhappy meows that we'd never heard before. After a while, the vet came back and said he's getting too stressed and they wanted to know if we still wanted to do bloodwork, in which case they would lightly sedate him with a half dose of intramuscular injection just to keep him from fighting so much. It would be dangerous to have a cat flailing around when trying to stick him.

This is my first time being at the vet with a mammal, so I don't know how this normally works. Internets says it's uncommon for cats to need sedation for bloodwork, but the way we saw it was that my boyfriend has been the only 100% constant in this cat's life - between moves (MANY of them, as he was a student), housemates, visitors, and the past couple of years he's been working from home so he's around 99.9% of the time. Being taken away and made uncomfortable by total strangers, even the ones he was just rubbing up against, was a bit much for him. He's home and fine now, his pupils aren't nearly as dilated, and he's eaten a couple saucers of food. We get a call tomorrow about the results of the blood test, and that'll determine whether a stool softener would be good for him and what else we can do if he is having kidney problems. I think we were lulled into this false sense of comfort that oh, our totally sociable, calm, and sweet attention hog of a cat is great with strangers - he'll do well at the vet meeting people, but this guy actually required light sedation.

Does this vet's office sound competent? She was good doing the physical and seemed pretty knowledgeable, but we can't see what happens behind closed doors. It seemed a bit chaotic because she had trouble wrangling a tech to hold Mo near the sink (boyfriend had to do it), so I'm wondering if the vets are competent but the hands they have around them are either short staffed or.. they're the ones who are incompetent. I'm kind of on the fence if I want to go back but I think my boyfriend is giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Mo is a pretty tolerable cat, so this experience has me pretty nervous about bringing Kismet in, who is nowhere near as adaptable.

You just adopted Kismet and she isn't microchipped?  I thought that was standard practice these days for all newly adopted animals .

As to vaccinations, she had her full kitten boosters, right?  Some people think that's all that's needed as long as the cat's are not allowed to go outside or be around other cats (other than others in the same home).  That one is strictly a personal decision, and you can find several threads on that topic if you just do a search at the top of the page.  I guess the adoption agency checked her already to make sure she didn't already test positive for anything already, like FELV/FIV/FPV? 

It''s possible your area may require a rabies shot, although I think that's becoming less and less a requirement as long as you never board, have them groomed at a public groomer, etc.  

As far as a blood test, again, that's a personal decision.  Some people like to have a baseline so IF something ever is wrong, they have a comparison.  Others just don't want to do that due to stress, money, etc. 

May I ask why Mo was at the Vet, and why he was in the backoffice for so long?  Our Vet does take our cats in the back room simply to draw blood or a urine sample, but that's usually it, so they aren't gone very long.  If one of the cat's needs rehydrating or something like that, they usually do it in the room WITH us, to keep them calm.  And our Vet has never needed the assistance of a tech to keep any of our cats "in line".  What were they doing over by the sink?   I have heard others say that their Vets don't ever take the cats out of the room, even to draw blood. 

So...I know I haven't told you anything except YOU need to decide what to do.  Sorry about that.  But one thing you can do to try to keep him calm is to use Rescue Remedy or some other type of calming essential oils.  Some folks swear by them.  Or even call the Vet ahead of time and tell them your cat is very skittish and see if than can offer you some sort of light sedative (oral) to give prior to the visit. 

I adopted Louie 3 years ago and while fixed, not Microchipped. To Microchip him here it was $120 extra. No idea why but it was a choice.

mrsgreenjeens said:

You just adopted Kismet and she isn't microchipped?  I thought that was standard practice these days for all newly adopted animals :dk: .

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re: microchipping, call local rescue organizations and shelters.  when i adopted my samantha from a network of fosters, they had the stuff to microchip piglet with them and charged me $5 for the supplies.  $120 sounds like an awful lot... luvmypet, a group that does vaccination clinics at petco organizations in my area, charges $44.  i highly recommend microchipping; it's an easy thing to do.  in 2006 the women who brought samantha to my house grabbed piglet, cleaned the area, used a wide bore needle to inject the microchip under her skin, and we were done.  piglet hid under the bed for a couple of hours and was fine.

re: vaccinations, your state/county may require rabies vaccinations for all cats.  your vet may require them to treat your cat; i know in the county my old vet was in, rabies vaccinations were required.  if your pet didn't have a vaccine yet, they wouldn't even let you wait in the waiting room with other pets!  i got all of my cats their kitten shots (if they didn't have them already) and have them vaccinated against rabies because it's been an issue where i live.  even if your cats are indoor cats (like mine are), things happen.  cats get out.  cats get lost.  ask about adjuvant free vaccinations.

re: how to calm a nervous cat, good luck.  please let me know when you figure it out i have used homeo pet drops for calming; they don't seem to help.  i've used natural sprays for the carrier; that might help a *little* bit.  i try to bring the brush with piglet because she loves being brushed, but that doesn't stop her from shouting and yowling at me the entire drive.  and re: bloodwork, i've always had an issue with my cats that required blood.  piglet's had blood work done 6 or 7 times since march  i think that having a baseline is a good idea.  if a cat hasn't had bloodwork done by age 7, i would probably have it done to see that everything's going okay.  

i have very particular ideas about drawing blood.  i had a horrible, horrible experience with my baby samantha at a banfield that was well-recommended to me when we lived down in florida.  little did i know they had a different vet there and that's who we saw the first time.  he and his vet techs were ridiculous.  i was asked to come back for a follow up after complaining and saw the vet that my friend was talking about; he was very gentle and seemed like a good vet.  however, i refused to go back there or to any banfield after that.  i prefer for blood to be drawn in front of me, and i would not allow even light sedation unless it was imperative to get blood.

@stephgas: That's a good idea - I know in spring, the Toronto Humane Society does a microchipping clinic. It's a bit out of our way, but we have our own transportation and it's much more affordable since it is somewhere around $100 to get it done at a vet's office. When we took Mo to the vet, she didn't push any vaccinations. Because he's 100% indoor now, she didn't recommend rabies either, but I can definitely understand getting the initial vaccinations and any potential mishaps where cats get out of the house or lost.

Poor Piglet! I'm thinking what we'll do is toss a blanket on our bed, and then throw it in the carrier whenever we need to take the cats somewhere, but other than that, I'm lost. I was considering Feliway, but any oil-based diffusers are really touchy because it can kill my birds. I'm going to have to ask the vet what they would recommend, or if they can have something calming in the room ready for us.

I'm also very hesitant to put my trust in Banfield - I've just heard so much that I can't un-hear. Ultimately it was my boyfriend's decision because Mo is his, and I trust his judgement for what's best for him. Knowing that owners do have their pet's drawn in front of them makes me feel that had this been an offer for us, we would have taken that over sedation. I think just Mo being separated from us made him panic even more, and it just exacerbated everything. Maybe they decided to do that so Mo wouldn't associate the discomfort of the urine and blood pokes with us?

pinkdagger said:

 
@stephgas: That's a good idea - I know in spring, the Toronto Humane Society does a microchipping clinic. It's a bit out of our way, but we have our own transportation and it's much more affordable since it is somewhere around $100 to get it done at a vet's office. When we took Mo to the vet, she didn't push any vaccinations. Because he's 100% indoor now, she didn't recommend rabies either, but I can definitely understand getting the initial vaccinations and any potential mishaps where cats get out of the house or lost.

Poor Piglet! I'm thinking what we'll do is toss a blanket on our bed, and then throw it in the carrier whenever we need to take the cats somewhere, but other than that, I'm lost. I was considering Feliway, but any oil-based diffusers are really touchy because it can kill my birds. I'm going to have to ask the vet what they would recommend, or if they can have something calming in the room ready for us.

I'm also very hesitant to put my trust in Banfield - I've just heard so much that I can't un-hear. Ultimately it was my boyfriend's decision because Mo is his, and I trust his judgement for what's best for him. Knowing that owners do have their pet's drawn in front of them makes me feel that had this been an offer for us, we would have taken that over sedation. I think just Mo being separated from us made him panic even more, and it just exacerbated everything. Maybe they decided to do that so Mo wouldn't associate the discomfort of the urine and blood pokes with us?

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re: banfield, yeah now i've heard and experienced so much that can't be undone.  i have high hopes for this new vet we're visiting tomorrow - he's holistic and western medicine all wrapped in one. very excited.  we used feliway diffusers for a bit.  it seemed to help initially, but didn't seem to after a couple of weeks.  and we felt like the unit kept getting warmer than we'd like.  they do offer a spray that can be used in a carrier or towel, and a collar.  we used the collar for some time and, like the diffuser, it seemed to help initially.  our male suspected-bengal-mix jake is assertive.  and piglet's a big baby.  so he can easily get a rise out of her, and he teases her all the time.  the collar helped that for a bit.  i feel like if they're exposed to it regularly, they like get used to it.

many vets will not draw blood in the main room or with the pet parents present.  i don't know why - your idea sounds plausible though.  as for getting urine, i can see them removing the cat from me because i have NO Idea what to do with that lol.  

That makes a lot of sense. I think I would prefer infrequent use of any pheromones because she seems fine at home - it's just anywhere else she might end up, haha. I would love to have a vet that was open to both holistic and western medicine! You're so lucky!

We had our vet suggest steroids as an option for Mo (anemia, small kidneys, low protein), but she hasn't really pushed anything, nor anything like a prescription diet so I'm glad she's on the tamer end of the commercially-trained vets. Their walls were, of course, lined with Hills and Royal Canin. I've read so many stories about vets who completely disregard holistic care, or even just care that doesn't involve some type of medication or irrelevant and expensive procedures for the sake of making a quick buck, and this vet's office received some reviews that described it that way too. I guess we lucked out getting the vet we did. I guess the owner of the clinic is always pushing for that extra dollar (unsurprisingly).

When Mo was taken away, my boyfriend and I were giggling about how they retrieve urine because we seriously had no idea. Like hold him down and squeeze his bladder so he pees into a bag? Little did we realize it was a needle right through the belly! I think I would yowl too, even if my most trusted person was around.

pinkdagger said:

 
That makes a lot of sense. I think I would prefer infrequent use of any pheromones because she seems fine at home - it's just anywhere else she might end up, haha. I would love to have a vet that was open to both holistic and western medicine! You're so lucky!

We had our vet suggest steroids as an option for Mo (anemia, small kidneys, low protein), but she hasn't really pushed anything, nor anything like a prescription diet so I'm glad she's on the tamer end of the commercially-trained vets. Their walls were, of course, lined with Hills and Royal Canin. I've read so many stories about vets who completely disregard holistic care, or even just care that doesn't involve some type of medication or irrelevant and expensive procedures for the sake of making a quick buck, and this vet's office received some reviews that described it that way too. I guess we lucked out getting the vet we did. I guess the owner of the clinic is always pushing for that extra dollar (unsurprisingly).

When Mo was taken away, my boyfriend and I were giggling about how they retrieve urine because we seriously had no idea. Like hold him down and squeeze his bladder so he pees into a bag? Little did we realize it was a needle right through the belly! I think I would yowl too, even if my most trusted person was around.

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the vet i had in florida was a very traditional practice, full of adverts and western medicine.  but the two vets that i saw there were cat people - like me! - and were open to discussion.  i think that's the most important thing in any healthcare provider (even our doctors).  let them practice the medicine the way they want, but let them be open to learning and discussion.  i went on http://www.ahvma.org  and found there was *one* holistic vet on long island where i live.  luckily he's not more than a 35 minute drive, so we're going to try him out.

my old vet said they could feel if the bladder was full by pressing, and said that if it's full enough, they can basically squeeze until some urine comes out.  they told me that's how they got urine from my piglet because her bladder was FULL!  if it hadn't been as full, they would have done the needle thing, which i wouldn't have wanted them to do anyway!