Almost a year ago I took home a feral cat from my work. We have made worlds of progress just in the past couple of months, but not much at all before that. (Currently she is comfortable with me in the room with her while she's out, and we're building up getting gradually closer.) So my cat, Astrid, is still pretty feral.
She had her vet appointment last year on January 4th and got a one year rabies vaccine, so I need to get her back in before then. I will be moving out of state in 6 - 9 months (and bringing her), so I definitely can't just let it lapse until she's a little more tame. Someone else caught her and took her to the vet before (see my thread from last year), so I didn't get to be any part of the appointment. The clinic they took her to is used to dealing with feral cats, but its out of the way and I wasn't excited about the staff I did interact with. I'd much rather see my regular vet, but they usually see typical domestic housepets, not feral cats. I tried to get her an appointment at my vet last year, and at that time they said that without a rabies vaccine, if she bit anyone she'd have to go through a long quarantine. I imagine the case is the same if I don't get her in before the 4th, and with the holidays that doesn't leave a lot of time. So I really need to get her seen within the next couple of weeks.
So I was wondering if anyone has any tips for catching her up and getting her in to the vet as smoothly as possible? I know the whole situation will be incredibly stressful for her, but I really don't want to add any extra stress making silly mistakes and dragging out the catching process longer than necessary. Also any opinions on the clinic I should use? I trust my vet, but I wonder if it would make it less stressful if the vet is used to dealing with wild animals? Though I was really not a fan of that other clinic...
(As of right now, the plan is to go in with 1 - 2 extra people, I'll try to pull her out of her hiding spot by the scruff or in a towel, and they'll be blocking escape routes with towels ready to snatch her up. I imagine it would be best to catch her early, before the appointment, just in case it takes a long time, and then leave her in the kennel with a towel over it until its time to take her in?)
She had her vet appointment last year on January 4th and got a one year rabies vaccine, so I need to get her back in before then. I will be moving out of state in 6 - 9 months (and bringing her), so I definitely can't just let it lapse until she's a little more tame. Someone else caught her and took her to the vet before (see my thread from last year), so I didn't get to be any part of the appointment. The clinic they took her to is used to dealing with feral cats, but its out of the way and I wasn't excited about the staff I did interact with. I'd much rather see my regular vet, but they usually see typical domestic housepets, not feral cats. I tried to get her an appointment at my vet last year, and at that time they said that without a rabies vaccine, if she bit anyone she'd have to go through a long quarantine. I imagine the case is the same if I don't get her in before the 4th, and with the holidays that doesn't leave a lot of time. So I really need to get her seen within the next couple of weeks.
So I was wondering if anyone has any tips for catching her up and getting her in to the vet as smoothly as possible? I know the whole situation will be incredibly stressful for her, but I really don't want to add any extra stress making silly mistakes and dragging out the catching process longer than necessary. Also any opinions on the clinic I should use? I trust my vet, but I wonder if it would make it less stressful if the vet is used to dealing with wild animals? Though I was really not a fan of that other clinic...
(As of right now, the plan is to go in with 1 - 2 extra people, I'll try to pull her out of her hiding spot by the scruff or in a towel, and they'll be blocking escape routes with towels ready to snatch her up. I imagine it would be best to catch her early, before the appointment, just in case it takes a long time, and then leave her in the kennel with a towel over it until its time to take her in?)