Visiting the vet can be a stressful event for many kitties, but by using a few easily applied techniques you can substantially decrease your cat’s anxiety levels. The following are some tips that will make trips to the veterinary clinic much more pleasant!
Find a Feline Practitioner
Not all communities have feline specific veterinary clinics, but if you do live in a region in which there are cat clinics, it’s imperative that you take advantage of this!
- Your cat’s stress levels while waiting in the reception area of the clinic will be substantially less if they aren’t sitting 1 or 2 metres away from a loudly barking German shepherd dog!
To look for a feline specific clinic in your area, search the American Association of Feline Practitioners website for all AAFP registered clinics in North America.
Find an ABVP Feline Practice Board-Certified Diplomate
Not all communities will have board-certified feline specialists either, but it’s always worth looking because if there is an ABVP Diplomate (American Board of Veterinary Practitioners) in your area, it is another great resource for you and your kitty!
ABVP Feline Practice Diplomates are veterinarians who have completed the intensive ABVP species-specific (feline) clinical practice residency program (a minimum of two years), and who have successfully passed the ABVP Specialty Exam.
To search for a Feline Diplomate near you, visit the ABVP website and click on the “Find a Diplomate” button. ( http://www.abvp.com/ )
Have a cat carrier
Cat carriers tend to be inexpensive, although there certainly are some pricey models available these days as well. It’s well worth investing in at least a regular, mainstream carrier for your cat, since over the course of your cat’s lifetime you will need to travel with them repeatedly.
Some cat owners bring their cats to the clinic by placing them inside gym bags, suitcases, cardboard boxes, laundry baskets, and other such improvised versions of cat carriers. This is an unwise decision for multiple reasons.
Part of an improvised carrier needs to remain open so the cat inside can breathe which means that they can easily escape from it. Cats will often seize the opportunity to jump out while they are being carried through clinic parking lots, which are highly dangerous places since they can easily be hit by cars.
Gym bags, duffel bags, purses, and other such items have no firm structure to them since they aren’t built to support animals, unlike soft sided cat carriers. Without sturdy bottoms in their carrying bags cats feel unsupported and insecure which greatly increases stress levels and may even cause them to panic.
Additionally, improvised bags don’t have nice familiar odours inside so they don’t impart any sense of comfort to cats since they are not items which kitties use regularly in the home.
Carrying cats from the car to the clinic in one’s arms is even more dangerous than using improvised carriers since cats can escape even more easily in this kind of scenario.
Cats are already tense and a bit frightened after experiencing the car ride to the clinic, and are prone to bolting – many clinics are situated on busy roads, and I have seen more than one cat unexpectedly get away from owners that were intending carry them into the clinic!
Have the RIGHT carrier
Carrier should be large enough that cats can comfortably stand up and turn around… you might be surprised to know how frequently cats arrive in clinics squeezed inside kennels that they outgrew 10 years prior when they entered adulthood!
Carriers best suited for going to the vet are ones with snap tops that are easily removed. These are extremely handy because cats can remain comfy and snug in the bottom half of the carrier through the majority of their exam, and can then be gently lifted out when better access is needed to complete the exam or perform procedures. This method of extracting cats from their carriers is far less stressful than ‘dumping’ them out of their carriers.
Keep your cat’s carrier out & available for their use at all times
Your cat’s carrier should not be associated only with use for trips to the vet clinic and other stressful events such as air travel, otherwise your cat will associate the carrier with these negative experiences – upon seeing the carrier your cat’s fear and anxiety levels will amplify instantaneously, irrespective of why you have brought it out of storage.
If the cat carrier only appears out of the front hall closet the day before a trip to the veterinarian’s office, your cat will quickly learn that it’s time to go into hiding until the carrier disappears from view once again!… Chasing your cat down and retrieve them from underneath the bed only results in heightened stress levels for both of you before you’ve even left the home, and can also result in missed veterinary appointments.
Place a comfortable pad or blanket in the bottom of the carrier.
Your cat should consider their carrier a safe haven, a place that they frequent for little cat naps – the carrier should be associated with a sense of security and their home environment so that when your kitty travels in their carrier they know that they are inside their safe haven.
What to put inside the carrier (aside from your cat!)
As mentioned above, the carrier should be a comfortable environment with a familiar cushion or blanket inside.
Many cats like to burrow themselves and hide under their blankets when they are stressed, so this not only provides them with familiar smells, but also allows them to retreat underneath when they are stressed.
Provide some treats and familiar toys in the carrier to create a positive association with being inside the carrier.
This should be done not only when traveling to the vet clinic, but also on a regular basis at home.
Pheromones!
There is now a synthetic version of cats’ ‘happy pheromone.’ Kitties naturally produce this happy pheromone within skin glands that are located by their cheeks.
When cats are happy and content they rub up against people and nearby objects, depositing their happy cat facial pheromones all around them.
The synthetic form of this molecule is called Feliway, and is fairly inexpensive.
Use of the synthetic version can greatly decrease cats’ anxiety levels while travelling!
To use Feliway:
Spray the entire inner surface of the carrier as well as the blanket inside, with Feliway, starting 24 hours before the veterinary visit. Repeat this at least four times during the 24 hour period prior to the visit in order to build up a good coating of Feliway in the carrier. Don’t spray the carrier and place your cat immediately within it – leave at least 15 minutes because alcohol is one of the carrier molecules in Feliway and should have time to evaporate since cats don’t enjoy the scent of alcohol!
Desensitize your cat to car travel
A significant stressor when bringing a cat to the vet is the transportation which leads to their arrival at the clinic… car rides often put cats into panic mode long before they even set paw inside the clinic itself!
Car rides are an infrequent experience for most cats. Cars are also noisy and mobile. Many cats don’t cope well with new situations, let alone situations involving engine noises and fast, unpredictable movements.
Car travel is like an overwhelming sensory assault to cats; it creates simultaneous auditory, visual, olfactory, and tactile stimuli and there is no time during which cats can acclimate to the situation. This kind of travel experience creates negative associations in cats’ minds, and they will not relish future repeats of the experience!
To help your cat deal more effectively with transportation the solution is helping your cat slowly adjust to the experience in small increments. Once your cat is accustomed to being in the car, take your cat for car rides that don’t end up at the veterinary office so they don’t automatically associate car trips with vet visits!
Ideally cats should be acclimatized to travel in kittenhood, but later in life is still better than never.
- Place your cat in your car without starting the engine. Don’t go anywhere, simply allow your cat to explore a bit and just sit in his or her carrier, becoming familiar with the car’s appearance and smells. Provide lots of treats, praise, and positive attention.
- Once your cat has been inside the car multiple times and seems fairly comfortable with it, then place your cat in the car and start the engine. Again, do not go anywhere, just allow your kitty to understand that the noise of the engine is not a threat, it is simply a background noise.
- Once your cat is accustomed to the noise of the engine and the feel of its vibrations, go for your first short car ride. Keep your cat safely enclosed in their carrier, take turns slowly and gently, and do not open the windows or have music playing. Drive slowly around the block or just around the parking lot and that will be enough for your cat’s first ride.
- Next, take your kitty for a longer drive. Again, go slowly, keep the windows closed and the car radio off. The motion of the car ride alone, combined with the sight of other vehicles on the road and the traffic noise will be more than enough for your cat to contend with.
- Again, reward your cat with lots of treats, praise, and stroking once the drive is over but you are still in the vehicle. When you return home, give your cat one of their favourite foods – tuna, liver bits, cooked turkey, or whatever they love most!
Once your cat knows how to cope with travel it won’t be a major stressor when you need to transport them to the vet clinic – it will simply be one of many little rides they have experienced and they’ll know that there will be a delicious meal awaiting them upon their return home!
Your cat’s demeanor inside the vet clinic
When a cat is in a clinic they may behave in ways they have never behaved at home. They may growl, hiss, swat, be generally uncooperative, or even try to bite. These actions do NOT mean that they are “bad cats” – they are simply frightened and are reacting to what they perceive as a scary situation with natural defensive feline behaviour.
Some owners admonish their cats if they believe their cat is ‘misbehaving’ in a veterinary office. Some go so far as to yell aggressively, tap or smack their cat on the nose or head, or they even spank their cat’s rear end. This should NEVER ever be done.
This form of ‘discipline’ may be a reaction to owners’ embarrassment about their cat’s behaviour, but it’s critical to know that these are normal cat behaviours and veterinarians understand this better than anyone! There is no need to apologize or feel embarrassed about feisty cat behaviour because vets will not think these frisky cats are “bad cats” – veterinarians deal with fractious kitties on a daily basis and are trained to handle scared, aggressive cats in a safe and gentle manner.
Yelling at a cat, or worse, tapping or smacking them, only serves to heighten the their stress levels, and is always a BAD idea. Yelling at and smacking a cat makes the kitty even more frightened and reactive – not only are they now in a foreign environment but their one source of comfort and familiarity, their owner, has become scary and foreign as well.
‘Punishing’ a cat makes the veterinarian’s job of handling the frightened cat even harder. Additionally, it creates a negative memory of the clinic in the cat’s mind which means that the next visit will be even more stressful than the last one, and the cat may behave even more defensively.
The best action to take if your cat is upset, is to pet and reassure them when your veterinarian requests that you help them by providing positive distractions during their physical exam. Otherwise, it’s best not to interfere until your veterinarian is finished. Once the exam is over, lots of praise, treats, and positive attention are warranted.
Social time at the clinic!
An excellent way of teaching your cat that a visit to the clinic is not a scary event, is to bring your cat in for visits when he or she does not require an exam or procedure of any kind.
Call your veterinary clinic in advance to ensure that it is a good time to visit – you do not want to impede work happening at the clinic if they are extremely busy, and you also do not want the visit to be too overwhelming for your kitty if it is a bit chaotic at the time of your planned visit. For instance, mornings when surgical procedures are being done may be a convenient time – the clinic will not be busy in the waiting room and exam rooms, and your kitty may be allowed to spend lots of time exploring the reception area and elsewhere.
Bring some food along for your cat, and feed him or her in one of the exam rooms if possible. Play with some toys and some catnip, and see if one or two staff members of the clinic are available to play with your cat for a short period of time.
Practice makes perfect
Train your cat to accept certain kinds of physical manipulation that are similar to routine procedures done at veterinary clinics. If your cat is used to these procedures at home, then veterinary exams will be less stressful and will be better tolerated by your cat.
Slowly teach your kitty to accept having their paws touched, nails unsheathed, being groomed, having their teeth brushed, ears cleaned, and having their belly’s touched.
Start practicing with your cat as soon as you can – from kittenhood ideally, but training your cat in adulthood can work as well.
To read more articles by Veterinarian Dr. Ko please visit http://www.catdoctorko.com
The information provided in this article is for educational reference purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for the advice and care of your veterinarian, nor medical diagnoses or treatments. All questions regarding your cat’s health should be discussed with your veterinarian. © 2011 K & J Ventures Inc. All Rights Reserved.
