"It is not necessary
to understand things in order to argue about them."
--Pierre Beaumarchais--
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The vet-in-the-van came today, for Daughter's extremely old lady cat, the one who never leaves the master bedroom, and snarls and spits at everyone. Vet says hairballs (probably). Schmeck is the tiniest adult cat I've ever seen. She's a gazillion years old, so who knows what might be going on. Daughter also made an appointment for my Jasper, to get the cyst in his neck drained again.
Jasper is very good for the vet, almost like he's in shock or something, and when the visit is over he is very happy to go into the carrier for the long trip from the street back to our front door --- but initially getting him into the carrier to get him out to the van at the curb is a different matter. I have multiple puncture wounds and scratches on my right shoulder and my upper back. He was determined to climb up and over me to get away from the carrier. I should be grateful it's only scratches - at least he didn't bite.
It looks like we'll have to get that cyst drained every three to four months.
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4 comments:
One of my cats - Tinks - would gladly tear me to shreds rather than go into a carrier. Which made it interesting when he was undergoing health issues earlier this year and had to go to the vet multiple times.
I felt like the vet should've given me a MAJOR AWARD every time I walked into her office with that cat.
If anybody out there has any suggestions for tricking a cat into a carrier, Rocky and I would appreciate them!
Things Tinks has taught me:
1. There are no "tricks". The stinky-food-in-the-carrier thing will work exactly ONCE, and then never again. See also: Leaving the carrier out in the open for prolonged periods so the cat gets used to it. The cat will happily hang out in the carrier for hours and days on end, until the day of the appointment, when he will go nowhere near it.
2. "Suiting up" with a heavy coat and gloves (on you, not the cat) will help minimize bloodshed. See also: Sneaking up behind the cat with a large towel, placing the towel over the cat, then quickly scooping him up.
3. After Step 2, when the cat starts to struggle and flail (and he WILL), instead of letting him go, hold him closer to you. He will (usually) ease up on the struggling when he senses you're not going to drop him. This is where "suiting up" comes in handy.
4. A top-loading carrier can be a godsend. Some cats are much, MUCH easier to place in a carrier from the top as opposed to from the front. You can also just tip a regular carrier onto its end and load that way. The towel-wrapping also comes in handy, as the cat can't brace his legs against the carrier's entrance.
5. If you don't load the cat towel-wrapped, make sure there is a towel in the carrier for the cat to lie on, as well as a towel around the carrier so the cat can't see the constantly-changing scenery and flip out. Obvs, leave enough of the air holes uncovered so the cat can breathe.
6. If you still can't get the cat in the carrier, call the vet and ask her to prescribe a chill-out pill to give the cat BEFORE crating.
I've never actually had to try that, but it's worked for friends. Some vets also make housecalls, although that costs.
If anybody has any other tried-and-true suggestions, I'M ALL EARS. Ha.
In about three months I'll get a chance to test this - probably #2 and #6. I had to dope Jasper up to move him from the country house to the city house so he wouldn't have seizures on the long car trip. I don't remember if that made it any easier to get him into the carrier, though.
Smokey (born 1959) was acquired as a kitten, and she loved to ride in the car draped across the back of my neck, and she'd go into a carrier with no argument, but I rarely used a carrier because she walked well in a harness and leash. But all my cats since have been rescued ferals who'd had a hard early life, and didn't trust ANY kind of confinement (even laps) or strangeness.
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