Claw Down: Six secrets to keeping your pet cat calm before, during and after a vet visit
For far too many feline pet parents, taking a cat to the veterinarian can resemble an MMA fight with various parties — cat, owner, veterinary nurse and veterinarian — being in the fight. This is a battle nobody looks forward to, everyone avoids if possible and where one or more participants can really get hurt.
Here's why and — better — how to prevent it.
Cats are taken against their will for health care. They have no idea that there's a benefit to a stranger staring into their eyes with a light, prying open their mouths, manipulating their limbs, giving vaccinations, examining wounds, or performing blood draws or radiographs.
They can't anticipate or expect the relief of fear, anxiety and stress (FAS) or pain, even if it's only moments away. They don't have the concept of a 30-minute visit, 15-minute exam or mere seconds for a vaccination or blood draw.
They can't flee the threat. Not only can they not escape from the exam room, they are often harshly restrained. Imagine being scared and having someone hold you tightly.
They are taken back repeatedly to the place where they previously felt threatened or harmed.
For comparison, let's say you're scared of having cavities filled at the dentist, but someone forces you to go to an office on vacation. Once in the chair, the dentist speaks a foreign language, and you don't understand what's going to happen or how it's going to benefit you. Furthermore, you don't know if you're going to be in the chair for 30 minutes or three hours. You try to leave, but you find yourself strapped into the chair. Worst of all, every time you visit this country, they take you back to the same dentist office for more procedures.
Fortunately, there is a movement in the veterinary profession to make visits pleasant for the client, the veterinary staff and most important, the cat. At practices that have embraced the principles of Fear Free Pets or Cat Friendly handling techniques, 85% of feline patients that aren't sick or injured will take a treat. Why? Three reasons:
1) Clients are told to bring cat(s) in hungry, so they respond better to food rewards.
2) From the living room to the exam room, FAS levels are kept very low.
3) The treats are tasty and tempting, with more choices than a feline Golden Corral. When I practice, I offer an assortment of the following: tuna, warm deli chicken and turkey, freeze-dried chicken, baby shrimp, turkey baby food, whipped cream, cream cheese, peanut butter, Easy Cheese Cheddar 'n Bacon, bonito fish flakes and tastiest of all, Churu paste.
If the cat refuses treats or remains fearful during the vet visit, we make a note of this in the cat's emotional medical record, and for the next visit, we'll do something different, including one or more of the following:
4) Special day/time. Many practices now have special times set aside for cat visits, with the most anxious cats being the first or last patients of the day.
5) Compression garments. You may have heard of Thundershirts for dogs, but did you know they also work quite well with many cats? If you wonder how compression works to calm, think of swaddling a baby or the kind of hugs you get when you're grieving.
6) Pre-visit pharmaceuticals. Veterinarians now have a wide range of products to calm pets, including a particular CBD product that has undergone clinical trials at Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine (ask your veterinarian), drugs like gabapentin used off-label and some FDA-approved drugs.
If you choose the right veterinary practice, you can throw away the heavy leather gloves, have a pleasant veterinary visit and come home with nary a scratch.
Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker. Pet Connection is produced by veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker, journalist Kim Campbell Thornton, and dog trainer/behavior consultant Mikkel Becker. ©2023 Andrews McMeel Syndication
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Pet Connection: Six secrets to keeping cats calm during vet visits
