Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    	Ask your vet to supply you with some tranquilizers that 	
    	you can give your cat about an hour before you plan to 
    	take him to the vets. 
    
    	Is the vet rough in handling Brat? Maybe you should find a 
    	different vet if he's so frightened of this one. I used to 
    	work for a vet that would just kindof grab the cats and shove
    	them around the table (which, of course, didn't work very
    	well), but his female associate was very, very gentle and the
    	cats never minded her at all. It doesn't sound like your vet
    	was very thorough with Brat - I'd be concerned that he had an
    	abcess, not just a surface infection. How is he doing now??
    

    
    I agree with .1 see if you can get something to sedate him before
    you take him to the vet.
    
    I also agree you should see another vet after all a vet that can't
    handle a cat can't be a very good one - they are trained for this
    sort of behaviour from all animals.
    
    Sharon
    

    Maybe check into a HouseCall Vet - there are vets that will
    come to your house.
    
    E.T.

    Brat tends to have a rather assertive personality, and I've got
    the scars to prove it, but he's gotten much better in the last year.
    
    I've been keeping an eye on Brat's skin crud, and it hasn't spread
    and one spot has dried up.  I've been creaming it every night with
    the stuff the vet gave me 3 weeks ago; it's definitely not abcessed
    or infected.  Brat's appetite, elimination, and lifestyle hasn't
    been affected.  He's even forgiven me for the trauma I put him through;
    a few hours after the visit, Brat climbed on my lap, rubbed his
    face against me, and purred away.  He can be such a sweetie when
    he wants to.
    
    The vet wasn't handling him roughly, but he did seem afraid of the
    cat.  Vet visits have been getting progressively worse over the
    years, and I'm at the point where I don't know what to do.

    Find a new vet.  When I first got Pussycat and he was still feral,
    there was a huge difference in how vets reacted, and consequently
    a huge difference in how Pussycat reacted.  The vet I finally found,
    was very calm and really likes cats, and Pussycat quieted right
    down.  Quite a contrast to ring around the examining room accompanied
    by hair-raising howls and human blood.
    
    I think also part of the problem may have been that it wasn't very
    long between visits.  Brat may have forgotten a bit by December.
    

    One trick I've learned to get a reluctant cat into a carrier: use
    a pillow case. They go into the case pretty easily (they sem to
    like it), and once inside the case, the entire case can be scooped-up
    by the neck and eased into the carrier. Once inside the carrier,
    the cat emerges from the pillow case none the worse.
    
    I still haven't figured-out how to get them OUT of the carrier,
    though.
    
    
    KBS
    

    The vet I use is wonderful with Nikki who is the biggest scardeycat
    on this planet.  She has this knack of scooping him up without any
    resistance on his part.  He sits very patiently on the examining
    table purring away.  She makes administering pills and other medication
    look so easy; Nikki doesn't flinch.  BUT - as soon as I get him
    home he turns into a tiger, growling and hissing at me when I try
    to do the very same things!
    
    I agree with the others.  Find another vet who is adept at handling
    cats with this type of dispostion.  Cats can sense our nervousness
    and react accordingly.  You have to show them who's boss (getting
    them to believe it is another story...).
    
    Good luck!
    
    /Roberta
     

    
    	Just out of curiosity, who is this vet? Sounds like the one
    	I used to work for....
    

    If your happy with your Vet, I agree get the tranquilizers.
    My cat Minnow, seems so regal, dignified and shy? But take her
    to the vet and she turns into a wild maniac! In fact try to take
    her anywhere! Anyways we had this problem when we went to get
    the feline luk test. My Vet who is wonderful, what a wild woman
    she could turn into, it took myself the vet and 2 assistants to
    hold her and we didn't get anywhere. At that point my vet handed
    me a small supply of tranqs. and said give her one before you visit.
    
    Marilyn

    RE:  .8
    
    The vet described in .7 is Dr. Nord of the Framingham Animal Hospital
    on Edgell Road.  She is wonderful with animals.  I recently moved
    to Grafton and still don't mind driving the 1/2 hour to have her
    treat my kids.
    

    Re. getting cats into carriers:
    
    Try putting the carrier on end so that the opening is facing the
    ceiling.  Pick up kitty and drop him in, hind legs first.  If you
    can get the hind legs in, the front ones and the head follow pretty
    easily.
    
    Re. getting cats out of carriers:
    
    At home, they walk out.  At the vets, however, take the carrier
    and, starting at a horizontal position (opening facing a wall),
    dip the carrier slowly until the opening is facing the table (carrier
    is now vertical).  This generally gets the kitties out as there
    isn't much to brace against.  If kitty is still in the carrier,
    either shake gently so kitty loses his/her grip and slips onto the
    table (hold carrier about 1 foot off the table; 6 feet is unacceptable
    :-) :-) !!) or pull on body.  Kitty will come out.
    
    Re. personality changes.
    
    Loki and Fluffy are very good at the vet's.  They freeze, so the
    vet can examine, weigh, give shots, etc. easily.  Bigfoot, the gentle
    giant, however, turns into a screaming mountain lion at the vet's.
    Hiss, growl, scream, swat (with 7 toes on each front and 5 on each
    back foot, he's quite a handful!)!  It takes one assistant to hold
    him (I can't - he bites!) and one vet to give shots and clip claws.
    The exam itself he does okay.  The way he screams, though, you'd
    think they were cutting off his paws and not his claws!
    
    ... Maybe I'll try the tranqs too if the monthly claw clipping gets
    too hazardous for the vet's health :-) ;-) :-) ... !!
    
                                     - Andrea

    Abbott Animal Hospital in Worcester.  Frankly, I forget the name
    of the doctor we saw.
    

    	
    	re .12		Nope, that's not the one...