In need of advice from the "PROS"!!

[jenluckenbach]

This is the story in a nutshell:
I adopted Calvin this May. He is deathly afraid of being picked up and held. We have been working on this and have made tremendous progress, but he is due for shots this month and I do not know how I will handle him at the vet's office. I am not even sure I can get him into a carrier. Another problem is I cannot hold him long enough to clip his nails, so I will have the vet do this while he is there. This is why I do not want to wait too much longer to "brave" this vet visit. I only tried to really hold him (long enough to clip nails) twice. The first time he was afraid to come to me for weeks if not a month after, I was very discouraged. The second time, when I should have known better, he panicked to the point of biting and clawing. He was slighly afraid of me after, but he recovered his confidence more quickly. I have made great progress in petting him and I lift him slightly off the floor for seconds at a time, but I do not want to lose his trust in me again. What do I do?

[lbaker]

oh Jen, i'm not a pro but how wonderful you are to be trying so hard. Is your vet one of the "special" ones that maybe can advise you? How old is dear Calvin? Do you have a friend that maybe can help so he won't "blame" you for this ordeal? Try wrapping in a towel maybe so claws don't penetrate while transporting. I don't know. Good wishes from the East Coast

[Barbara]

It is very difficult to hold my 2 -With Tigris I would never try and with Filou I have to be extremely decided. Both of them don't accept to be petted when you hold them -they have to decide when to cuddle.

So going to the vets is always a drama. My carriers open at the top, which makes it easier: catch cat -drop cat in-cover closed.
They yowl all way to the vet (4 miles long I'm glad she's that close) but at the vets they behave unnaturally good. I am not sure why: it might be out of scare but also out of curiosity -being quiet as long as so many new informations go into that little brain.

So if you manage to catch Calvin it is not sure that he will play the full drama at the vet's. And most vets can deal with it.

Of course it may happen that he will not talk to you after such an experience (one day Filou fell in the bath tub -I caught him and dried him with a towel- he did not talk to me for one day -and he's not feral!) but I think he's on the confidence road and after some days he will be there again.

Good luck to the both of you

Maybe this can help : put that carrier in your livingroom long before your visit to the vet . There is a big chance that Calvin will not longer see this thingie as a "bad" thing . I do this with my cats , and after a while they even play or sleep in it !!
Cannot you ask your vet for something sedating to give Calvin , so you could get him calmer for the visit ?
GOOD LUCK !!!

[smokey the elder]

With my hard cases, I tip the carrier on end, with the opening up. I find that if I scruff the cat I can stuff him into the carrier head first. This sounds nasty, but the cats go limp and are fairly easy to handle.

Good luck!

[nsweezie]

I can sympathize with you. My cat Scooter is a big (20 pound) male who is quite strong. He hates getting in the cat carrier. I will usually wait for him to be sound asleep and then grab him quickly and get him in the carrier before he has a chance to wake up properly. It sounds a little mean, but I would rather do that than try to get him in there when he is wide awake.

[emily_the_spoiled]

I have also learned the trick of leaving the carrier out for a couple of days before hand. But I find it helpful to have a "trail" of treats leading up to the carrier. As Emily is eating the treats I can go up behind her and grab her putting her in the carrier with out "too" much difficulty

[moosmom]

Good advice from everyone. I do the same thing with tipping the carrier and putting the cat in ass backwards while scruffing the neck.

As far as the vet visit and clipping nails are concerned, here are a couple of suggestions.

Give kitty a treat before and after clipping the nails. This way he will associate nail clipping as a pleasant experience, knowing he'll get a treat. It worked with my daughter's cat. At the end of the nail clipping session, she immediately went to the cupboard where the treats are kept (and who says cats can't be trained ).

The vet visit is quite an experience for cats. What I do is let the vet tech take the cat in the room, take him/her out of the carrier and do all the handling. This way in my cat's eyes, I'm not the bad guy, the vet tech is.

Great idea to put the carrier out and opened so Calvin can see it's not a "bad thingy". Good luck.

[boscibo]

That sounds like Abby. She hates to be picked up and held. She likes to snuggle, but only when she wants.

I hate taking Abby to the vet. A couple of times I have had to cancel appointments because I couldn't get her into the cat carrier. I leave mine out for a few days before I need it, but somehow - she knows.

I keep all the bedroom doors closed so she can't hide under the bed, and hope for the best.

When I get to the vet, she has been meowing the whole way, and I'm all stressed out too. They always manage to give her shots and clip her claws, the vet techs know how to manage squrmy, fighting cats. Abby dosn't get nasty at the vet, but she squirms. And the vet and tech are so gentle - I wish I knew how they do it. When I try to give medicines and clip claws myself it's like the cat has grown 4 extra paws.

I think you are doing what I do when faced with taking Abby to the vet - worrying too much. I worry for days before, but it usually goes smoothly once I get her in the cat carrier and make the drive. Relax, and maybe Calvin will relax a little bit too.

[wayne0214]

Jen, this may not be of much value, but when any of my furkids don't want to be picked up, I have found that if I pick and disagreable one up with another by her/his side, this often stops the squirmies. Pick them up in tandem, so that one cat is pressed against the other.

........wayne

[Cataholic]

Jen,
My mom has had much success with the soft sided top loaders...I think everyone else has covered the rest. Maybe a visiting vet? They are not more expensive here...

[BastetsMum]

Bastet HATES having her nails clipped. The only way I can do it is have the treats box there and give her a treat after each nail! If I can get one paw done without being lascerated thats a good day! She is slowly getting better though. Its taken me 6 months just to get one paw done!

As for the kitty carrier. I leave the door off and let Bastet play in it. She now knows its not threatening. If I put the door on and put a treat in there she will go in quite happily. But boy does she howl to and from the vets!

[catlady1945]

We have a couple of cats who have figured out that going in the carrier is bad news. We turn them backwards and pop them in, which seems to work. One of them (Ginger) won't come out though (at the vet's) so that's another drama. We have to actually tip the carrier and shake her out. She claws and hisses at the vet. She is also the one who makes a huge fuss about nail clipping. I have given up and ask the technician to do it. They have to put a blind-fold on her for that though.

[NoahsMommy]

We have three carriers, like this:

This is what I do:
1. Bring the carriers into the room about a day or so before I know I have to take one of them to the vet. (they scatter at the mere sight of the port-o-prisions)
2. Remove the top from the bottom of the carrier (the black knobs on the side move to "OPEN" and you can remove the top)
3. Grab cat and put into bottom of carrier and QUICKLY put top back on.
4. Snap prision back together.

This is the only way that works for us...even with the top loading carriers. They've learned to stick all four paws out or to climb up my head to get away from the carrier.

Good luck and let us know how it goes...

[lailamara]

How about the spray called " Feliway". It's expensive but it has "feel good pheronomes" and is supposed to calm them down. Could someone else put them in the carrier and take them to the vet along with you. If I were a neighbour I'd do it for you. I've clipped claws for friends with difficult cats as well, sometimes with two people holding and me clipping. I don't mind being someone else's bad guy. Maybe there's someone to help you out. Good luck!