With just a few steps before, during and after the vet visit, you can help get your cat calm in the cat carrier–and calmer for the vet visit–with less stress. And less stress for your cat means less stress for you!
I’ll be honest: trips to the vet make me nervous. I’m worried about the outcome of the visit, worried about keeping our cats safe during transport and in the waiting area (even though our feline-friendly vet clinic has a dedicated cat entrance and waiting room), and worried about keeping our cats comfortable in the exam room.
Our cats pick up on that worry–then on top of that they add their own concerns about the carrier, the car ride, the strange smells at the vet clinic, the handling by strangers, and the poking and prodding that comes with an exam.
For many cats around the country, that stress translates into fewer veterinary visits than they really need, all because of the difficulty getting the cat into the carrier and handling the cat at the vet clinic. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Before the Vet Visit
To ease your cat’s stress over the carrier make the carrier one of your cat’s happy places. Instead of bringing out the carrier only for a vet visit (a sure signal to your cat that it’s time to RUN), help your cat learn to love the cat carrier.
Leave the cat carrier out all the time. Leave the carrier open so your cat can come and go freely.
Spray the inside of the empty carrier with FELIWAY® CLASSIC Spray; spray your cat’s favorite blanket and toss it inside. The natural feline facial pheromone which sends “happy messages” helps your cat feel calm when she enters the carrier.
Add a favorite blanket or one of your unwashed t-shirts, a cat toy–and toss a treat or two in every day to add to the surprise factor.
The goal is to get your cat coming and going from the carrier on her own and associating the carrier with good things.
Keep your cat calm wherever she is in the house by plugging in a FELIWAY® CLASSIC Diffuser (one diffuser covers an area of about 700 square feet).
You won’t smell it, and it has no effect on you (or any non-feline residents) but this clinically proven solution may help decrease your cat’s stress and the ways she acts out on that stress: urine spraying, scratching or hiding.
When it’s time to load your cat into the carrier, first take a deep breath and put a smile on your face. (Yes, smiling can put you in a better, more upbeat mood, even if that smile is totally fake.)
Start a little early so you’re not rushing to pack up your cat and racing to meet your scheduled appointment time. Reducing your stress is going to help your cat’s stress level, too.
Similarly, in the car ride to the vet’s office, while your cat is snuggling down in her carrier, keep the mood light. Play some music and keep the trip fun.
During the Vet Visit
Once you reach the vet’s office, place the carrier up on the exam table and cover the carrier with a throw you’ve sprayed with FELIWAY® CLASSIC Spray.
We got this tip from our vet’s office; a tech always comes in with a throw as soon as we get a room. The spray and the dark safety of the covered carrier help reduce your cat’s stress as you wait for the veterinarian.
After the Vet Visit: Avoiding Non-Recognition Aggression
Once your cat returns home, stress can continue, especially if your home is shared by more than one cat. Non-recognition aggression is the phenomena that many pet parents recognize all too well after a vet visit: hissing and even fighting when the cats reunite.
Just like bringing in a new cat to the house, the cats, rather that rushing up to greet the returning feline, welcome the cat with spitting, slapping, snubbing, staring, or worse.
As the name suggests, non-recognition aggression means that the cats literally don’t recognize one another due to the change in scent brought about by the vet visit.
When your cat is going to be returning from the vet visit, whether that’s for a quick checkup or for a multi-day stay, plug in the FELIWAY®MultiCat Diffuser before the reunion to help reduce tension and conflict between cats. There’s also no harm in coming in from the vet’s office and placing your cat in a small bathroom or separate bedroom for a little quiet alone time, letting the cats get reacquainted–with the help of the positive signals they’re receiving from the diffuser–beneath the door.
Once you’ve unloaded your cat from her carrier, take the carrier out to remove its veterinary clinic odors as well. If you use a hard-sided carrier, hose it down and let it dry.
If, like us, you use a soft sided carrier, let it enjoy a sun bath for a few hours. Regardless of the type of carrier you use, before you bring it back into the house, give it a spray with FELIWAY® CLASSIC Spray to copy those natural feline reassuring messages and then return the carrier to your cat’s domain, where it can once again become one of your cat’s happy spots in your home.
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This post is sponsored by Ceva Animal Health, makers of FELIWAY® for cats.. All statements and opinions are entirely our own. As always, we only share products that we use with our own pets!
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