No I'm not going to go through that old one about how you give a cat a pill, but for reference, you can find it here.
Instead, I'm going to tell you how yesterday I risked life and limbs (I have the gouges, scratches, lacerations and other abrasions to show for it) to take our cat, Sammo, to the vet.
Now, at no time did I tell the cat where we were going and it spent the first couple of hours of yesterday morning, on the sofa, blissfully unaware that I had something in mind for him that he might not like--I learnt that one years ago. He might not be able to speak English, but that doesn't mean he doesn't understand it does it?
So, having retrieved the cat carrier from the spare room, I placed it on the floor in the lounge, next to the sofa. So far so good and apart from a look of mild curiosity, Sam made no attempt to flee.
This was good. At this point, I didn't think I would have trouble. I'd just put him in the carrier, put the carrier plus cat in the car and scoot off to the vets. Job done.
Not quite...
He let me pick him up as I really don't think he remembered the carrier from when we moved. He didn't like it then and I had fears that he would like it less now.
I was right.
Once he realised that he was going to be poked into the carrier, that's when he turned star-shaped.
Razor sharp claws and fangs suddenly appeared from the normally fairly docile pussy cat and getting him into the box was obviously not going to be as easy as I hoped.
With the "head first" approach evidently out of the question, I turned him round and after much fumbling on my part and scrabbling around from Sam, I proceeded to drop him gently into the waiting carrier.
Success!
Oh no... wait a minute... perhaps not.
The cat peered out of the top and shot out like someone had just lit the blue touch paper and stood well back. Sadly, I hadn't stood well back and got several needle-like holes in my thigh as Sam used me as a springboard to clear the sofa and land at the foot of the stairs.
I retrieved the cat, trying not to let on that half a dozen needle holes in the thigh hurt.
Going for a second attempt, having refined my plan from the first, I held him securely and attempted to lower him gently into the carrier.
It appeared that while I had refined my methods for insertion, he too had refined his and back legs shot out sideways with claws extended, making it impossible to lower gently, so I applied some force--not a lot, but what I thought was enough.
That force was akin to applying pressure to a spring: let it go and boinggggg!!!!
Apply this to the cat and you guessed it--boingggg!
This time, the cat missed me, but didn't stop until he was well and truly entrenched under our bed.
Ten minutes later...
Having learnt that by wrapping Sam in a towel, thereby restricting his movements, he became a lot more manoeuvrable, I fetched a towel.
What a waste of time that was. In fact, it was worse than a waste of time, it was fatal as I wound up with several quite deep scratches to my right arm, one to the right side of my nose and another several to my thigh.
Note to self: Don't wrap Sam in towel.
Having retrieved him from under the bed, I physically manhandled him into the carrier, studiously ignoring the extra scratches that appeared on the palm of my right hand and as soon as he was in, I peeled his front claws off the opening, so that I could close the door.
The rest is history--well... almost.
I got a lot of very odd looks as we trundled down the high street in the car with this cacophony of Sam's wailing coming from the back and when I got to see the vet, it was with some disappointment that I watched him insert his hand into the carrier and withdraw it with Sam, but without a scratch.
Sam didn't make a peep.
Not one.
In fact, when I tried to put Sam back into the carrier, I met with the same resistance I had when trying at home.
"Let me try," the vet suggested.
In Sam went, again without a peep.
"It's alright," the vet assured. "Practice. They seem to like leaving more than coming, for some reason." He grinned at me and I knew right then that me and that vet would get along famously.
Today however, I am nursing some very angry scars and my right eye can't seem to stop staring at the long scar down the side of my nose.
Sam and I have made friends again, but I can see the look in his eye...
"You're not going to try that again now, are you?"
Not for a while, Sam. Not for a long while.
Comments
some years back my vet gave
some years back my vet gave me the ultimative piece of information:
don't hide the transport box.
put it somewhere out of the way, but easily accessible. an old blanket or towel and your cat might even consider it his cave. as a matter of fact, my cats used it as a retreat when i was vacuuming.
so from that moment on there was no problem at all to get them into the transport box and out to the vet or wherever else i took them. just getting the vacuum cleaner out of the closet was enough. then i would just close the gate at my leisure.
it might also have helped that not every trip they made was to the vet.
There's a lot to be said...
...for top-loading cages.
I really enjoyed reading this. Thanks Nick.
One of my now-deceased cats used to have a great party trick which never failed to amuse his vet.
Whenever examination and/or treatment was finished, he would jump from the examination table directly into his cage which I'd leave open on the floor below. He knew that once he was back in his cage, that was the end to the indignities (such as anal thermometers and injections), and we'd shortly be back home.
Pet Surprise
Bike Resources
So...
When is his next bath scheduled?
Do I need to remind you
how to bath a cat?
We had a small dog for a while. It never did learn that, to a cat, a dog is a thing to be goaded. The other thing about dogs is that they are more easily bribed than cats.
Susie
Thanks for that
Mercifully, bathing a cat isn't something that really needs to be done except in extreme circumstances.
Thankfully, we've only had one of those and that was about nine years ago. Went without a hitch or should that be scratch?
I don't just look it, I'm totally scratched and sore
You should Bathe your cat
Just because cats lick themselves as a grooming technique, does not mean they get clean. It's like substituting a hairbrush for shampoo.
In the words of a comedian, who's name I cannot recall at this hour, who said: "One day you will realize that your cat needs a bath, because no matter how much they lick, they will still smell like a porta-potty next to a refried bean joint on a hot day in Juarez"
On that day, I Thank the man who devised harnesses and the other guy who made I-bolts for Ceramic Tile.
Chainmail gloves don't hurt either, but you harness your cat, latch them to the I-bolt and let them struggle for a few minutes to wear themselves out, it makes the rest of the process much much easier.
I haven't even turned on the water at this point. I wait out their tantrum and then gently turn on warm water, use my long-necked shower head to wash and rinse and when I unhook them, it's into my biggest towel where I dry them and hold them.
"If there are any Psychics in the room, Please raise My hand." - Emo Philips, Comedian
"If there are any Psychics in the room, Please raise My hand." - Emo Philips, Comedian
Been There ......Done That!
That description could be the one that I suffered the last time I took pussy to the vet! Had me in stitches....or should that be scratches....Nick,
Joanne
In the bag?
I also had to get my cat to the vet a couple of days ago.
I've only had him a few months and this was our first trip.It went off a bit better than your trip (no blood at all). The carrier is kept right next to his litter box with the door open, but my moving it to the living room, which I did first thing in the morning, was way too much warning. He vanished for the next five hours. As you can tell from his color and his eyes (that's not just the flash they almost always look like that), he is a Ghost Cat, and can disappear at will.
His breakfast sat untouched. Treats on his favorite perches did not cause him to apparate, nor did a sock filled with fresh catnip on the bedroom floor. Moving the couch and bed were useless except for the exercise I got.
At noon I called the vet and canceled my one pm appointment; they were very understanding. Right after I hung up, I went to the bedroom and there the little (a relative term; he's over 15lbs (7kg)) poltergeist was (I promise this is true) on the bed washing his feet. He immediately rolled over and asked for a tum rub.
Because one of his favorite ways to tease me, is climbing into shopping bags and tries to get inside the pillow cases every time I change sheets, I pulled a case off a pillow and put his head just inside of it. He crawled right in!
I carried him down stairs in the bag and squeezed the sack, like squeezing tooth paste from a tube, into the crate. Only four claws managed to make it through the pillow case to make holes in my shirt, and none broke the skin.
When the ordeal of the exam was over, he dashed into the crate and hid under the pillow case for the whole ride home. I don't know how the people at the vet, or on the bus, would react to a cat in a bag, but it might actually be easier and more tolerable for some cats. Maybe?
Now, anyone got any ideas on how to get 1ml of goop down his throat twice a day?
"anyone got any ideas on how
"anyone got any ideas on how to get 1ml of goop down his throat twice a day?"
I use the leg off an old pair of jeans. Put it over my arm like a sleeve, grab cat by the neck and pull the pant leg over the cat, leaving the head poking out one end (narrow/cuff end) of the pant leg.
Works for giving medicine, giving a bath, or placing in a carrier.
Can be modified with draw strings if necessary.
Donna
Donna
Bribery
If the above mentioned liquid doesn't taste too obnoxious to the cat, you can mix it with milk or raw hamburger or something like that.
Odd, that
I've never had much trouble putting cats or dogs into cages or giving them pills. I just pick them up and do it and all goes well, usually. :) Maybe I have confidence that I can from when I worked for a vet in high school. I never once got bit or scratched while working for the vet.
We also had a gadget that I called a catpress for the really obstreperous ones. This was a folded piece of padded leather, like a little leather quilt. Wrap it around the cat, talking all the while and holding the cat firmly by the scruff of the neck. You have to be sincere about talking them into being calm.
Like they say, once you can fake sincerity, the rest is easy. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I'm with you, Erin
Over my many years, I have been owned by, I think it is 22 cats, and 20 years ago, had 11 at once - We lived on 5 acres, though they had to either stay in the house, or in a large outdoor cage, with access to a storage shed to get out of the weather. I have never had any real problems either giving pills or bathing any of the cats. Oh, they complain, and struggle a bit, but never with teeth or claws.
When I've been scratched, it has been minor, and pretty much accidental.
Getting them into a travel cage can be a bit of a problem, but still, not bloody.
One of the two holding down my bed a couple of feet away at the moment, weighs in at just under 20 pounds/9 kilos, the other is half that.
Holly
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly
I have a scratch on my right arm
from my co-author, all I did was to poke him to wake him to go to bed and he practically took my arm off. I do manage to pop him in his carry basket for the vet but he gets in it far more happily to come home. Occasionally we have to shake him out when we get there as he stands with all four paws in a star shape around the exit of the basket.
We tend to forget that cats are psychopathic killers with razor-wire on every moveable appendage except their tails and they are more manoeuvrable than a snake doing yoga. It's also noted that when trying to wrap in towel or insert into carry basket, they appear to have the facility to double number of razor tipped limbs and heads.
If you need to insert anything up the 'pencil sharpener'* end, it is recommended you shove the business end into a wellington boot. Sadly this doesn't work for administering pills, unless blu-tacked to the end of a snooker cue and...
* It is suggested the man who invented 'cat's eyes for the roads got the idea after seeing a cat walking towards him. If the cat had been walking the other way, it's suspected he'd have invented the pencil sharpener.
Angharad
Angharad
Pencil Sharpener?
OK, so this isn't about cats per se, but it's somewhat relevant to Angharad's posting.
When I was a high school teacher, I used to have a poster of the rear end of an Alaskan husky in a dog team on the wall of my classroom. The message underneath read: "Unless you're the leader, the view never changes."
It's a concept that's certainly true when one is hiking/tramping/rambling/bush walking in a group.
Posterior Side
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Cricket pads?
I don't know how many shops sell them, but presumably they'd act as a form of armour - on your shins at least. Unfortunately I don't think suits of armour or chain mail are readily obtainable - and I doubt castles would be willing to hire their sets :(
Bessie (mum's pet labrador) also has vetophobia - but being a lab, doesn't kick, bite and scream; but rather relies on her 5 stone (~30kg) of weight and inertia. Getting her into the car is easy (ooh goody, I'm going for a walkie!), and getting her out again isn't too difficult, but as soon as she reaches the door of the vets, she refuses to go any further, and may even try to walk off in the opposite direction.
Once in the waiting room, she'll cower under the seats unless there's a potential new friend to meet and greet, but again trying to persuade her to move in any direction other than the door...
Then of course, if it's stressful to the creature, it's also stressful to your bank account. Insurance, of course, only covers emergencies - so for anything routine like the annual booster, you're looking at a £20-£25 consultation fee and probably a similar amount for the injections, which are all done in about 10 seconds flat. A three month supply of spot-on anti-parasite treatment costs a similar amount.
As if that wasn't bad enough, beware if they offer to clip the pet's nails - another £10 added to the bill. And if the pet's suffering an illness and you take them in, they'll almost inevitably request you return for a follow-up visit (chargeable, of course!)
-oOo-
And talking of stupid habits, try bathtime. Mum now washes her on the patio, because although Bessie loves dirty water, and if the lounge door is open, may decide to sneak upstairs for a nosey, if she twigs she's going to have a bath, no way hosey! Then once we eventually persuaded her into the bathroom, I'd have to lift the struggling creature into the bath, then at the other end out again...
Once I even took a couple|of photos of her putting on a miserable expression in the bath... ignore the date, this was taken about 2002 on a film camera then scanned in. There are oodles more in that gallery, taken on various dates with various cameras (so ignore the photo date for all the film ones) - including this action shot.
EAFOAB Episode Summaries
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
This is like vacuming a Cat!
I've told this story before but its been a couple years.
We were doing some remodeling in my Daughter's house, and there was white cottony insulation all over the floor, so I swept up what I could and vacumed up the rest. About that time the black long hair cat walked by so I picked him up; holding him to my chest and proceeded to vacume the insulation off him. It worked great until I got down close to his "under pinnings" and I could feel him suddenly tense up and take off in all wheel drive right up my chest, face and over the top of my head! YIKES !
My Daughter saw it all happen and everyone just roled on the floor until we were wheezing.
Never Vacume a cat!
Khaduum
I suspect
That there is the odd cat that takes this all with equanimity, shrugs and says yeah... okay. I have given a cat a bath, without permanent scarring. But our little grey silky hunter did not. Worming tablet, that little plastic syringe thingie and a pill smeared in butter. Mostly no prob, yet.. I have this little lumpy scar on my collar bone just in from the point of my left shoulder where little fuzzy felt grey decided...nope, no way. Sort of made me think of the cartoon Tasmanian Devil.
Kristina
With all this talk of vets .....
..... I'm positively catatonic or is it pussy whipped !!!!!