How to Make Vet Visits Less Stressful for Your Cat
Let’s start with an important basic: how often do you take a cat to the vet? While you should always consult your vet on how often your cat should be seen, each year, it’s important to remember to take your cat to the veterinary clinic for his annual exam. The sooner veterinarians can detect medical problems, the sooner we can treat them, and the better for your cat! But, what if your cat gets nervous going to the veterinarian?
Here are five quick tips to ease your cat’s stress when headed for a checkup:
1. Use cat-safe nutraceutical products.
Using nutraceutical products at home that can help acclimate your cat to his cat carrier, so he’s calmer when he gets to the veterinarian. Two popular products that don’t require a prescription, are safe, relatively inexpensive and seem to work well for many cats are:
Feliway: A pheromone that calms down cats, and can be sprayed directly onto a towel or in the cat carrier. (Please don’t spray this directly on your cat!)
Senilife: Senilife contains some plant compounds or extracts (such as gingko biloba), along with vitamins B and E and antioxidants, and can be safely used to calm your cat prior to any stressful event.
2. Try cat-friendly prescription sedation.
Ask your vet if a prescription product might work for your cat. Administering prescription-strength sedation medication from your veterinarian prior to coming for a visit may help take the edge off for your cat.
3. Limit the amount of food you feed your cat the day of the veterinary appointment.
Nervous cats can sometimes vomit in the car, and feeling nauseated from food in the stomach doesn’t help. When your cat is hungry, it allows your veterinarian to offer more treats, which makes the visit a more pleasant experience for everyone!
4. Ask to be seated directly in a cat-friendly examination room.
A lot of veterinary clinics typically have a separate cat waiting area, or you can request to be seated immediately in a cat-friendly exam room. Notify the veterinary staff that you’ll be letting your cat wander around, then unzip the cat carrier so your cat has time to explore on his own accord. Better yet, bring a towel from home to place on the floor or exam table so your cat can hide under it if needed and create his own cat cave.
5. Find a Fear Free trained vet for your cat.
Find a veterinary clinic that has gone through special Fear Free training to make sure that you can best work with the veterinary team to keep your cat minimally stressed! There’s a movement to make sure that veterinary professionals can create a safe, non-stressful visit for your cat, and this added training has helped a lot of frazzled, fearful cats visiting their veterinarian.
When in doubt, talk to your veterinarian about other options to help ease your cat’s stress. Find a veterinarian who will work with you and your cat to minimize a stressful visit to help keep your cat as healthy as possible.
