Does this seem strange? Vet related.

[Pinkkahori]

We have a little cat that my dd's tamed that lives outdoors (sleeps in shed). We feed her and she is very friendly, she comes into the house but chooses not to stay indoors. She loves being fussed and petted and is very gently and lovely.
She turned up injured the other day and I took her to the vet. She required a small surgery which is now done. I rang to see if I can collect her but the vet said she requires an injection but they have been unable to give it to her as she is difficult to handle.
The vet said he will give us tablets for her if they can't inject but that the injection would be better.
I thought vets would have a way of dealing with this. Surely a lot of animals are difficult to handle when hurt and in pain.
Also they must have been able to handle her when they took her for surgery.
I'm sure they are doing their best but I am a bit surprised and worried about the cat.

[MsMightyTitanAndHerTroubadours]

is there another vet there to have a go?

We had a right drip once, slightly feisty cat with a nasty abscess on his elbow and she is trying to dab at it while he was hissing and creating merry hell from inside his crate.

When I suggested that a) getting him out of the crate might make a proper exam a little easier and b) maybe wrapping him up with only the offending limb visible would lessen the likelihood of us all being shredded to death she was genuinely amazed at the thought of wrapping up a cat, never heard of it.

[Beautifulpretty]

Yes you would definitely expect the vet to be able to inject a cat regardless of its behaviour

[Pinkkahori]

I was very surprised. Even though the poor little thing was stressed and in pain the vet we saw initially was able to examine her with no problems at all.
I am very inexperienced in all things vet/pet related.

[chemenger]

If the vet can’t inject her I don’t know how you are expected to give her pills. Vets and vet nurses should be experts at handling difficult animals. An injection takes seconds.

[Pinkkahori]

I went in and met a different vet and explained the situation.
She said my cat was quite stressed and I asked if it would be possible to take her home.
I mentioned the antibiotic and she said she would give her the injection and I could take her home.
It was all done in a matter of minutes.
Poor cat is looking very thin and has a bit of a manic look because her jaw is wired so she can't close her mouth.
She is drooling a bit but she managed to eat and drink and she is purring like a mad thing.

[chemenger]

It’s so good of you to take her in and look after her. Are you planning to keep her in the house while she recovers?

[Pinkkahori]

She'll be in for 6 weeks so I'd say she'll be here to stay after that.
She was in before when she was neutered but she didn't really settle.

[chemenger]

I found with foster cats that they seemed genuinely to be grateful when helped out of real trouble (with one notable exception ). Give her a nice cosy, quiet spot where she can feel secure and relaxed in a room of her own if at all possible (I'm sure you have this in hand). Best of luck with her and don't forget there is always great advice here, I've had great advice here when dealing with fostered strays.

[Pinkkahori]

I have some questions about caring for her. Should I start a new thread for that?

[chemenger]

Probably, or you may be left with just me!

[Pinkkahori]

Thanks chemenger. My main concern is what to do about grooming. Because her mouth is injured she isn't able to clean properly. She is drooling and is damp and a bit smelly.

[chemenger]

I’ve found that most dribbly cats don’t mind having a gentle chin wipe with a tissue. If her chin is painful she might object. A gentle stroke with a flannel either dry or just damp would clean her up generally, pretend you’re just petting her. You can buy wipes in Pets at Home for cleaning cats but I’ve never used them. If she’s not cleaning her bum you can wipe with damp kitchen roll. It all depends what she’ll let you get away with really.

[Want2beme]

What chemenger says, all the way. Hope she settles well for you. I don't understand that some vets can't handle a little pussy cat .

[8DaysAWeek]

Vet here. The vast majority of cats we can handle and inject. However, some cats come out of surgery completely batshit and fly at you in the kennel. It can be a task in itself just transfering it back into its basket. Cats that can't be restrained with usual methods like towels usually go in a "crush cage" for injections. Sounds totally barbaric but worth it when needed, and tbh it's rarely ever used. A cat that's just gone under surgery I would prefer not to use the crush cage on if I can avoid it.

I know it's hard to believe as owners sometimes, but some animals are NOT as lovely and affectionate to us as they are to their owners, and in fact the exact opposite. And actually it's completely normal for cats to even purr away to their owners on collection after trying to eat us all day long. It's not totally unreasonable that your vet suggested you try tablets first.

Cats can be bloody vicious and cat bites are extremely serious. We ain't super humans.

Hope your wee cat makes a speedy recovery!

[8DaysAWeek]

Oh dear and I've just read all the comments. Please come work at a vets for a couple of months every one of you who are all so knowledgeable about handling little pussy cats and the mere seconds it takes to inject them. I've seen experienced, fantastic vets lose money from being unable to work due to cat bites.

I shouldn't read vet threads.

[Pinkkahori]

Apologies 8Days. I'm sure cats can be very tricky at times. I was just surprised because the first vet that saw her handled her with no trouble.

And when I went to collect her a different vet just went in, injected her and put her in the carrier with no problems at all.

[chemenger]

Sorry 8 Days, didn’t mean to offend. I just wanted to give the OP a bit of support, which I think she deserves having taken this cat in and paid for its vet treatment. Do you have any advice on cleaning the cat up?

[8DaysAWeek]

Vets get such a bad rap sometimes I do get quite defensive. In fact I can't wait to leave the profession as public perception and owner expectations are all too much for my mental health. We have the highest suicide rate of all professions and mental health issues are absolutely rife. Our best is never good enough and our governing body makes it impossible for us to defend ourselves to online abuse.

Of course, your post wasn't abusive at all and clearly a query. It's just not that easy being a vet, and what can be perceived as simple things may not be. I like to give benefit of the doubt to my fellow colleagues when I can.

Let me come back to this thread later and see if I can give any helpful advice for your little one :)

[chemenger]

If it helps I have nothing but respect for vets. When I had cats of my own I used the vet practice at the vet hospital and the vet students were lovely. The vets there were unbelievable, so dedicated, especially the prof of feline medicine who I swear could charm a tiger into getting an injection. She was the only person in the world that my nasty cat would tolerate. Mostly that cat had to be sedated, or taken "through the back" for any treatment but the prof could take blood, do blood pressure etc without any trouble. The practice we use with CP has a variety of vets, some of whom are just not good with cats, but luckily we know who to avoid when possible. I bet they are brilliant with dogs though, each to their own.

Anyway OP how is your cat doing today?

[Pinkkahori]

Little cat is doing a little better. Seems to be finding eating a little easier but drinking is still a bit tricky.
She still looks a bit of a mess though. We've been giving her a wipe with damp kitchen towels but she does tolerate it for long.

[Badcat666]

I feel your pain vets out there.

Many many moons ago we once had an utter moody cow of a cat who was only nice to mum and I or if you had food offerings. Known by our vets as the demon cat. stupid mare got her leg caught in a fence and broke it so we whipped her up to the vets. Our normal vet was busy seeing someone else so we had a newbie and we told him she would need to be towel wrapped or she would try and eat them alive. We were told "it would be fine" and to leave the room. 3 minutes later he comes out the door blood dripping from his arms, gets a towel from behind the reception desk and goes back in. As this is happening our normal vet comes out, eyes up the newbie vet, looks at us and my mum says to him "We told him!" Normal vet proceeds to wet himself laughing and goes to help. Turns out the newbie vet waved away the nurses pleas to get a towel to drop it on her whilst she was in the cat basket wrap and it turned out to be a 3 minute blood bath with a very mad 3 legged working cat springing from the cat box and trying to rip his arms off.

Poor newbie vet learnt the hard way of real life vet work with grumpy bastard cats in pain. Not all are fluffy balls of delight to those they don't know.

OP, don't worry about her looking a mess, if you have a small soft flannel or towel use that as kitchen towel can feel a bit rough on their faces. Just clean her little and often with warm water on a nice damp cloth as it will help her got used to you doing it. Just a quick wipe will help her. You are so lovely for doing this for her xx