Cat neWorming/defleaing her is also a major operation and normally takes several attempts.eds to go to the vet

[puffinnuffin]

Our female cat is 9 and is very nervous and anxious to the point of being semi feral. She will come in for food every day but prefers being an outdoors cat. She is very choosy about who strokes her and always hides from unfamiliar people.

She hates the vets with a passion and will scratch and go frantic when you try and get her in the cat carrier. Poor DH gets ripped to shreds in the process. Last time we tried it took 3 appointments before we could actually catch her for her jabs. This time we have had to cancel 2 more vets appointment.

Worming/defleaing her is also a major operation and normally takes several attempts.

Thing is I am getting very worried about her as she is getting more withdrawn, thin and her coat is changing colour from black to reddish brown in places. Sometimes her whole ribs look like it is a real effort for her to purr or breathe (although other times she is fine). Last year the vet thought she might have TB but then thought she had recovered. Although she is eating I just have a feeling something isn't right still.

She really needs to go to the vets. Any tips/ideas on how I can catch her? She is very close to our other cat who is a confident Tom cat. He goes in the carrier quite happily.

[puffinnuffin]

Oops something has gone wrong with the title! It should say 'Cat needs to go to the vet'! Sorry!

[thecatneuterer]

Yes she definitely needs to go to the vet. Can you touch her at all? If you can then you need a wire top-loading cat carrier really, they make life much easier. You then need to grasp very firmly by the scruff and lift her with the other hand (while keeping a very firm grip on the scruff) and put her in - preferably with someone else there to snap close the top while you're doing it. It's the firm grip on the scruff that is the key here.

Sometimes with my semi-ferals I chase them into a corner with only one escape route and then stick the front loading carrier in front of them, on its side, so they run into it. Easier said than done though I realise.

Another idea is to get her used to going inside something to eat (such as large plastic kitchen bin on it's side). Then, when you want to catch her, you just put the carrier at the other end of it while she's in there and tip her into it (again, two people required really).

It's all a bit of a nightmare isn't it?

[puffinnuffin]

Thank you for the helpful tips. I will give those a try. She let me stroke her today and was purring away. She is so thin I could feel her ribs.

[puffinnuffin]

We took our cat to the vet today. She hasn't been right all week and has suddenly become very cuddly and purring alot despite finding it hard to breathe. She has wanted to be indoors and has sat on my lap for ages all week. When it came to putting her in her carrier she got in good as gold, not making a sound and strangely still purring. It's like she knew.

Sadly the vet said there was nothing she could do as she was so poorly and we had to have her put to sleep.

[SunshineSuperNova]

I'm sorry to hear that puffin.