Vet-hating cat is getting suspicious

[GriefLeavesItsMark]

Grief cat is due to get his boosters on Wednesday. Now we have to work out how to get him into the cat carrier.

He fell for 'look, lots of lovely dreamies, you just have to get into this cosy little box' once, but never again. Last time I scooped him up and dropped him in the upended carrier, but paid for it later. This time we have brought the carrier out, and left lying around in a casual harmless manner, hoping he would get used to it.

Except he is now refusing all treats, and running away like a poor terrified cat every time one of us tries to go near him.

How do other people manage?

I tried the 'leave the carrier out for a week so he gets used to it' once. Mr T got the carrier open and pissed in it overnight 2 nights in a row
These days I can just about stuff put him in, the trick seems to be to up-end it and lower him in bum first so he can't see where he's going!

We turn the cat basket into a box. It's worked every time. And we are dealing with an insane Bengal. Get a top loading crate, stick the favourite person in your household's dirty tshirt into the crate. Bung it into the middle of the living room & ignore. If that fails, then hopefully by this point the mog is in the same room as the crate, so you can vaguely easily manhandle it into the crate.

I'm afraid I have no advice for when you are actually at the vets, as I still wear a really tough jacket. Our bonkers mog will only have her bumhole checked for temperature if she's on my shoulders. classy!

Top loaders are easiest. Current cat will allow you to pop him in happily enough (he's always cheerful no matter what you are doing to him), previous cat was a nightmare. I used to mummify her in a towel to form a cat burrito and feed the whole parcel into the carrier before slamming the lid at warp speed.

I sit on the sofa as usual and fattycat will come for fuss and I grab her and shove her in. Her sister was a bit more problematic and usually resulted in chasing her round the house. She will only come for fuss on my bed so I sit there and grab her. No stress, no chasing.

My parents boy just walks straight into his. Not sure if he is clever or thick!

We scruff ours, she goes limp & we quickly drop her in then lock her in. She has tests every 2 months (thyroid problem) so we've had plenty practice!

Iknow cat is a total bastard at the vets so I feel your pain (she has special warnings on her notes at the vets that gloves and crush cage are required if she is poorly/injured, not so bad if she is well and just needs jabs) . She is also famous for jumping inside and on top of the wall cupboards in the exam room (imagine all the tiny little glass vials of drugs and her literally pussy footing around amongst them)

Sooo back to the cat basket, ours will run a mile if she sees it, so it has to be carefully extracted from the spare room wardrobe when she is out of the house and then carefully placed on its end with the door propped open and upwards ready for action. Door must remain shut so she doesn't see it. Then 30 mins before appointment cat flap is discretely locked whilst cat is distracted/asleep, basket will be very carefully moved to a room close to where she is sleeping (note even the slightest noise from the basket such as the handle moving will alert her to what is about to happen). Cat will be picked up carefully from her location of sleeping and then stroked and chatted to whilst transporting her to said room (covering her eyes if necessary to avoid her seeing the basket) then whilst standing over the basket I take a deep breath cover her eyes and lower her into the basket as fast as I can, bum first, and then stuff all remaining limbs in as quick as I can and shut the door before she can escape.

Funnily enough we have exactly the opposite issue at the vets, won't come out of the feckin basket! One vet is quite used to her now and completely disassembles the basket into 2 halves and leaves her sat in the bottom half to examine her. Then if she gets a bit relaxed it's up to the cupboards. We have had some fun over the years with the occasional new vet who gets all "she'll be fine I'm really good with cats" but she's pretty much at the stage now where she has to be anaesthetised to be examined properly if it's not obvious what's wrong with her. Don't suppose that's much help OP but at least you know yours isn't the only git!

We don't let on to fuzzycats at all that they will be going to the vets.

Near the time I get the carrier ready, DP makes a fuss of fuzzycat for a bit and plays with him and brings I'm downstairs and then we drop in the carrier and I shut the grill (our carriers open at the top and the side and one comes apart at the top).

They never go in willingly.

But they soon forget about it as I think one of our boys acually has a favourite vet. The other is made such a fuss of at the vets he's fine afterwards it's just the getting him into the carrier that upsets them.

Cat burrito 😄😄😄

364 days a year our cats will be snoozing in the house at midday, book a vet and on the day of the appointment the relevant mog will be seen at the top of the garden, metaphorically waving its paw. Dreamies are a good tactic. Shut cat flap, limit cat to room, then get basket out, open top of basket, let the fun commence!

I had to cat burrito mine last month when she had to have jabs. There was no other way to get her in, the vet, on the other hand, just walked her in backwards!

I once had a cat like this. Getting her in the carrier was pretty much impossible and I still have the scars from the time she forced the door open in the car and had to be wrestled back in. Once she got out at the vets though she was always an angel and always went back in without any fuss. The vet was convinced we exaggerated the epic battle to get her in the bloody thing. Our other cat at the time went into the carrier without fuss but had to be handled with those long glove things by the vet once you got there because she hated strangers. My cat now loves her carrier. It's out all the time and she sleeps in it. She just gets in there herself and then I just close the door. At the vet she just enjoys getting fussed and looking out of their window and inspecting every item in the room. It's all very calm and civilised compared to demoncats.

I have an awful fight getting my cats into the cat carrier. We usually do the up ended carrier and bum in first. During the summer I had to take one of them to the vet as he had a nasty abscess on his tail. it took me and my teenage DS to get him in. It was awful and sooo stressful. By the time we got him in it was almost time for his appointment so literally rushed out the door. When I got to the vets the receptionist pointed out that my arms were bleeding and the cat carrier was covered in blood. I hadn't even noticed! I reassured the receptionist it wasn't the cat but me and when I went in to see the vet she was actually so concerned she cleaned up my arms for me - I felt a right idiot!

We managed to get Grief cat to the vets by trickery and distraction then scooping him up and dropping him into the carrier. It was like one of those cartoons with his paws splayed out in four directions as he realised what was happening, then the crying and the pitifully extended paw through the carrier bars.

At the vets he was sad but stoic, but we thought we'd got away with it, but he was just biding his time. Since the visit he has bitten me several times, punched me on the head, and has presented me with a dead mouse with a ' you're next' look on his face. Additionally he is trying to divide and rule by being extra nice to my dh.

And now he is waving his arse in my face.