How well does your vet handle your cat? - Concerned

[LexieLoos]

Hi all, can you tell how well your vet handles your cats please?

I don’t think mine is very good but wonder if I’m expecting too much.

A couple of points have concerned me:

• She jumps back if either cats hiss
• We needed to find out if one of ours was a boy or girl (long story) but we’re still unsure as the vet didn’t want to keep checking because he/she pushed her away
• When vaccinating she got me to wrap them in a towel and hold them on the table
• Once they meow or hiss she seems to just want to end the appointment- one has clearly put on a lot of weight but I had to ask her to weigh him, ask again if he was overweight, and then ask again how I should manage it
• She doesn’t help at all with getting them back in the carrier. It took me nearly 10 minutes for one and she hovered in the corner watching

It seemed a lot more fuss-free with our previous vet.

I have to take one of the cats back for something I feel may be more serious, but I’m worried she won’t get a full examination because the vet is nervous of her

Can you share any experiences or any advice that may help please?

To be blunt, the vet sounds useless. I've had vets who've been what I thought tough/heavy-handed, but that's preferable to how your vet sounds, as at least they get the job done. Obviously, I prefer for my cats to be handled gently and firmly, which is how my current vet operates. My cats always climb back into their box willingly, but the vet always helps to close and lock their box.

I think you might have to tell the surgery that you want to see a different vet or at least have a vet nurse present, who can handle you cat.

That’s weird. If my vet needs help handling my boy when he’s resisting treatments, he has one of the assistants help. They handle him firmly but kindly. Think you need another vet!

Mine's very good at reading the cats mood.
One of mine is timid, angry when touched and get angrier as it goes on. He just grabs her holds her down and does what he needs to as quick as possible.
The other cat is a puddle of purrs in his arm, he coos over her and sings to her

Ask for a different vet

My cats are quite difficult at the vet's - hissy, and one is swipey/bitey if given the chance... All the vet's we've seen have been rightly careful to not get bitten/scratched but the job gets done.

Are yours adult cats or kittens? (I'm confused about the gender check...)

Why was it so difficult to get one in a carrier?

It doesn't sound great from your description but on the other hand, vet's also have the right to consider their own safety if the cats are aggressive.

I had one who loved cuddling my cat. Which was really sweet. But they only time I ever get to cuddle her properly is at the vet. So I was very jealous!

No, the vet sounds unable to properly examine a cat which is a concern as they may miss issues arising. I'd definitely look elsewhere if I were you.

Thank you for all your replies so far - it’s reinforced what I already thought unfortunately.

viccat they’re both adults
One of them came to us from a pretty neglected background. We were told he/she was a girl but of course no medical history, then when we took him/her to the vet the vet asked if we were sure as gingers tend to be male, and it stemmed from there

I completely agree that they also need to consider their own safety, but felt that they should have alternative means. Surely if a cat is seriously ill or injured they will need to examine them somehow

She sounds completely useless - and I say this as an ex vet nurse! From your description she sounds scared of cats so should at least get a nurse or assistant in to help hold them.

I would move vets - or if you are with a practice with more than one vet make sure your appointments aren't with her!!!

I’d see another vet.

I'd also ask to see another vet or change practises.
There's one vet who sometimes covers at ours who isn't keen on the cats wandering around but the others I've seen over the years have all been quite relaxed. Obviously they will hold the cat appriopately for examination/treatment. We had one for a while who was the most fantastic vet and just had a way with cats-she was a real cat lover and could read them very well.

Generally, my vets are great. There was an occasion where one decided to cover our first cat with a towel. I don’t think it was even for vaccines or anything, I can’t remember but she just covered the front half.

This is the only time that cat has lashed out, she’d never scratched or bit before or after (except playful nibbles with me!). I tried to tell the vet she didn’t need to do it, cat was a regular there just never with this vet, but she didn’t listen (and paid the price ).

We have another cat who is absolutely terrified of being handled, especially by strangers. She panics and thrashes around to get free. She scratched the consultant, I felt awful but he didn’t even flinch and said it was part of the job. They’ve always managed to get everything done in the appointment with this one, despite her protests.

You need another vet. I used to use the vet practice at a vet school and even the students were better at handling my cats than this vet sounds. Having said that when I had a very difficult to handle cat the students were not allowed to handle her without an experienced vet present. I also fostered for CP and our vets handled all sorts of cats on their first vet check, again much better than your vet. Is it maybe a vet who deals more with large animals?

I had this at my last vets. It was acutely Harry had fractured his jaw and he went back for a check up. The usual vet wasn't there and owner examined him. He took one look at Harry and asked me if I thought he'd hurt him. At that point Harry was a limp blob on the table. I smiled sweetly and told the vet he wouldn't bite him, he'd just had most of his teeth out. He made me hold his paws just in case.

Thankfully we never had to see him again.