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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

How does your cat behave at the vets?

84 replies

GalileoHumpkins · 17/07/2023 17:41

I took my cat to the vet on Friday for his yearly check-up, he got weighed had his vaccinations etc. I gave him Gabapentin beforehand at the vet's request because he gets extremely stressed and can be a bit hissy.
I felt afterwards that the vet made a lot of snarky comments about what a horrible cat he is, asking if we dared to touch him at home, how lovely and sweet other people's cats are, does he terrorise us etc. He's a lovely little lad, he loves a cuddle and smooshes his head in our faces to get kisses. He sleeps on my pillow at night and purrs so loud.
Is everyone else's cat a perfect angel at the vet or is it natural for them to be a bit scared and defensive? I should add he's never physically injured the vet, just hissed and tried to get away from her.

OP posts:
LeviJeanQueen · 17/07/2023 18:32

Our cats have a personality transplant as soon as they’re at the vet.

Our feisty boy who doesn’t like to be stroked very much, turns into the most placid cat you could imagine and acts like he wants the vet to adopt him. Traitor!

Our placid girl turns into something resembling a feral farm cat, hissing, biting, scratching. The vet always has to call in a nurse (or 2) to handle her. 😬

The poor cats are frightened and this is how they cope. Vets should understand. Our vet is lovely, just chats to them both and is very calm.

Mylobsterteapot · 17/07/2023 18:34

My soppy tuxedo cat is variable at the vets. There’s a male who he hates, and getting the cat to let the vet anywhere near him is a challenge. Then there’s the female vet who can do anything to cat, and sometimes make me feel like he’d be happier to stay with the nice lady than come home with me.

Canthave2manycats · 17/07/2023 18:36

Findyourneutralspace · 17/07/2023 18:18

Mine has a note on his file saying ‘aggressive’. He’s the least aggressive cat you could meet outside of that room. He’s only ever managed to hunt a marshmallow. But once they open the carrier, he gets bitey and has been known to take a swipe.

So did mine lol!! He was a lapcat at home, followed us around, slept at my feet under the table in Covid times etc but omg, take him to the vet and he went totally batshit!! I begged one of the vets to let me in with him one day. He had had a rare eruption of the runs and needed fur trimmed from around his butt - that was never going to end well. He was a total dervish! Tried to scratch me too - said to the vet, "now you see why I had to come in"!!!

His most regular vet definitely had a soft spot for him, especially towards the end of his life when he was on weekly visits. I was upset one day when one of the vet nurses who knew him well of old, said, "he's not the cat he used to be", only for the next visit to bring, "he's back to his feisty self again"!!! He literally screamed the place down! There was another day his regular vet took him in (I wasn't allowed that time), and she said, "I'll have him out soon, if I've still got arms and legs!"

He was a rescued stray, who adopted us. We had him neutered in his early teens and he was around 20 when he died. And he was still fighting them, right up until the end. I think the vets were quite sad - he was such a character.

He was too old to sedate as well, but my vets were just amazing with him. Your vet is in the wrong job...

Canthave2manycats · 17/07/2023 18:38

AllTheWatersTurnedToClouds · 17/07/2023 18:13

Our old cat gets a bit growly and unco-operative. Vet thinks it quite funny.

One of the others shat on the examining table once. That was a real low...

Mine pissed on the vet....!!!

AncientBallerina · 17/07/2023 18:41

our cat is terrified so she makes herself as small as possible and makes no noise. Most of the vets at our practice think she’s really cute 😊 but there was one who was quite off ‘all cats are beasts’ Weird thing to say - all animals including us are beasts! Definitely got a ‘not a cat person’ vibe off him in which case he probably shouldn’t be in a small animal practice.
Yours sounds a bit dim - of course a cat is going to scared and behave accordingly at the vets!

CoodleMoodle · 17/07/2023 18:49

My childhood cat had the word "spitfire" written on her file! She was a very docile girl but as soon as that basket came out she would flip, and it would get worse once we got into the room. The vet had to drag her out of the basket on several occasions.

Bongosbanjo · 17/07/2023 18:54

Mine like to have a wee wander around the room before sitting on the table. He's ok with me there but was admitted for minor op, had to be wrestled before and after, vets required sedatation more than furrybum.

toodlesofoodles · 17/07/2023 18:57

Took mine today for booster jabs and she scratched the vet. I did say she doesn't like her back beans being touched 😬 they describe her as feisty 🤣

She's absolutely fuming still (cat, not vet)

user1471453601 · 17/07/2023 18:58

Ooh, opening poster, you've reminded me of a cat I used to have. Fiesty as hell. The first time I took her to the vets, the vet opened the door to her carrier. I advised him against it, told him it would be safer, for him, to remove the lid. He knew better. He took his hand out of the carrier a lot faster than he put it in!

he the took the lid off, but Megs (devil cat in question) was ready for him. She launched herself at his face and he just managed to push her aside. I did tell him she was a feisty one. After that first visit, the vet always had a nurse, protective gloves and a large towel ready.

When she died, she'd lost an awful lot of weight, was a shadow of her former self. But even that vet commented on how fiery she was. That vet should have seen Megs in her pomp. I'd have backed her in a fight against just about any other animal.

She was a funnyosity, but I loved her. She had her own way of telling you she'd had enough fuss from you, thank you. She's bite you.

Rip my little feisty cat 🐱

lljkk · 17/07/2023 19:00

Hard to tell, this being MN, whether vet was deploying black humour & OP was incapable of appreciating it. I'd be laughing myself if my cat turned into a vicious devil only for the vet. And apologising... but amused for sure.

fwiw, my cats cower at the vet, turn ultra passive, inbetween yowls. it's the car journey they truly hate.

cinnamonfrenchtoast · 17/07/2023 19:03

Our 8yo is terrified - last time we took him, he urinated ALL over the vet, the table and the floor 😬

Our 3yo who is prone to being quite stressy is actually quite good - he's not happy but doesn't hiss or shy away, just sits there and lets them get on with it.

Our kitten is amazing considering he was semi-feral when we got him two and a half weeks ago. He was there today and was purring, cuddling with the nurse and exploring everywhere!

tabulahrasa · 17/07/2023 19:03

Mine hides under the blanket on the carrier and then turns into liquid.

We have to pour her out of the carrier and she’s flat on the table like a little puddle of cat.

My last cat used to shout angrily at being in the carrier, but it was at being trapped, as soon as you let her out she was saying hello to the vet and wandering round trying to play with stuff... but she was a Siamese and they’re pretty odd tbh 😂

Nunganungas · 17/07/2023 19:04

CoffeeNCroissants · 17/07/2023 17:53

My cat wants to murder the vet. The vet is scared of her.

Yes this is mine too, and she makes a really good go of it too. Yet to be successful thankfully…

Original poster
GalileoHumpkins · 17/07/2023 19:05

Hard to tell, this being MN, whether vet was deploying black humour & OP was incapable of appreciating it

No, that isn't what she was doing at all, I was there and heard her tone, there was no humour in it. I assure you I'm perfectly capable of appreciating black humour, it's my favourite kind.

OP posts:
Tidsleytiddy · 17/07/2023 19:07

My boy jumps everywhere looking and sniffing. On the table he leaves wet marks where his paws are sweating. He purrs. He’d rather not go but once we get there he behaves

Icanttellyouanything · 17/07/2023 19:23

Cat 1 - tries to hide in the sink, behind the computer, under the table. Vets laugh and wait for him to settle before pouncing.
Cat 2 - Always entranced by the view into the staff car park where there are lots of trees and wood pigeons to look at. Shouts, swears and bangs on the window when he sees birds. Vets laugh.
Cat 3 - Another floppy, puddle of sweaty cat here with very sweaty paw prints. Needs to be scraped up to be examined but then goes rigid and has to be folded back into the carrier. Vets laugh.
Cat 4 - Psychopath. Always needs a nurse with the big towel. Fought so hard once that his foot went straight through the nurses favourite big towel. She was upset at the loss of the towel so I took her an old one from home. No one laughs.
Next time you book an appointment ask that you don't see the miserable vet. They'll get the message if no one wants to see him.

DominoRules · 17/07/2023 19:26

Mine is a ball of fury at the vets - she has to have the nurse with gloves and towels at the ready!

She once had to be put in a perspex box and sedation gassed in so they could even examine her 😂

She’s a feisty little madam

Surely2023IsTheYearForMyRainbowBaby · 17/07/2023 19:33

Mine used to parade about like he owned the place. Although as soon as he was jabbed with a needle for his immunisations he'd soon launch himself off the table and back into his box. He did that during his last immunisations and me and the Vet had to drag his arse back out for his second one. His second to last visit before being PTS he was desperately trying to get back in his box cos the Vet was having to expel urine out of his bladder. I had to wrap his blanket around his head to try and calm him down. The Vet did say when he took him off for blood tests doing he was so good and well behaved though

evilharpy · 17/07/2023 19:34

Previous cat had "VERY NICE CAT!!!" in his notes because he was such a wimp, just stood there grinning and purring at everyone. He would almost offer a paw for blood tests (which were frequent because of a chronic condition). He was also brilliant at taking pills. In his old age he started getting very stressed and bitey and scratchy for blood tests and the vet was very sympathetic. "Poor old man, the arthritis is bothering him isn't it, he did very well even though he got a bit upset but I think he likes the purple glittery bandage we picked for him." That vet was an angel from heaven, we adored him.

We have now moved far away and the new kitten is seeing the local vet. So far he is a lethal screaming, scratching ball of fury, topped off by doing a stress shit in his box in the car on the way there. A very different experience and not fun for anyone.

MenopauseSucks · 17/07/2023 19:36

Your vet seems to have no social skills whatsoever.
Are his veterinary skills as bad?
Are there any other vets that you can try?

My current cat is terrified at the vets. She's a feral nightmare trying to get her into the basket even with gabapentin.
Once at the vets though she has to be prized out of the basket...
Most of the time she's extremely passive, just shying away from touch but occasionally she will fight & a nurse has had to use a towel & gloves to hold her! When she's had to be in overnight, she hides in the corner of the cage under the bedding & doesn't eat.
When I get her home she's so relieved & rushes out the house even if it's raining. It takes her a few hours to feel able to come back in & she's jumpy for a few days afterwards.

My previous cat was pretty chilled - the vet would have problems using the stethoscope as she used to purr so much!

Neves7 · 17/07/2023 19:37

One of mine was just the opposite. Never had much more than distain for me (but she loved the dog). At the vet she was a complete cuddly charmer and let them do anything to her.

C1N1C · 17/07/2023 19:40

Mine clamps down on the bench, but she's always been a shoulder cat so if I pick her up, she's happier around my neck.

whirlyhead · 17/07/2023 19:43

I have a huge soft lump of a birman who everyone wants to cuddle (which he loves as he’s a cuddle slut). At the vet last week, the vet just picked him up and hugged him for about 5 minutes. I was worried she wasn’t going to give him back!

I have one psychotic nutter of a cat who has to be sedated to be clipped. And still fights the staff and tries to kill them all.

NotAMissionPriority · 17/07/2023 19:53

Cat 1: "a treasure" - mainly because he's terrified, once he leapt on top of the medicine cabinet in the surgery and a ladder was required to extract him.
Cat 2: "not a treasure." During Covid the vet handed them both back to me and declared his lack of treasure-status compared to his brother. Not sure what he did to the vet but the vet left soon after.

TrackerBar · 17/07/2023 19:54

The first time I took my cat to the vet was during covid for her first health check, so I was unable to go in with her. The couldn't trim her claws because she was so feisty. Now she has gabapentin and will just lie down on the scales. Although she still puts up a fight and becomes a slinky when I try to get her in her carrier. The nurse described her as a very 'hands-off' cat 😹but all the vets and nurses are extremely calm and professional. Apart from when I was waiting in reception once and I saw one of the receptionists flicking the bird to someone on the phone........

Op, your vet sounds horrid.