How does your cat behave at the vets?

[GalileoHumpkins]

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.

My cat is a sod at the vets. He goes into his carrier without much fuss and then turns into a hissing swipey ball of fury and refuses to go back in his carrier at the vets. He has a marker on his file - vet nurse with towel and gloves required! One vet was quite confident and said oh he’ll be fine - I was like hmmm and in thick fleece and gloves. She admitted defeat very quickly and called in reinforcements. Only one vet managed it single handed and he was older and very experienced. However no one has ever made us feel bad for it - quote they’re cats and that’s just what some cats do!

DCat 1 makes a run for the sink and then jumps to me if the vet strokes him - he gets his claws and tablets done whilst clinging to me like a koala

DCat 2 loafs on the table and as they are both big BSH boys and strong with it, it takes 2 of us to peel his limbs out from under him

Both are wimps and there's no biting, scratching or hissing during this so pretty calm

SHAMEFULLY the second the thermometer comes out for up the butt, they both come alive, purring like feight trains and pushing back on it, the hussies!

Ours all behave impeccably 😹.

Well they all seem to enjoy a good wander round the surgery anyway. Our vet always tells us that Basil is her favourite cat. And I'm absolutely certain that she never says that about anyone else's cat...

Our kitten went for his second vaccines today and loved it 😂

He was rolling around demanding treats off the vet and sitting on the nurses shoulders purring 🙄🙈

Vet here. My experience:

Most cats we see are a bit anxious and make easy patients as they freeze still and let you get on with it.

Some cats are very friendly and want cuddles and attention.

Maybe 1 in 20 are aggressive when pushed (will scratch or bite if you try to clip their claws or restrain them).

Maybe 1 in 50 are overtly aggressive immediately; won't come out of the box, trying to attack you at all times.

So it's not the norm for a cat to hiss and attack.

As others have said, they'll have warning notes on their file and we often call a nurse in and use towels/large gloves.

It's not fun dealing with these cats and I've had some bad injuries.

Obviously they're scared and stressed and I would never blame the owner. However, I don't enjoy dealing with these patients!

I’ve only seen her be friendly and curious.

During covid though, when she went in without me, I did get the comment “she really doesn’t like tablets, does she?” (they’d given her a worming pill as it was due). Always wonder what she did

Our two year old just takes it in his stride, walks into the cat carrier and then does whatever the vets tells him to.

Our one year old is a nightmare to get into the carrier - we've resorted to (on the advice of friends) putting a pillow case over him and then feeding him into the carrier. Once at the vets he's well behaved but very wary.

Just a little update, we went back yesterday for second vaccinations and saw the same vet. She actually apologised for (her words) being really mean the last time she saw us, she admitted that her bedside manner wasn't always the best.
Anyway, the furry overlord behaved very nicely and only did one little growl.

Maybe 1 in 20 are aggressive when pushed (will scratch or bite if you try to clip their claws or restrain them)

Maybe it's something I do to my cats!

Cat 1: put straight in teflon bag and hood for any intervention, saved time and stress
Cat 2: only wellbehaved one
Cat 3: 'Oh she's so silky' - then she randomly claws you
Cat 4: Er, maybe he doesn't need that injection - after being faced 6kg of raging claw, tooth and muscle

I'm clearly a very bad cat owner