# cat attacks vet helper...advice?



## Olivers-Slave (Jul 25, 2010)

Well I took oliver to the vet because he hasn't been eating much or drinking a lot and has been very lethargic.

SO all good reasons to take mr kitty to the vet right? Alright so we get him in the carrier, hes great, let him out in the car and let him ride on the back of my neck...hes awesome...back in carrier...super awesome. At vet, calm chill awesome....once we reach the vet...the nightmare begins...we get him out of the carrier, kinda curious but okay...vet checks him, okayish not enjoying but okayish. Stick thermometer up the butt...okay reallyyyyyyyyy not enjoying it now. Found a lil blood in the stool...not so good. at this point we let him chill on the table while they get some antibiotics and an IV prepared....Oliver becomes chill again, even starts rubbing against the IV holder when its brought in and enjoying himself (due probably to the bleach the washed it down with) 

...now comes the horror. So the vet gets the IV in but oliver starts semi spazzing, the low hissing, and twitching to get out of the neck grab. so the vet calls in a helper to hold oliver...oh...my...god....all **** broke loose two seconds after he has the IV in and starts trying to put the meds into the IV. Its world war 1 and its cats vs. vet helper....blood...gor...cat 1 vet helper 15 scratches and bites.....

They finally get him under control, get a towel and the vet helper is patched up. put on a muzzle looking thing (covers eyes and such) he is pinned down in the towel, limbs in firm grasp of vet helper....it lasts about 4 mins before he starts howling like hes dieing, he flips out and 3 mins later the vet helper can't hold him anymore and world war 2 begins...he just flips out on the vet helper....at this point they are giving up on the fluids and want to get the antibiotics in him asap. SO vet helper gets patched up....

The finally...they finally get oliver again, quickly shoot him up with the antibiotics as fast as possible while holding him in the air and praying...he of course spazzes out again but they got most of it in him and they manuver him into the carrier...

I swear I'm still shaking, I never want to hear a cat cry and scream like that again. They swore it was painless it just is a needle right under the skin...but yeah he was freaking out so badly. they asked if I wanted to leave the room but I couldn't just leave him there. So I stayed the whole time. 

By the end of it all the vet helper was bleeding from numerous places and oliver had peed himself at some point in it and is just huffing and puffing. He warned that oliver may be angry at us for a while but as soon as I stuck my fingers in the cage (I refuse to be scared of my cat) he just let me pet him a couple seconds before going back to grooming himself 

I dunno what to do. They are going to schedule an appointment for him because he still needs blood work to see about the blood stool and such and to check for other things....I just don't know how to calm him down with the vet....

help please?


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## Ducman69 (Aug 28, 2010)

I'd look into administering a sedative before the vet visit next time. 

Obviously poking his butt hurt, and then trying to restrain him just escalated things more and more.


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## Kobster (Feb 1, 2007)

SQ fluids don't hurt, feels a little odd but not painful, its likely that Oliver reacted to being restrained. With some cats, less is more when it comes to restraint. Ninja wigs when he is restrained too. Ordinarily I would say try to de-sensitize him to being restrained by associating restraint with something pleasant like a special treat or cuddles or what not. I've had no luck with this method with Ninja however. He's just too upset about being held still to be interested in anything but getting away.


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## Dave_ph (Jul 7, 2009)

It happens. They'll deal with it.

They tell me gentle, sweet, cuddly Fay took three gloved people to insert a catheter in her paw/arm before she went in to surgery. She normally puts up with things. I didn't see it but even the guy at the desk told me about it because they called him in for reinforcements. He said he'd never seen a Ragdoll act like that.

When I was talkikg to the Vet the night after surgery she was really concerned with how she was going to get the catheter out. She finally decided she'd pop a sedative in her IV first but *that's something she didn't want to do. *

I bet your Vet has gloves in the back too. 

When I went to pick up Fay they brought in the carrier and when the Vet walked in she started a low growl. When I stuck my face in front of the carrier she came over and started purring and kneeding her blankie. On subsequent visits she's been fine with the vet. Fay didn't hold a grudge at all. She does *meep* and grab onto me when they take her temp. The look on her face when they do that is priceless.


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## Olivers-Slave (Jul 25, 2010)

yeah its really odd, I mean yeah oliver is hard to handle with a bath but hes never attacked. its more been like lemmie gooo. but he really like was sooooooo going to bite the guy super hard. poor guy had more patches on his wound then Frankenstein. 

Other then that I can do whatever I want to him and he never reacts. he just takes it like a champ. this behavior really freaked ronaldo out. Poor guy was like O.O its a demon!!!!*eyes oliver in the cage warrily*


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## RowdyAndMalley (Aug 9, 2010)

Malley is the same way as Oliver. Its funny Rowdy had his temp taken, subq fluids, shots, and a dewormer pill the other day at the vet and never made a squeak. Malley on the other hand, the second they put her on the scale she went nuts, low growling and hissing. Then the took her temp and she dug into my arms. I have bite marks and puncture wounds all over me and I thought she would never warm up to me again after that. It took her a couple days but she is back to normal. 

Some cats just dont respond well to vets.


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## coonconnoisseur (Sep 16, 2010)

I noticed that one of the vet's helpers at my vet has fingers full of cat scratch marks. That led me to believe that its probably a common hazard of the job because tons of cats scratch them.


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## Jan Rebecca (Oct 14, 2010)

Aww sorry you and kitty had to go through that - must have been horrible for both of you..


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I'm so sorry this happened and that you had to watch it. But I wouldn't have left, either.

I would think your vet would recommend some meds to take before his next visit. And some for your kitty. atback


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Im going to disagree a bit. Ive taken 100s of cats to vets. Some vets know how to handle cats and most dont. Its more in the way you give them time to feel safe. There are easy ways to gently restain without them feeling trapped. And part of it is the energy your give off to the cat.

If a vet is in a hurry and the cat is not feeling safe your going to set the cat off. You have to read the body signs of the cat while trying to manage it in the vet examining room.  

I had to sub Q a cat of my friend once a day. The cat wasn't happy about it but we knew she felt safe in her carrier so wed put her in the carrier and unzip the top and sub Q her in there gently holding her so she wouldn't move too much or want to jump out. this was a 15 minute process each day. It worked cuz we did what made her feel safe and held her still in ways that didn't make her feel "man handled" or trapped.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

When I brought Gigi in this last time, she was a handful. The (new) vet tech actually said to me, "Do you want to take her temperature while I hold her?"

Umm, that's *YOUR* job and why I *pay* for the visit.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Rectal or in the ear? 

I think Gigi is probably one for the books Marie!


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Wasn't the ear! :grin:

She's quite the little character, but thank goodness she hasn't gone "Oliver" on anyone yet.


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## katlover13 (Apr 15, 2008)

Tucker was always a handful to do anything with. I have had cats all my life and even when I was young my mom used to have me give the cats their meds because I was pretty good at it. Not with Tucker. *Nothing* worked. Once when Dr. Tom was trying to examine his ears Tucker sent the scope flying and I think every one in the room had scratches. Some cats are just extremely difficult.


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## Olivers-Slave (Jul 25, 2010)

marie73 said:


> Wasn't the ear! :grin:
> 
> She's quite the little character, but thank goodness she hasn't gone "Oliver" on anyone yet.


hehe I may steal that phrase and start using it on my husband when hes being difficult. it is good to know that even the best cats have their moments with the vets. I kept thinking oliver was just like that because I got him as a feral kitten. So perhaps he just was only okay being handled by me. my poor husband, now to convince him oliver isn't going to be like that in the house lol. Until he married me he never had seen a cat as a pet. let alone had one as a pet. so large learning curve for him.


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