# Feral Mama hates the Vet



## Chewysmom (Mar 31, 2009)

My "mama" kitty is an indoor feral, and so it my 8 month old kitty Chunk. Neither of them will permit holding, they will permit petting, but only in a place of their choosing. I'm starting to lose hope over this whole situation. You see, mama has been diagnosed with dialated cardiomyopathy, and will have to have regular trips to the vet. Well, since her only experiences with vets so far have been bad bad bad, she is extremely resistant to getting into the carrier, and will fight/scratch/freak out if I try. I usually end up having to force her into a corner where I can give her no other choice but to get into the carrier. She is not supposed to be under any extra strain or stress because of her heart, but just going to the vet is a HUGE stress for her. She has already bit two different vets, and I have scratches all over me. 
I don't know what to do because I want to keep her, I don't think she would do well in a shelter environment, and I doubt anyone else would want to adopt her. 
She hates me because I do things like put her into a carrier and take her to a place where people want to stick her with needles. She's been an outdoor cat her entire life before we trapped her (she was pregnant).

She will let me pet her, but not for too long, and picking her up is a no-go. Most of her time is spent hiding under my couch.

I must tell you this also: For a long time, her place was in the office, and she seemed comfortable in there, but as her kittens started walking and escaping the office she went out too, and ever since the last vet visit, she has been under the couch, and only comes out to eat, or when we are asleep. It's like she has regressed. 
I feel like we have lost the little bit of ground that was gained during her first couple of months here.

She has to go in on Monday to get blood drawn, and I am getting a vet-approved and issues tranquilizer for her, but it is "mild" because of her heart condition, but I'm afraid she is going to muster up enough adrenaline to act like she normally acts when she has to get into the carrier.

I should also add that my tame kitty (Chewie) does not get along with mama (even though it is *her* mama, and my feral kitty Chunk does not get along with Chewie or mama. So nobody gets along with anyone, and they all steer clear of each other, and get into the occasional scuffle. Mama is usually calm, but Chunk and Chewie get into it.

Help!


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Wow, you really have a difficult situation. I had to go look up what dialated cardiomyopathy was. It said it was rare in cats. Reading about your situation intrigue me. I discussed it with a friend of mine who is very knowledgeable about cats. Much more than I am. I’m still on a learning curve. This is what we came up with.

Let me preface this. Everyone who does TNR and deals with ferals has a belief system. I know AZcats does feral differently than my group does. I totally understand where they are coming from and what they have accomplished. My group can’t do it that way but we’ve taken on a 100 times more work because of our belief system. So understand this is my perspective from my core belief of ferals and abandoned cats.

First off know, that a feral is truly a wild undomesticated cat. That is why your backed into a corner on this situation. You obviously are a very caring loving person to take this mother and kids on and provide what you do.

We always have to judge quality of life vs quantity of days of their lives. That is why we S/N and release them back to their colony. we provide food for the colony & provide a safe environment to live out their lives. Some have short lives, some survive longer. But they can be feral cats living out their lives. Not forced into a situation which is against their nature.

I don’t know what your vets hope to accomplish treating your mom cat. But maybe it would make her quality of life worse, being treated ,than just leaving her as she is and giving her a life to live for as long as she is healthy. Then euthanize her when the disease incapacitates her. I think it would make her life **** to be handle and carted back and forth to vets when she would be happy to live out her life as is.

That is what Id do.

I also wondered, are you sure this is what is really wrong with your cat? 

I thought this because most vets are not experienced with feral outdoor cats and the problems they have. Most vets are not experienced with cats in general apart unless it is the ordinary maladies-- We’ve given our vets in our area a royal education about cats. I have found only two good vets who are on top of the unusual health issues we’ve brought in. These were not feral but kittens and abandoned cat brought in from the out of doors.

I’ve come to a point where I second-guess vets now after this situation happened recently to me. I took a cat into a local country vet. She and her siblings had severe eye problems. He said it was entropia. Did surgery for entropia only to find out later it wasn’t entropia.

My really good vet did a wellness check up on her and said it was a genetic defect and the surgery performed was the opposite of what she needed. We ended up going to a board certified specialist in eye disorders and redoing the surgery. It was heart breaking to see her go thru all this pain & then again, to repair the damage and try to fix what was wrong. So now I’m always suspicious of certain vet diagnoses esp with out of ordinary things. 

IF this diagnosis is the true problem then what is the treatment for this problem? Does she have to be handled to be medicated? Are there just meds you could put in her food? Or could you treat her homeopathically thru her food. *If not Id leave her as she is. *

That is just my opinion. You have heart-breaking choices to make. But such is the nature of working with rescue cats. Thank you for caring for these cats. You are truly a kind person.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Not having the medical knowledge of this condition, I will agree with Merry, unless you can get some assurance from your vet--perhaps a second opinion also. 

Thank you for being so very caring.


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