Fighting thru Gabapentin & Trazadone

[Annieca2016]

So my youngest, Pompom (9 years old) has always been a bit feisty. But she was generally okay at the vet. As she's gotten older she's gotten worse to where she needs gabapentin to calm her at the vet. Within the past two years, we've had to increase the gabapentin dose to 2 mL the night before and 2 hours before an appointment.

Today she had to go to the cat doc to have her anal glands expressed. She got 2 mL last night, then 1/4 of a Trazadone pill at 10am, then 2mL more of gabapentin at noon. She was super sleepy and didn't fight going into the carrier. Didn't meow thru the whole except to express her displeasure that the wind was cold when I took her to the car. Techs took her back to express, and she fought them at every step. She screamed and swatted and tried to bite. She can usually be distracted by a churu and she was for a bit but when someone sticks their finger up your butt, you're probably not all that interested in treats.

Clearly the drugs work when she's in the carrier and the car, so it's just the vet. Office has a cat-only room on the opposite side of the building from the dogs. We get to go into the room immediately so she doesn't have any contact with other cats or dogs in the waiting room. Vet is fear-free and has Feliway diffusers and gentle classical music playing in the room.

So, I suppose two questions. 1) Have you ever had a cat that got worse at the vet the older they got? And 2) any suggestions for helping her anxiety at the vet? I will of course ask the vet but I wanted to check if y'all have suggestions.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Is she going to the same vet that she went to before she started getting feistier? Even so, the odds are that there have been changes to the vet techs. Some handle pets better than others. If you can, I would tell them that you want to be in the room with her for any of her upcoming visits and then observe them. If she has only been feistier with the anal gland checkups, there might not be much you can do about that, other than ask for a local/topical numbing agent to be used before they begin.

Cats that are older can also begin to experience some discomfort/pain from arthritis, which can bother them when they are being manipulated during an exam. You might have her checked (via x-rays) to see if anything joint issues show up. They need to do x-rays of not only her extremities, but her spine as well.

I am sure other members will come along to talk about the anxiety aspect unto itself, but I'd still make sure you check into the things I have mentioned above.

 

[Annieca2016]

Unfortunately, no, she's not at the same vet. I've moved to several states in the 8 years I've had her so she's now on her 4th vet office. She does have some arthritis in her hips - the muscle has wasted away to where she always has an hourglass no matter how chunky she gets. She gets Cosequin twice a day and Welactin once a day like her sister who's arthritis is much worse.

In the practice she's at now I usually have one of three techs. There was one who was definitely not comfortable with her but she now works with the primarily-dog vet as opposed to my vet. I'm in the room for everything but blood tests and the expressions which they do in the back. She hasn't needed an expression in several years so this is the first time she's had it at this practice. I'm not sure if they'd let me back to watch for blood tests, X-rays, etc. But since she's so fractious in the exam room even when I'm there, I'm leaning towards it being generalized anxiety and not "Mom's not here" anxiety.