Getting an indoor feral kitty to the vet

[Clocat]

It turns out that there are no home visit vets available for the timeframe that we would need to have her rechecked, unfortunately. I've made the appointment to take her back to the dermatologist. Re: bad cop, I definitely don't plan to mistreat her, but can be the one to take the lead in getting her into a carrier so that vet time doesn't damage her trust in my husband.

 

[fionasmom]

We know that...but it would be nice if she saw you as someone she loved as well.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Can you talk with the vet and see if there is anything else that can be given to her that will help to get her into the carrier?

When I had the mobile vet come to my home 5 years ago, the cost was very very reasonable. Only about $20 more than my vet would have charged.

 

[Clocat]

Can you talk with the vet and see if there is anything else that can be given to her that will help to get her into the carrier?

When I had the mobile vet come to my home 5 years ago, the cost was very very reasonable. Only about $20 more than my vet would have charged.

Cost is definitely not an issue with us, we pretty much spend all our discretionary income on our cats. The problem is coordinating the availability of vets with both my and my husband's work schedules. the dermatologist recommended upping the gabapentin dose and using a towel to make a cat burrito to get her in the carrier (if only it were that easy). My fear with the home vet is that we still would somehow have to grab her for the visit.

 

[fionasmom]

A close friend used a home vet as her pet cat aged. IMO, (and I was present at the rescue of the cat as a tiny kitten) this cat was a feral who lived inside. I would go over to take care of her if they traveled, and I often would not stay in the same room with her once I had put her food down as she was so unpredictable. The home vet came with an assistant and was very skilled at working with the resistant cat. Someone does have to get her to some kind of confined place, but even at that she may feel better knowing that she is not leaving her house, smelling other cats and dogs, and seeing more strange people.

 

[Clocat]

I've found a home vet who is able to visit the week following when her appointment at the derm is currently scheduled for. So now I have two appointments on the books, one with the derm at their office, the other one at home. I need to decide which one to cancel! I feel that there are strong pros and cons to both. For the dermatologist, she is an excellent vet and has said that the bloodwork to check for anemia at home would not be an exact comparison to the results they have for HLA there, as the home vet would use different instruments. Then of course there is the difficulty of collaborating with multiple vets to get results, if the home vet has to share info with the derm.

Obviously if we go with the home vet we wouldn't need to transport her, but there will still be the stress of getting her corralled in her room before the vet arrives (which I think that my having to grab her and shove her in the carrier was the biggest stressor the last time around and she still hasn't forgiven me). Then there will be the stress of having one or more strange people in her room/safe space examining her. I almost feel like taking her to the dermatologist would be the better option. Ugh, so hard to know what to do.

 

[fionasmom]

If there would be any subsequent problem with the difference in the reading, for all the trouble that you will go through either way, I would try to get her to the vet. I don't know if there would be or not, but it would be a step back if the results were not useful.

 

[shadowsrescue]

C Clocat just checking in to see how things are going. Check in if you can!

 

[Clocat]

C Clocat just checking in to see how things are going. Check in if you can!

Thanks for asking. I will say that we are never using gabapentin again! Just like last time we took her to the vet she spent the next 24 hours out of her mind howling and pacing and literally clawing in cabinets trying to find a way out of the house. The vet said it sounded like gabapentin induced dysphoria. So at some point we have to test the trazodone on her to see if that would be a good alternative.

Other than that she is pretty much fully integrated with our other two cats. We've been leaving her to roam the house rather than keeping her in her room because she loses her mind if we keep her in there. She's been going out on the catio quite a bit and is getting slightly more tame. She will occasionally eat treats off of the bed next to you as you sit on it. So I think there is hope long-term. My big concern is that she clearly just really wants back outside to roam her territory. The vet said that's a no-no given her condition. I think it's a pretty sad situation for her personally. We're hoping to move sometime in the next year and I want to get something with a decent amount of property and put up some cat fencing so that at least she can spend time in a yard.

Editing my reply to add that her skin condition is mostly in remission with the steroids. The vet was very pleased with that they did bloodwork and said that she's a systemically healthy senior kitty other than her skin disease.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Thank you for the update. I do hope that the trazodone will work for her.

She is in a wonderful home and making such great progress!! She may miss outside, but inside is best and necessary. She will grow to love indoor as time goes by.

 

[Clocat]

Thank you for the update. I do hope that the trazodone will work for her.

She is in a wonderful home and making such great progress!! She may miss outside, but inside is best and necessary. She will grow to love indoor as time goes by.

Thank you! The "wanting outdoors" thing is rough. I just got home from work and opened up the catio, and right now she's pacing the house howling. She normally does this for a stretch of time then tires herself out and sleeps. We can play with a wand toy with her, but only for around 5-20 minutes per day, and only when she's peeking out from behind her safe space and can swat at it over the box. Meaning she doesn't burn a lot of energy that way.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Maybe when she is pacing and howling try to distract her with a toy or a special snack. If you find she gets worse after being out in the catio, it might be best to not allow her time out there right now. Getting a taste of outside and then not being able to roam may be doing more harm than good. If you keep her inside only and give her options to look outside and watch the birds and other wildlife it might be best. When you allow her time outside and then she must come inside, it might be too confusing to her.

When my feral boys came inside, I did not allow them any access to outside for months and months. Now they can look out over my deck and smell the fresh air, but none of them ever want outside. It just takes time and patience.

 

[Clocat]

Maybe when she is pacing and howling try to distract her with a toy or a special snack. If you find she gets worse after being out in the catio, it might be best to not allow her time out there right now. Getting a taste of outside and then not being able to roam may be doing more harm than good. If you keep her inside only and give her options to look outside and watch the birds and other wildlife it might be best. When you allow her time outside and then she must come inside, it might be too confusing to her.

When my feral boys came inside, I did not allow them any access to outside for months and months. Now they can look out over my deck and smell the fresh air, but none of them ever want outside. It just takes time and patience.

Thank you--I hope we can reach that point. This would be so much easier if it were happening at the beginning of winter and not spring-- there have been a few cold nights when she's ventured onto the catio, then pretty quickly hustled inside to curl up.

 

[dustydiamond1]

Have you tried calming paste? We use it for fireworks. Gypsy won't eat the treats but will lick this paste off my finger, maybe you could put it in a bowl or on a dish. I suggest starting out with a smaller dose than suggested on package instructions.

 

[dustydiamond1]

If anyone ever needs a pair of long gauntlets I reccomend these from Amazon. I got them just in case I would ever need them. Comfortabke, good finger dexterity and great coverage.

Hang in there, good luck and keep us updated.