Getting an indoor feral kitty to the vet

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Clocat

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Give her some time to calm down. It very well could have been the gaba. She just reacted negatively to it. Did the vet ever check to see if she has a spay scar?

Visit her often today if you can. Just sit quietly with her. She may need a few days to decompress.
Good question on the spay scar, I did email the vet with my concerns about her possibly being unspayed--given that they shaved her hopefully they would have noticed that and can share.
 

fionasmom

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Don't get upset if you can help it. Let her calm down and see if things start to go back to normal, including if the pemphigus subsides. The fact that she is quiet near you is actually a good sign despite her agitation; if she were running in fear from you it would be worse.

I would continue to visit her and reassure her in whatever way is best. Do you feel that this may have been from the gabapentin?
 
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Don't get upset if you can help it. Let her calm down and see if things start to go back to normal, including if the pemphigus subsides. The fact that she is quiet near you is actually a good sign despite her agitation; if she were running in fear from you it would be worse.

I would continue to visit her and reassure her in whatever way is best. Do you feel that this may have been from the gabapentin?
Thank you--since your comment about gaba backfiring I've been hunting for more info on that, but there seems to be almost no info online about gaba increasing agitation/anxiety. Awaiting a response on that from the vet.

Last night the only thing that would get her to stop freaking out was when I went in and talked with her in a soothing voice. She would curl up and face me with eyes closed. So that seems positive in a small way, maybe?

Today she is very out of sorts, but has been quiet so far. I'm really hoping the gaba was responsible for her wild behavior last night, and this is not our new normal. I've visited her a few times today, but she got up and hid the most recent time I was in there, so I'm giving her some alone time.
 

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I wonder if it was just the gaba and her state of fear and unknown that was just too much for her. You may never know what caused all the anxiety.

I would try to visit her as often as you can as she does seem to find it reassuring. Just remain calm as she will sense your worry and anxiety too.

By the way, does she have a name? Also would love to see a picture of her sometime.
 

fionasmom

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It sounds as if things are a little bit better and she may be calming down. I agree that letting this ride itself out is the best way to go for now. Depending on her history, it may have been the entire experience which upset her.

In children and dogs, gabapentin can cause anxiety in a very small percentage of cases. This would absolutely not be the norm though. I had an elderly dog who was on it for the duration of his life with no thought of discontinuing it and he never became excitable.
 
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She started howling again, unfortunately. I went in the room and tried waving a feather toy around. She actually started playing with it! She seemed pretty engaged with it for about 20 minutes. This is a definite first. I wonder if some of her stress is due to boredom.
 

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Could be. She may be past just needing a place to be safe and may want companionship. Try playing with her which, if nothing else, will tire her a little bit. It will give her something to look forward to and might help her acclimate to being inside.
 

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Does she have some toys she can play with? What about catnip? Does she have some toys in the room that she can engage in on her own? Playing with her for 20 minutes is awesome!!! That is a huge step forward.
 
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Does she have some toys she can play with? What about catnip? Does she have some toys in the room that she can engage in on her own? Playing with her for 20 minutes is awesome!!! That is a huge step forward.
Her room is littered with toys, including the yeowww catnip fish. She hasn't shown any interest in playing until now. It's like this vet visit triggered a whole personality change for her. I have a tall cat tower I was going to set up in there after giving her a few days to calm down but I might try putting it in there this weekend.
 

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A cat tree would be a great idea!! She may just love it. A good idea after playing with a cat is to reward them with a special treat. It helps them feel as though they captured prey and now they get to eat it! Jackson Galaxy has a saying, Hunt, Catch, Kill, Eat, Groom, Sleep. The idea is to play with the cat so they can hunt, catch and kill. Then you offer a special snack for the eat portion. Next they will often groom themselves and take a nap.
 

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Cats can be odd with toys and play. My younger cats love Da Bird despite having lot of other toys at their disposal.

As was just said, I find that they feel that they have hunted and caught prey, as they can bring it down and "kill" it. Giving a treat at that time is also a good idea.
 

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When she's had a couple of more days, consider randomly wearing your protective gloves and jacket when you to in to play with her and are NOT taking her anywhere. It should help, like leaving the carrier out if those clothes are just something you occasionally wear. Mine goes freak out when I try to pick her up if I'm wearing my go out of the house clothes.

Did you get safety glasses to wear when you are putting her in the carrier? They should make you feel safer which should help calm both of you.
 
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When she's had a couple of more days, consider randomly wearing your protective gloves and jacket when you to in to play with her and are NOT taking her anywhere. It should help, like leaving the carrier out if those clothes are just something you occasionally wear. Mine goes freak out when I try to pick her up if I'm wearing my go out of the house clothes.

Did you get safety glasses to wear when you are putting her in the carrier? They should make you feel safer which should help calm both of you.
This is a good idea! I was reluctant to wear gloves because everything I have in the house is very loose (like oven mitts) and I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep my grip. But need to start shopping for these things now.
 

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I don't think oven mitts would work, since your hand slides around inside them at best. With a cat fighting you? Probably not. Look for rose gloves, or rose sleeves. See Amazon page below. they don't have the ones we bought, but the separate click through are similar. They leave your fingers out to help in grasping. Others prefer the complete glove to protect the fingers. Of you might try one of each a glove for the non-dominant hand and open fingers for your grasping hand.

Amazon.com : rose protection sleeves


unitron world Cut Resistant Sleeves with Thumb Hole 18" Arm Protection Bite Proof for Thin Skin Anti Abrasion Safety Arm Guard for Garden Kitchen 1 Pair (amazon.com)
 
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I don't think oven mitts would work, since your hand slides around inside them at best. With a cat fighting you? Probably not. Look for rose gloves, or rose sleeves. See Amazon page below. they don't have the ones we bought, but the separate click through are similar. They leave your fingers out to help in grasping. Others prefer the complete glove to protect the fingers. Of you might try one of each a glove for the non-dominant hand and open fingers for your grasping hand.

Amazon.com : rose protection sleeves


unitron world Cut Resistant Sleeves with Thumb Hole 18" Arm Protection Bite Proof for Thin Skin Anti Abrasion Safety Arm Guard for Garden Kitchen 1 Pair (amazon.com)
Thank you! I am getting these for sure.
 
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I have about three and a half weeks to figure out how to get HLA back to the vet. The dermatologist she's seeing wants to recheck her blood work because she had anemia last time and also of course see how her skin is continuing to do on the steroids. The vet said we could have a home vet visit and share those results with her but obviously it would be more ideal to have the actual dermatologist see her. I was wondering if there are things I could start doing now to prepare her for that day because I'm dreading it already. I might try giving her gabapentin here in a week or so and see if she has a similar reaction to it. Possibly she needs more of it? I might ask the vet if there are any other sedatives we could give her. Hopefully my husband would be home this time to assist. I just don't want to repeat last time because it's damaged her trust in me. She's actually really starting to get comfortable with my husband, including sitting on the edge of the bed when he's sitting on it in there with her. But when I come in she runs and hides. She is playing with both of us as long as it's a toy on the end of a long wand or string. But she gives me a terrified wide eyed stare and scrambles to hide whenever I first walk in.

By the way, we call her HLA because she very much looks like a late cat of ours, Hank, therefore "Hank Look Alike." We learned our neighbors named her Grizabella which is unspeakably adorable as well as fitting as she strongly resembles the character from "Cats." The vet shaved what fur she had left because it was heavily matted.
Screenshot_20230311_163740_Gallery.jpg

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She is a very pretty little girl and so happy with that bed. She is very wary though as can be seen in the first picture.

All of your ideas are good one. A home care vet will probably cost more, but it is not a bad way to go. I would trust a reliable home care vet to relay correct information to the dermatologist with pics, etc. Asking the vet about gabapentin dose or alternatives is also possible.

Over time, she may begin to realize that she always comes home from the vet and that they are not trying to hurt her, but I see your point about losing trust at an early stage in her socialization.

Grizabella certainly fits her, but I like HLA better as it is happier. Of course, you can try for the rest of the cast like Jemima and Victoria.;)
 
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She is a very pretty little girl and so happy with that bed. She is very wary though as can be seen in the first picture.

All of your ideas are good one. A home care vet will probably cost more, but it is not a bad way to go. I would trust a reliable home care vet to relay correct information to the dermatologist with pics, etc. Asking the vet about gabapentin dose or alternatives is also possible.

Over time, she may begin to realize that she always comes home from the vet and that they are not trying to hurt her, but I see your point about losing trust at an early stage in her socialization.

Grizabella certainly fits her, but I like HLA better as it is happier. Of course, you can try for the rest of the cast like Jemima and Victoria.;)
Thanks for all your advice throughout this. I need to make a decision in the next day or so so that we can get an appointment on the books with either the derm or a home vet visit.

She is definitely still wary. Even in her "sleeping" photo you can see that she's still keeping an eye on me. She is much calmer with my husband, this change took place after the vet visit. I don't care which one of us she socializes to, I'm willing to be the bad cop if it means she gets her health back, has someone she's bonded to and is more relaxed inside!
 

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I would do the home visit. I had a vet come to my home when I brought 3 feral cats inside my home before I moved. The cats had never been inside, all had been neutered and first set of vaccines years before. I needed them tested for FIV and FELV as well as current vaccines. I knew I could not get them to a vet.

The mobile vet I used was great. I had one cat that literally scaled the walls. The vet was great and she was able to sedate him to the the exam, tests and vaccines. The other two cats she gently wrapped in a blanket. I would highly recommend trying the at home vet.
 

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Trying the home vet is a good idea if you are inclined to do so. As I said, it might be expensive depending on where you live, but it is not something that you would need to do going forward with this cat. I am not sure that allowing yourself to be the "bad cop" is a good idea if you can avoid it.
 
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