Two tips to remember when visiting a vet clinic with your newly adopted cat for the first time
If you'll soon be visiting a vet clinic with your newly adopted cat for the first time, these tips should allow you to handle this situation with ease.
Make sure the pet carrier that you'll be using is a place your pet enjoys spending time
Many cats would not take kindly to being unexpectedly popped into a pet carrier that they have never been in before and subsequently being transported away from their home and into a vet clinic. If you do this to your cat, you may find that they get aggressive or frightened. The behaviours they then exhibit at the vet clinic as a result of this may make it difficult for the veterinarian to examine them.
If you want to ensure your cat does not get distressed by their first trip to the clinic, then you should give them a chance to adjust to spending time in the carrier that you'll be using to transport them to this location. For example, you might want to put a soft blanket inside of the carrier, leave its door ajar and place it in a room that your cat likes to sleep in.
Then, try to gently encourage your pet to snooze in the carrier. After they have taken a few naps in it, you might want to do some test-runs, during which you close the carrier's door whilst they're inside of it and lug them around the house for a few minutes at a time. When they learn that they are safe inside the carrier and that it is actually quite a comfortable place for them to snooze, they will be much less likely to kick up a fuss when they are taken to the vet clinic in it.
Be cautious about letting your cat explore the vet clinic's waiting room
It could potentially be helpful to arrive a little bit early for your appointment so that you can let your cat roam around the vet clinic's waiting room. Doing this could give your cat the opportunity to get used to this unfamiliar environment, which might help them to relax. However, you must be cautious when doing this.
For example, you should only do this if the waiting room is empty as if there are other people with their pets in tow, there is a chance that your cat could attack them. Additionally, if the waiting room leads directly to an exit with a door which is either kept open or is automatic, you should keep your cat in the carrier as there is a chance that they might sprint out the door if they get a fright.
Talk to the staff at a vet clinic to learn more.
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