vet for timid cats, northy county dublin

Hi guys, my two have started coughing and spewing brown snot, so it's time for the vet. Our last vet visit went very badly, George tore around the room hissing and tearing into us. He did so much damage (would have gone better had myself and the boyfriend not fallen around laughing when George went crazy).

We live in North County Dublin so looking for a vet within accessible areas that can deal with semi wild cats. The last vet suggested that before we bring George in again they will prescribe sedatives. I don't think this is the solution though. Does anyone have a vet recommendation in Dublin that is willing to deal with an unsedated "wild" cat?

I suggested just bringing their towel and explaining to the vet, but my boyfriend is not convinced. I'm sure vets have been trained in how to grab a cat and wrap it in a towel!

Thanks in advance.

tk123

You could maybe try something like Zylkene or Feliway to see if calms them a little?

TooManyDogs

What's wrong with giving the cat a sedative? Surely it's safer for everyone involved, including the cat.

anniehoo

My recommendation would be Dennis Shannon, Bull Wall Clontarf...ive recommended several of my friends with cats go to him and they love him.

TooManyDogs wrote: »

What's wrong with giving the cat a sedative? Surely it's safer for everyone involved, including the cat.

I wouldnt sedate a cat with possible respiratory problems as the OP mentioned. You're better off getting him in your cat carrier and putting a towel over it to keep it dark and quiet until you can get to the vets.

Ophiopogon

If it was for anything I would say xanax but as already mention not great with possible breathing issues.

My cat used to get very worked up and as a result tore a chunk out of wrist in the process of trying to get her into the basket.

The best thing is to not mess about when your getting them into the basket and I'm not trying to be smart but it doesn't help if someone is there laughing at the them it just adds to the potential chaos.

I just make sure their is no one else there. I clean the basket out with milton as for some reason I think she can smell the fear from the last time of it. Then I just go in catch and get her in and qucikly as possible, if she gets away from me I leave her for a while as I think chasing her just gets her worked up more.

Put the blanket over the basket and have the radio on in the car.

I also book an appointment when there is few people there so she doesn't have to deal with dogs or anything in the waithing room. They are going to get worked up not matter what so its just about trying to reduce it as much as possible.

chamaid

Zylkene is safe for most conditions. google their official site

MaryK666

There's always a danger with sedatives for cats so hopefully you can find a vet who's a little more sympathetic, knowledgable and understanding.
Stress is really bad for cats as it weakens their immune systems and if they're already snotty, it's not going to help their recovery but, personally, I would avoid going down the sedative route if at all possible and find a vet who's comfortable dealing with them and able to handle them.

The only ones I can genuinely recommend, from personal experience, who are really, really good with cats are either in Celbridge, Co Kildare or in Navan, Co Meath. Both are experienced in dealing with nervous cats and also with feral cats so they're well used to cats who come out of a carrier in a little ball of claws and teeth.

If you need names and numbers, feel free to PM me.

Thanks guys, especially Mary for the recommendations!

Getting the two into the carriers and transporting them is stress free, it's what they do at the vet that requires sedation! The two are wild cats we adopted last June, they love us, and we can hug them and pet them, but they're terrified of other people. In fact our black cat only came over all affectionate when we got back from holidays - he'd been fed by a neighbour for 10 days, and when he saw us, ran over and started rubbing his head against our hands for the first time.

I'm going to contact one of the vets recommended, because I'd hate to sedate either of my two just because a vet can't handle them. They are very hard to handle, to be fair, but any vet with wild animal experience will be fine with them. They're not viscous, they don't attack, they're just very scared. It wasn't ideal last time George escaped around the vet's room and me and my boyfriend couldn't stop laughing, but if you'd been there you wouldn't have been able to resist either. It was one of the funniest things I've seen in a very long time. I knew I should stop laughing and try to calm the cat, but god, I couldn't.

Thanks for the recommendations, I will be bringing the cats to a vet very soon, and if it's one of the recommended vets will post how we get on

Thanks everyone.