My cat Darwin was the Sucky Customer!

[Melxb]

My two cats, Diego and Lola, don't mind the vets for their yearly shots. They HATE the car ride. Our vet's office is only about a mile and a half away--a five minute car ride if that. Yet, whenever they get in their carriers and get in the car they meow NONSTOP. And loud. I don't blame them, but it breaks my heart to put them in my car knowing they hate it so much.

They like the vets office a lot. When they get out of their carrier and both are purring in my arms, the girls in the office yelp, "I wanna hold Diego!" or "I wanna hold Lola!" They're very friendly cats and they LOVE when people give em a little love. The shots, eh, I'm not even sure they notice!

[FenigDurak]

Both of my cats, Darwin & Kyra, act like I lock them in a deep dark dungeon for weeks on end and only let them out when there are other people in the house. They are always purring, rubbing up against anyone who is willing to pet them. They especially like repairmen. Have no clue why, but they do.

S'called being a Love Sponge. Remmy does it too. As does my friend's cats Gui-on and Mara, and my other friend's cat Janson (though Janson drools when he's happy). My parent's cat Charley is a sort of sporadic love sponge. She only wants attention when the dog is getting it.

[myswtghst]

Gah, reminded of another kitty story. When I got my cats, I lived in MI. We moved around a bit so they lived three places, and were in the car (and around dogs) for a lot of their youth. They were fine in the car all the way home from MI to IL, a 4 hour drive with only a short walk at the halfway point of the trip. (Yes, I walk my cats. I did not want an open litter box in the car with me). Yet when I moved from my parents house to my apartment (10 min car ride, max) they made an absolute mess of the carrier and yowled the whole way. I still don't understand it.

[protege]

Kitty does not like his carrier, and will fight like hell to avoid getting into it. Usually, it's easier to stand it on end, and drop him into it Anyway, when I brought him home from Grandma's, he wasn't too happy about it--he cried the entire way home...an hour and a half of kitty crying sucks! Then, once at my house, he wouldn't come out of the carrier. Or, at least not for very long. He'd come out, walk around the entire basement, and then go hide. It took him at least 2 days to get used to not being an *outside* kitty anymore. Now, all he does is sit on his chair, or curl up under the coffee table. He does *not* want to be outside at all!

[MadMike]

The two kittens we got last summer (well, they're not really kittens anymore), actually like riding in the car. I make sure to take them for a ride every so often so that they don't start associating the car with the vet and start hating it.

The one likes it so much that sometimes he'll even stand by the door to the garage and start meowing. Of course, he's also the one who likes people food, and sometimes I take him to the drive-thru to get a little snack for both him and myself, so maybe it's the food he wants, and not so much a ride in the car.

[ChanceNCinny]

Slightly off topic and sorry if it is a treadjack (didn't mean to but it looks kinda like it when I re-read it)

A little back story; about two years ago we got two rabbits (right after Easter from the pound when there was the large influx of rejects; please get chocolate bunnies for Easter not real bunnies). Not wanting anymore baby bunnies hopping around we took them both in to be looked over by the vet mostly for the purpose of determining gender (so far the pound is 1 for 6 for getting the right gender on our adoptions). Turns out we had a boy and a girl.

Smudge, the boy, is very skittish about people. Doesn't like to be touched and won't even tolerate a person within 5 feet of him. We discoverd at the vets office that if you hold Smudge in your arms with his feet in the air and pet his forehead he falls asleep. The vet was very amused to have a sleeping rabbit in his arms that allowed for an examination without even fussing. Maple, the girl, loves to be petted, will go right up to strangers and will stand on your feet to get you attention. Strangely enough she didn't like the vet and gave him a hard time. Go figure. We did get Smuged nuetered so no baby bunnies here.

And for the curious the rabbits run loose in our backyard during the daytime and are trained to go in their cage at night (which is why Smudge doesn't have to be touched by a person and can have his space). We shake the treat jar, they run in the cage, normally, within 5 minutes and they get a handful of treats (dried and/or fresh fruits/vegtables). All our fences go down a foot (we double check for tunnels though) and are too high for dogs to jump. We do have 3 cats but they are very used to the rabbits and don't try to attack them. The few times the rabbits have gotten out because someone didn't lock the gate and Maple pulled it open (we were curious so we watched one day, she grabs the bottom edge with her teeth and pulls, repeating until it is open enough) we have found them in the front yard or neighbors yard sleeping and being watched over by one of the cats.

[ForestDragon]

Smudge is one weird rabbit.

Our blind Jack Russell doesn't mind going to the vet - at least until the actual exam begins. I think it's mostly because he's waaaay off the ground and can't get any traction on the table, but he does get held and comforted if needed by one of us while the vet's doing his/her thing. The only time he ever got sucky at the vet was when he was having to have a drainage tube removed from his neck after he had gotten attacked by a husky - it must've hurt because he lashed out and snapped at the vet. I imagine that she'd done this sort of thing a lot, because she just snipped the loop, got a good hold and whipped it out, getting her hand out of reach just ahead of the snap. (I imagine it might have hurt a bit less if she had done it slowly, but she would've gotten bitten then.) Black Jack was all apologetic wags and submissive posture after that, since he had been taught for years that biting is a Doggy Mortal Sin. He doesn't bite in the normal course of things due to this, but he can get excited when people visit and occasionally forgets himself and starts grabbing at pant legs. "You can't leave nooooooww!"

[Banrion]

(I imagine it might have hurt a bit less if she had done it slowly, but she would've gotten bitten then.)

Nope, it's like a band-aid, better to do it quick and get it over with. My brother had to have a catheter inserted through his back directly into his kidney for drainage. It hurts alot either way, it's just a matter if it hurts alot for a long time, or for a short time.

[Primer]

Kitty does not like his carrier, and will fight like hell to avoid getting into it. Usually, it's easier to stand it on end, and drop him into it

Try a carrier that has a 2nd "door" on the top. It's a bigger space to shove at, and you don't have to try to balance everything while handling an upset kitty.

Every year we have "Kitty Cat Round-Up" where all the cats are corralled and taken to the vet for their shots. Fun times!

The various dogs are spread out throughout the year...in fact, I need to call for an appointment for the doxie mix soon!