Taking your cat to the vet can be easy – here’s how

Here’s 10 proven strategies to make taking your cat to the vet a cake walk. Today is National Take Your Cat to the Vet Day, Aug. 22, 2017, and we wanted to share how to make taking a trip to the vet easy.

National Take Your Cat to the Vet Day, Aug. 22

It’s easy to take your cat or cats to the vet if you follow some basic tips that will make the trip less stressful for both you and your cat. Today, we share our 10 proven strategies to make taking your cat to the vet a piece of cake.

1. Leave the cat carrier out in the open, in your living room or other room where the cats frequent. Let them explore it, take a nap in it, play in it. That way they won’t see it as a threat, and it will be a lot easier for you when it comes to crate them. (This is a good strategy to use for preparing for an emergency exit, as well. If kitty is not afraid of the carrier, it will be much easier to get him into the carrier in a hurry, if needed.)
2. Put some of your clothes in the carrier with your scent. A towel or shirt would work. Put it in the carrier when the carrier is left out, and leave it in the carrier when you take them to the vet.
3. Spay Feliway or some other pheromone spay on the towel or piece of clothing a few moments before putting your cat into the carrier. This will help your cat stay calm.
4. Once in the car, cover your cat carrier with a blanket or jacket. That way your cat won’t get spooked by the scenery that is quickly moving by.
5. Play soothing music on the car trip to keep kitty calm.
6. Once at the vet, put the carrier and cat on a chair, not on the floor. This is less threatening for the cat.
7. Sit next to your cat(s) in the waiting room, and talk to them. Put your fingers through the front of the carrier, so they can reach out to them.
8. Once in the exam room, have a piece of familiar clothing the cats can sit on, rather than the cold metal table.
9. Offer assistance to the vet technician in taking your cat out of the carrier.
10. Pet your cat during the visit, and offer calm, soothing words to your kitty. He’ll know everything is going to be ok, because his human is telling him so.

Scaredy cat Clyde keeps calm going to vet thanks to pet remedy, a pheromone spray that helps keep him calm.

These cats are at ease at the vet’s office.

Nap time, these cats are totally at ease during their visit to the vet, proving it does not have to be stressful for the cat or their human.

Putting your coat or other piece of clothing on the examination table can help reduce stress when at the vet’s office.

Leave your Paw Prints here:

Do you have some tips you use to make taking your cat to the vet a piece of cake? Please share so we can let our readers know taking your cat to the vet can be easy.

Jackson Galaxy’s products define cat mojo

Jackson Galaxy’s Collection by Petmate is offering the building blocks that define cat mojo engaging ‘raw cat instinct to build confidence.

Kitty Little Yellow plays with Marinator Photo Fish Toy, one of the many toys in Jackson Galaxy’s Collection at Petmate.

Lenny is pretty excited about all the goodies Paws for Reflection received to review from Petmate.

What’s in here? Lenny asks as he checks out all the swag from Petmate.

Paws for Reflection was happy to run into Ella Alkess, Account Coordinator at Southard Freeman Communications, representing Petmate at the 2017 BlogPaws Conference in Myrtle Beach, SC, and when she reached out to us to try some of Jackson’s products we were thrilled to be able to have them shipped to us so we could blog about them.

Paws for Reflection received Jackson Galaxy’s Petmate’s giant litter pan, clamshell bed, and fish to try in exchange for a blog post reviewing the products. Our only compensation for this review was the free products.

The cats were quite curious. It seems they are thrilled by all boxes, but they were equally happy with the giant litter pan, comfy clamshell bed, and toy fish that were inside.

Once the toys were disconnected from their packaging, the cats couldn’t wait to bat them around the living room floor. They seemed quite pleased with a new toy, especially one filled with catnip.

Marinator Photo Fish Toy, one of the many toys that are part of Jackson Galaxy’s Collection at Petmate.

Kitty Little Yellow checks out the Marinator Photo Fish Toy, one of the toys in the Jackson Galaxy Collection at Petmate.

household was no exception.  This 2-pack of toys contains the optimal level of fresh, organic catnip to keep your cat’s level of interest and ensure kitty is always ready for play. Needless to say, our kitties had a blast batting around this toy that kinda looks like a real fish.

Jackson Galaxy’s products define cat mojo

As for the Petmate Giant Litter Pan, it holds a whopping 30 plus pounds of cat litter, accommodates larges cats, multiple cat households and small cogs, and has a deep wall design that reduces litter from scattering outside the box.

I’m not sure the cats really knew what to think of the giant litter pan. It will take some strategic thinking to figure out where to put it because when they say giant, they mean giant. It is 34.63 inches in length – that’s almost 3 feet – 10 inches high, and 19.75 inches wide.  It has a one-year limited warranty. We settled on the mud room next to our living room.

Litter Pan good for large cats

What makes this idea is that the Giant Litter Pan features patented Microban antimicrobial protection that helps prevent the growth of odor and stain causing bacteria on your litter box. With high sides will help prevent litter scatter and keep it contained, making for easier clean-up. With a 30+ lbs. large capacity, this pan is ideal for larger cats, multiple cats or even small dogs. Additionally, we’ve included unique side areas for storage of disposal bags, scoops, accessories and more.

Little Yellow checks out the fish toy filled with catnip.

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Meet the cats: Tuxedo Boy Clyde

Meet the cats: Tuxedo Boy Clyde, a delightful tuxedo boy, who is now in his twilight years, is Mom’s cat, and if she were still with us, she’d be 90-years-old today.

Clyde, now in his twilight years, can still scale to the top of the glass cabinet.

As written in Meet the Cats: Pink Collar, Paws was going to give her to my Mom, who had lost her Calico cat Sam over a year ago. She was on the fence about replacing her, so I decided I had to take this into my own hands. While she did go out occasionally with friends and family, it didn’t replace the constant companionship of a cat. My Dad had passed on five years before, and she still missed him. (We never really get over those we lose).

Mom’s Cat – The Tuxedo Boy – now a geriatric cat.

When I came home for Christmas of 2001, we went to the local shelter. They didn’t have a ton of cats. I found this little tortoiseshell kitten that I absolutely loved; however, she wanted no part of that kitten. She said that kitten likes, you, not me, and I think she was right.

This post is part of the Sunday Selfie Blog Hop, sponsored by The Cat on My Head.

Mom wanted the Tuxedo cat

She was taken by this black and white tuxedo boy with bright yellow eyes.  He seemed shy and was a bit of a scaredy cat. He’d been at the shelter for quite awhile. That was her pick, and we filled out the adoption papers. Surprisingly, maybe because of Christmas, the cat was packed up in a box crate and sent home with us. As I look back, we hadn’t planned to bring home a cat that day, so we hadn’t put out any food or even the cat box. We’d do that immediately upon getting home.

Clyde has always been a handsome tuxedo cat.

Clyde is now a senior cat. This photo shows him with a VCR. Imagine when?

Kitties name was now Clyde

He was named Claudio, and my Mom couldn’t really get that name. I can’t say that I could either. On the way home, over the cries of the timid kitty in the crate, we mulled over what his new name would be. It would be Clyde, much easier to say that Claudio, and we could nickname him Clydee. There;s just something about kitty names that end in ‘ee’.

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Geriatric Cat can still jump and play

Geriatric Cat Clyde can still scale 3 to 4 feet to the top of the glass cabinet in the living-room.

Geriatric Cat still looks great for his 19 years.

Geriatric Cat Clyde ponders do I stay up here, or get down?

It’s a long ways down. Do I dare jump?

Just like yesteryear, Clyde finds his old hide-out.

Hope those younger cats aren’t around. I don’t want to be on the ceiling anymore.

Clyde can still jump and play despite being 19-years-of-age. He what they call a geriatric cat as he is over 15.

The International Cat Care organization points out in recent years, feline ages and life-stages have been redefined. Cats are considered to be elderly once they reach 11 years with senior cats defined as those aged between 11-14 years and geriatric cats 15 years and upwards.

Clyde, always a scaredy cat

Keep in mind, Clyde is, and always has been, a scaredey cat, and in the past year, it’s gotten worse as the two youngest cats chase him when they see him. As Clyde’s human could not stand him hiding in the closet, Paws set up a nice setting, complete with a whole second floor to himself. The benefit, he gets to snuggle with his human ever night, and Lenny and Little Yellow have the downstairs where they cannot terrorize him. The other two cats, Pink Collar and Siamese Linus aren’t a threat, so they can go either upstairs or down.

This Sunday Selfies Blog Hop is being hosted by The Cat on My Head

While Clyde spends most of his time sleeping and is starting to look like a geriatric cat, the Paws gang hears him running and playing in the middle of the night. But it’s less and less frequently.

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Crime Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery

Crime Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery, written by Dusty Rainbolt, is almost an encyclopedia full of everything you ever wanted to know about a cat’s litter box issues.

Litter box issues are the number one reason people surrender their pets, and Dusty does a tremendous job outlining various health and behavior issues that could be the culprit.

Book Review

Crime Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery

Even though our cats have moved into our hearts and families, they are not little people. They are cats. Years ago, they learned to use the giant sand box of the Sahara Desert to do their ‘business’. They still like a litter box texture that’s just like that fine sand. That’s why community cats just love kids’ sand boxes as litter boxes.

Every multi-cat owner should have one box for every cat, plus one. Additionally, the litter boxes should not be stowed away in the basement or garage. They should be strategically placed throughout the house where kitty can easily access them. An older arthritic cat may not be able to make it to the basement without a lot of pain.

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