Taking your cat to the vet can be easy. Here’s how! Paws is sharing 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.

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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.