This post is sponsored by FELIWAY®
WAFFLES: Wow! Look how cute I was at the vet when I was a kitten. I'm pretty sure she had a big crush on me.
KATIE: Yeah, that was before you figured out that it's not always a party at the vet.
WAFFLES: Whaddya mean, Boss? They still tell me how handsome I am and what a good boy I am.
KATIE: Uh huh. And that's right before they pull out a needle, or share the news that you need a "dental."
Take Your Cat to the Vet Month
Take Did you know that August is National Take Your Cat to the Vet Month? Though it's not something Katie or Waffles has high on their calendar radar, it IS a big deal to Glogirly. It's an important reminder to make sure everyone is current on their annual wellness visits. For six-year-old Waffles, that means a yearly date with our vet. At 13, Katie is considered a (shhhh!) senior cat, so she sees our vet two times a year.
But some cats don't see a vet at all. And given how masterfully they can disguise illness and pain, many cat parents may not realize something is wrong. That's just one of the reasons we're big proponents of regular wellness exams.
When Visiting the Vet Means Anxiety
Act natural the morning of the vet visit while you calmly lure your cat into his or her carrier. A quiet and peaceful ride in the car, followed by a zen-like calm in the veterinary clinic waiting area. Yeah, right.
It doesn't matter how hard you try to hide the fact that you're going to the vet.
They know. They know. They know.
4 Easy Tips for Creating Calm
Even the most easygoing of cats can experience stress and anxiety. Waffles is a purr-fect example. Come over to our house and he'll be showering you with love and head butts in no time. Try and get him to the vet and his sweet and fun-loving demeanor goes out the window. We've got 4 easy tips that make a big difference for us in lowering the stress level on those vet visit days.
Half the battle of getting your kitty calmly to the vet is getting them comfortable with their carriers. We leave ours out and open in the house 24/7 and as shocking as this may sound, both Katie and Waffles have gotten so used to them now, they LOVE hanging out in them. They nap in them and sometimes will even sleep through the night in them.
How to create a friendly bond between your cat and his carrier:
- Leave the carrier out and open in a quiet room of your house. We keep ours in a large walk-in closet.
- Make the inside of carrier cozy with a comfy pad or blanket.
- Use FELIWAY® CLASSIC Spray in and around the carrier. The spray leaves an odorless message called a Feline Facial Pheromone. These happy messages provide comfort and security. Just what you want to help them feel comfortable and safe in their carriers. Be sure to let the spray dissipate for about 15 minutes before letting your cat in the area.
FELIWAY® CLASSIC Spray is also our secret weapon for car rides. About 15-20 minutes before we're leave the house, Glogirly will spray the inside of the car and then leave it with the doors open for the spray to dissipate.
We're not going to say our car rides are 100% peaceful, but it sure does help.
Another tip that has worked wonders for us is to take a few car rides here and there where we don't really go anywhere. Just a drive down the canyon road and back helps Katie and Waffles to realize that not ALL car rides end up at the vet.
Sometimes the anticipation is the worst part. Katie and Waffles are usually silent in the waiting area. But that doesn't mean they're not feeling anxiety. They're just quiet about it.
Here are a few tips to help with the wait:
- Keep your cats inside their carriers in the waiting area. It's where they will feel the safest, especially with other animals and people coming and going.
- If you have an option to visit a feline-only veterinary clinic, go for it! Our vet is feline-only and the difference in the overall energy and vibe in the clinic and waiting area is night and day compared to what we were used to. There actually is a zen-like calm. No hustle bustle of dogs on leashes, no barking. Cats are so much quieter and pretty much keep to themselves inside their carriers.
- If you don't have the option of visiting a feline-only practice, suggest to your vet that they create a cat-only portion of the waiting area, separate from where the dogs wait. Our previous vet had cat-only exam rooms and dog-only exam rooms. Though still not quite as good as a feline-only clinic, it made a big difference.
Ok, now that you're done ooohing and aaahing over our vet's gorgeous exam room, you can stop to take a peek at what's plugged into the outlet. LOL!
Every veterinary practice we've visited have all used FELIWAY® products to help create a safe and calm environment for their feline patients. In fact, that's where we first learned about them.
There are FELIWAY® CLASSIC Diffusers plugged in inside each exam room at our current clinic, as well as one in the waiting area. With so many foreign smells, unfamiliar people, and activity, it helps to provide a sense of comfort and security.
You've probably seen your cat rub their face against corners, furniture and even you. As they mark their territory, they leave an odorless message called a
Feline Facial Pheromone. These happy messages provide comfort and security. The FELIWAY
® CLASSIC Spray
and the FELIWAY
® CLASSIC Diffuser mimic these pheromones. It's almost as if your cat has already been in the room, marking things up with their own scent.
Now for the FUN - It's a Giveaway!
In celebration of Take Your Cat to the Vet Month, our friends at
FELIWAY® have a super fun giveaway for us to offer. Three lucky winners will receive a FELIWAY
® CLASSIC Spray and their adorable Nuzzle Buddy toy.
The Nuzzle Buddy is tested and approved by Waffles. He love hiding his toys under things and then stalking them and pouncing on them. The Nuzzle Buddy is perfect for this. The plush kitty head is attached to a small blanket that you can drape over things or hide toys under.
Though prizes can only ship to US addresses, we're opening the giveaway up to our readers worldwide so that if anyone outside the US wins, they can gift their prize to a friend or shelter here in the US.
Good luck, everyone...and thanks for entering!
FTC Disclosure: This post and giveaway is sponsored by FELIWAY® which means that we were paid to create and feature this content. Regardless of the payment received, we only feature products and services we use and/or feel would be relevant to our readers.
