Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
I've been ruminating on it all day - I wasn't really keen on the stand-in vet we saw this morning.
She seemed very young, maybe newly qualified (which isn't a problem in of itself, I've met and liked plenty of young vets), and just didn't come across as a cat person really.
She wouldn't pick Jakey up to put him on the scales, she asked me to do it.
Then when I asked at the end of the consultation if she would clip his claws for me (I find it tricky because I have arthritis in my hands, and his claws overgrow and get thick due to age) she said she couldn't because there wasn't a vet nurse in to help handle him and she couldn't ask me to help in case he scratched or bit me.
I have never come across this before, I usually hold Jakey while the vet does his claws at the end of a consultation (he goes in every 3 months for a checkup due to his health conditions and medication), I hold him for his vaccinations, I hold him when he is having his ears and eyes and mouth examined and every time he's had the thermometer up the bum. I always have with all my cats (Sonic was sometimes a 3 person job tbf, but even he never bit or scratched, he just sounded fucking terrifying what with the screaming, and he was a very strong wriggler).
It's not even like it's difficult to give him a bit of a manicure, it's just that I can't manage the clippers and all that usually happens is I let Jakey stick his head under my arm while the vet does his paws on one side, and then I turn him round and he sticks his head under my other arm while the vet does the other side - he doesn't need to be "handled" by a team of professionals to get a mani/pedi. She seemed ridiculously wary about handling him, she clearly didn't get the "sweetest cat that ever was" memo! There was very little interaction between them too, she felt his bladder to make sure he wasn't blocked then thrust him back at me without talking to him, most vets talk to their patients a bit.
She hadn't had time to read his notes either, which is somewhat more concerning.
I'm going to try to see Angel next time if he's around, there's also a good female vet I've seen a couple of times and like/trust. Avoiding Saturdays if possible seems like a good idea, unfortunately stuff always seems to go wrong Friday bloody night
She seemed very young, maybe newly qualified (which isn't a problem in of itself, I've met and liked plenty of young vets), and just didn't come across as a cat person really.
She wouldn't pick Jakey up to put him on the scales, she asked me to do it.
Then when I asked at the end of the consultation if she would clip his claws for me (I find it tricky because I have arthritis in my hands, and his claws overgrow and get thick due to age) she said she couldn't because there wasn't a vet nurse in to help handle him and she couldn't ask me to help in case he scratched or bit me.
I have never come across this before, I usually hold Jakey while the vet does his claws at the end of a consultation (he goes in every 3 months for a checkup due to his health conditions and medication), I hold him for his vaccinations, I hold him when he is having his ears and eyes and mouth examined and every time he's had the thermometer up the bum. I always have with all my cats (Sonic was sometimes a 3 person job tbf, but even he never bit or scratched, he just sounded fucking terrifying what with the screaming, and he was a very strong wriggler).
It's not even like it's difficult to give him a bit of a manicure, it's just that I can't manage the clippers and all that usually happens is I let Jakey stick his head under my arm while the vet does his paws on one side, and then I turn him round and he sticks his head under my other arm while the vet does the other side - he doesn't need to be "handled" by a team of professionals to get a mani/pedi. She seemed ridiculously wary about handling him, she clearly didn't get the "sweetest cat that ever was" memo! There was very little interaction between them too, she felt his bladder to make sure he wasn't blocked then thrust him back at me without talking to him, most vets talk to their patients a bit.
She hadn't had time to read his notes either, which is somewhat more concerning.
I'm going to try to see Angel next time if he's around, there's also a good female vet I've seen a couple of times and like/trust. Avoiding Saturdays if possible seems like a good idea, unfortunately stuff always seems to go wrong Friday bloody night
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