Is My Cat Being Difficult?

One of the most common questions I was asked at The Cat Hospital of Denver during a patient exam was, "Is my cat being difficult Dr. Ikeler?" Most often times they weren't, as a cat will hiss and cower in a strange environment. Sometimes though, they were really difficult.

We were known at CHD, and had a reputation for, being able to handle the most difficult cases. My hope for that reputation was that people meant the most difficult "Medical" cases. We had that reputation too, but difficult extended to mean "hard to handle" cats as well.

Our advantage was we were actually very skilled at handling difficult and "fractious" cats. The staff also had standing orders to never tell a client that their cat had been mean, aggressive, scary, fractious, or difficult. We told every client we were able to take care of their cat without a problem, and quite frankly, that was very true.

We used the best restraint technologies to our advantage. The best restraining device was a fish net with a long handle. With this we could "catch" any cat in it's cage, in it's carrier, coming out of it's cage or carrier, or on the run inside the hospital. It may sound a little odd, but it was the best form, and least harmful method, of cat restraint.

With the cat in the fish net, and rolled up tightly, we could give it an intramuscular injection of ketamine to sedate it without ever having to risk harm to ourselves or the kitty. With the cat sedated then, all procedures were possible.

The things we didn't use for getting a hold of a difficult cat were: leather gloves, as I had been bitten through them many times before at other veterinary hospitals while I was a student, aquariums, because you had to get a cat in them first to gas them with anesthesia, and squeeze cages, also because they were harmful to the cats and the people using them.

So when a client asked me if their cat was being difficult, I would tell them about what really difficult cats acted like: They could defy gravity and run around the walls of the exam room or treatment room. They would clear off entire shelves as they ran through them to escape. And they could literally climb walls and end up near the ceiling before gravity assisted us in their recovery.

The worst case scenarios were when a cat got caught in behind the computer system. With a central computer that connected all five of my Cat Hospitals, a mass of wires and equipment sat beneath one of my desks in my office. When a fractious cat got in behind there, it was near impossible to get them out. The wires, modems, and main frame computer created an impenetrable maze through which we could not get a net or towel or any thing back there to catch them.

In their fear, the cats often defecated and urinated all over the computer equipment and wiring and left the area a mess, which took hours after to clean. So everyone knew, at all cost, don't let a cat get in behind the computer system. I was so good at catching fractious, angry, and difficult cats, that my staff members even called me "The Fastest Net In The West."

Dr. Doug Ikeler http://www.drdougikeler.com/ http://www.lifeextensionbooksbydrdougikeler.blogspot.com/