Coping with vet visits when you have more than one cat

19th June 2019

If you have more than one cat, you can take them both to the vet at the same time for their regular checks and vaccinations. But when cats are separated for individual vet visits, tension can arise when they are reunited. So what should you do to ensure individual vet visits run smoothly?

When you bring your cat home from the vet, reintroduce them to the other cat gradually. The cat that stayed at home might be wary of any unusual smells your other cat has brought home with them. To speed up the acceptance process, wipe a cloth over both your cats’ faces to distribute any new smells between them.

Allow your cats to inspect one another in their own time and do not force them to spend time together. Give them access to hiding places that they can retreat to if things get too heated.

If you are worried about how your stay at home cat might react to your other cat coming home, you could consider taking them both to the vet, even if one of them doesn’t need to be seen by the vet.

Your cat might need to be confined to the indoors after a vet visit, depending on the treatment they have just received. You will probably want to continue to give your other cat access to the outdoors during this period. A SureFlap DualScan Microchip Cat Door or a SureFlap Microchip Cat Door Connect will enable you to keep your recovering cat indoors, whilst giving your other cat free outdoor access.

The DualScan cat door has a double antenna that reads a cat’s microchip as they come into and go out of the house, allowing you to restrict some cats to indoors-only. Once the poorly cat is better, it’s easy to change the permissions on the DualScan cat door so that they can have free outdoor access once more.

A trip to the vets can be stressful for any cat. To make them feel more relaxed when they return home, use a Feliway pheromone diffuser. This can also help to relax the cat that has stayed at home and reduce tension when your cats are reunited.