As a vet, Ben is witness to lots of interactions between pets and their owners in what can be a very stressful situation.
He's calling out one particular behaviour that he's seen one too many times, warning it doesn't end well.
The animal expert, who shares advice for pet owners on his Tiktok channel, has urged owners to stop shouting at angry cats during vet visits.
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“Tigger, Tigger, stop! Stop it!” Ben said in a TikTokimitating an owner shouting at their cat.
“[Shouting] is literally the last thing you should do if your cat goes on attack mode at the vets but so many people do it. There is literally not one cat on this earth that would respond to that by calming down,” he added.
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Ben understands that most people react like this to their cat's behaviour because they're embarrassed that their usually well-behaved kitty is playing up outside the home.
However, he encouraged owners to remember just how scary a vet visit is for cats given all the different smells and sounds, including of other animals such as dogs, as well as “unfamiliar people”.
“So it feels very threatening,” Ben explained.
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Instead of shouting, the vet recommends owners remain “as quiet as possible” which is what the vets will do too.
“When we're handing these cats, we'll often handle them with a big blanket or towel, try and keep them in their carrier perhaps and just prioritise the parts of the examination that we really need to do whilst keeping ourselves safe because cat bites are nasty,” he explained.
For cats that become particularly stressed at the vets, Ben said they can be prescribed sedatives to take before their visit and ask them to come back later.
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There was lots of agreement for this in the comment section of Ben's TikTok, including one person who said this should apply to dog owners too.
“Well said Ben, shouting at a scared, possibly aggressive cat is a big no no, your NOT going to win this battle in that way. NO WAY NO HOW,” one said.
Some cat owners shared how they help get their reactive cats through a vet visit.
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“We have a high stress girl who has allergic reactions to most vaccinations and she's basically always gonna hiss. My sister or I can handle her fine, so if it's something a vet can do while we hold her that's what we do (she always has some sedation on board at vets nowadays). Otherwise, she's a full sedation girly,” they said.
“My cat becomes a wild animal at the vets he has a note on his file the only vet he hasn't gone for is the female vet he doesn't seem to like men he doesn't know,” a woman said.
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