IT WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED!!!!!!!!
Mazy cat had her check up today. I've been so stressed about this appointment, after what happened the last time, that I haven't slept all week. Awful insomnia.
So...I gave her the usual amount of pre-breakfast meal, .45 oz, as usual split in two. The second serving, which I gave her one hour before the appointment, contained 4 drops of Rescue Remedy for pets.
Next I thoroughly wiped the inside of the carrier with a Feliway wipe. I hung a fresh towel over the heater to warm. I went out, started the car to let it warm (it's frigid here) and squirted a spray of Feliway in the back seat.
Mazy growled a protest when I put her in the carrier, but did not fight or resist like she usually does. That was my first indication that the RR might be helping her. She mewed most of the way there, but I think she does that to comfort herself.
Once at the vet, she allowed me to poke my finger in through the holes in the carrier door and she rubbed her face against my finger. Usually I risk losing the finger if I poke it into the carrier. She rubbed her face against my finger! That was the second improvement.
In the consultation room, after the vet finished sanitizing the stainless steel table/scale, I wiped it down with a Feliway wipe. I also requested that both she (vet) and tech spray their hands and the front of their lab coats with Feliway, and they were happy to do it.
I lifted Mazy out of the carrier (the top comes off) and set her on the table to be weighed. She was crouched but not trembling or shivering, usually she is shivering/trembling so hard it's visible. Improvement #3.
After the weight was recorded I lifted Mazy cat up and put her towel under her. Then I stepped back, staying in Mazy's sight, and let the vet and tech do the handling. Mazy growled a bit but there was no screaming, no biting, no spitting, no lashing of claws. She let the vet do everything, with the tech doing the handling, accepted it all with just warning growls now and then. They took her to the back to draw blood. I listened closely but heard no screaming. They brought her back and she was still calm. Not purring or happy, but calm. Vet said she allowed the blood draw without trouble, just a bit of a growl, no screaming or biting.
It was INCREDIBLE!
I am so relieved that these efforts with the Rescue Remedy for pets and the Feliway wipes and Feliway spray has made this difference for her. So relieved, I can't even express it, except in weepy tears, hahaha!
And the best part? She is not drugged.