Getting a blood sample

At my last visit to the vet with my cat, the vet decided to take a blood
sample to send to the clinic. He got his assistant to hold her head back,
went for her throat with a noisy electric clippers, and then went in with
the syringe to extract the blood.

He told me this is the only good way to get a blood sample, yet I know I
have seen vets take blood from one of the limbs. It strikes me as a
particularly stressful method for the cat. As we know, cats kill their prey
by biting down on the windpipe, so they are naturally careful about who gets
near their throat. Indeed, my cat was extremely distressed by the procedure.

Any views about this?

"whoisit" wrote in message
...
At my last visit to the vet with my cat, the vet decided to take a blood
sample to send to the clinic. He got his assistant to hold her head back,
went for her throat with a noisy electric clippers, and then went in with
the syringe to extract the blood.

He told me this is the only good way to get a blood sample, yet I know I
have seen vets take blood from one of the limbs. It strikes me as a
particularly stressful method for the cat. As we know, cats kill their
prey by biting down on the windpipe, so they are naturally careful about
who gets near their throat. Indeed, my cat was extremely distressed by the
procedure.

Any views about this?


My vet also took blood samples from the neck. The first time it was done,
he and the vet tech took the cats (individually) into the lab while I stayed
in the examining room. I thought it took much too long, I could hear the
cats drying, and they were completely stressed-out. The next time, I asked
to accompany them so Holly (only one cat that time) would know I was with
her. I did not interfere with the procedure, of course, but *everything*
was complete in the space of only a couple of minutes. Holly remained calm.
From now on, I will *always* insist that all procedures be done with me in
the room. Incidentally, the vet did not object and did not use "noisy
clippers." He was very gentle, as he always is, so I think it really did
help keep Holly calm just to know that I was nearby.

MaryL