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Put the carrier against the wall, drape a towel or blanket against your front, hold the cat facing backwards (front of cat against your middle), kneel in front of carrier, let blanket drop over the back of cat, push cat back end first into the carrier. Push against blanket to be sure all parts, especially paws, are in carrier before closing.
At vet, warn them first about possibility of fear aggression and let them handle cat.
In future take cat to vet at least once a year, better twice, so vet and staff are used to handling cat, and so cat is used to going and knows that he will be home again after all.
Rescue Remedy can be very helpful. Rub it into the cat's ears half an hour before you have to start getting him into the carrier.
A squirt of feliway in the carrier a half hour beforehand, as someone else mentioned, can also be beneficial.
I don't agree with drugging cats for vet trips. My most recent late cat was fear aggressive at the vet. I, and the techs, and the vet, have the bite scars to prove it. I would never have drugged her, though the vet once suggested it. She never brought it up again after I said an adamant no.
Our cat which departed for the Rainbow Bridge in June of 2020, exhibited hostility when going to the vet.
Initially, she didn’t exhibit hostility, but as she got older, she did. The vet prescribed Gabapentin to try and calm her, and we tried a half dose at first, then a full dose, but unfortunately, this medication did not work.
The vet ended up having to put her under anesthesia for exams, that was the only way.
One of my cats is like this. I have taken to leaving the carrier out pretty much all the time, and tossing treats in there from time to time. This has made getting her into the carrier much easier when the time does come. Oh, don't get me wrong, she still loses her mind as soon as I close it, but at least she's in and no one got hurt.
Once we're at the vet, they have to sedate her. And by sedate her, I mean basically put her under completely. That's the only way they can even touch her.
The vet has given me sedatives to give to her beforehand. But as you can imagine, getting a pill down her throat is impossible. I've tried hiding it and crushing it up in food, but she's too smart for that.
I do feel horrible every time, though. The shelter didn't know much about her other than she was brought in as a stray. She was young, so she was probably born a stray. I think she had a rough start in life, was probably not treated well by some humans, and was most likely trapped before being taken to the shelter. She's really not trying to be difficult; she is legitimately terrified. So, I always feel awful doing that to her.
And she is really a very, very sweet kitty normally.
Tell the vet ahead when you make the appointment. They could give your cat a tranquilizer and be prepared. A lot of cats don't like the vet, so they know what to do. I've seen muzzles, and they wrap them up in a towel. But the aggression you describe, a medicine given at home might be best.
I made a point to tell my vet when I made the appointment to have Essie's yearly checkup that they would need to pull out the cheetah gloves. I explained that she hisses and bites and scratches when she is around strangers and has anxiety.
She did have to be sedated for the exam and rabies shot, but just slightly. She was fine so long as she was in the house where she could rest afterward.
I used a small cat carrier to transport her in the car and it opens from the top, that worked perfectly.
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I had a cat that did not like the v-e-t.
I wore a plastic face shield, leather welding jacket and gloves. We'd sneak up on him with a pillow case. Whoosh! Then with just his head sticking out lower him into the carrier.
Oh would he howl and carry on, "You're killing me!" "Mommy and Daddy, I'm scared."
We'd get to the vet. He'd scream and cry to the point they would put us in a room right away to not traumatize the other pets.
Once in the room, he'd sit quietly. The vet would come in, open the gate. Kitty would then slowly step out and sit on the table like the whole thing was his idea in the first place.
Then after, he'd walk back into the carrier and sit with the gate open, "I'm ready to go home now."
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