My experience is quite the opposite, cats do not hate the person who takes them to the vet, especially when they have pain before. Just recently I took my friend's cat to the vet for teeth treatment. It was difficult to catch her and put her in the transporter and the result was all teeth extracted except for the 4 canine teeth. After 2 days back to the vet for an antibiotic shot. This time no trouble with catching and the cat is permantly with me when I am at my friend's flat. She realizes her pain is gone and is thanking me for my help. This is just one example. As I am caring for 15 cats, my fiend's and mine, I can say my friend's cats always become closer to me after every vet visit. They may not like going but they are not stupid and they realize afterwards that they feel better afterwards. My advice is always take your own animals to the vet.

Woohoo! Insomnia makes me top of the list.

99.9% of the time, you are right. However, some pets have issues. Take my Boston Terrier. He's a drama queen. But the thing is, he's not faking. If you do something aversive to him, he will spend weeks afterwards (or more) running away from you and rolling over submissively if you do manage to corner him. Holding him while he trembles and prepares to bolt at the first opportunity because you forced him to soak his foot in a Nolvasan soak is frustrating to say the least. He's a neurotic, to say the least.

We changed VETS because my old vet did something that was not only aversive but upset ME - during a routine exam, he grabbed my dog and started to express his anal glands. We had not discussed expressing him, he had not shown any need to have them express (none of the usual symptoms) and my dog SCREAMED in pain and fought so hard to get out of the tech's arms that his nails gouged her arm and he landed on the floor. She was bleeding, and he ended up glued under a bench. Had the vet asked me, I would have asked to see why he thought they needed expression (he clearly was squeezing VERY hard, I could see it) and I might have even tried helping to comfort and restrain the dog. After that, if I brought my dog in, he instantly slunk to the floor and struggled towards the door. So I switched vets hoping there would be less association with the trauma at the new (and closer, and well-respected) vet's office.

When aversive things need to be done, my husband and I share the duties, so my dog does not associate it with one of us or the other. The pills get swallowed, the flea medicine administered, the baths given, the exams and shots happen whenever needed, the nails get trimmed, but Mr. Drama's temperament is taken into account, and if there's a less upsetting alternative, we take it. Flea topicals burn his skin, so he takes Program. You get the picture. He's a little individual, we love him, and we try to work around his quirks.

It's funny that this is your blog today b/c I was just talking about this. I think that over 90% of the time the reason why our pets get nervous at the vet's is b/c WE get nervous taking them. I see people every day bringing their dogs in that are clearly nervous and then once they get into the exam room SURPRISE their pet is nervous too and sometimes even aggressive. I just want to tell people to CALM DOWN! It's okay! Your pet will be fine! They are just routine exams. I've never had a pet that didn't walk in the door to the vet's wagging their tail, and some of my pets have had some pretty serious stuff happen to them at the vet's. My theory is that I have never been nervous about bringing them, even before I started in this field. Of course there is the occassional dog or cat that is nervous even though their owner doesn't appear to be, although I have a theory on why that it too. lol

If a dog should hate you for cleaning ears and brushing teeth and trimming nails then my dogs should not like me a bit. I am the pill giver, bather and groomer and feeder of my all my dogs. They love the rest of the family, but they understand that I am the pack leader because I take care of them the most which includes distasteful things. Do they indicate that they would rather not have these things done to them (well except the feeding)? Yes, they look at me with pleading eyes when they see the ear cleaner bottle saying can we skip this please? But they submit and then we are all happy again.

The most bonding experience I have had with a dog is when my standard poodle injured her back jumping off a high creek bank. She became paralyzed in the back legs due to a bleed into the spinal cord area. We were at the emergency vets for several painful examinations, then to my regular vet for some more painful examinations, then on to University of Florida vet school after a drive of 5 hours, a night in a strange motel and them more painful examinations in a place that she had never been to before and was busy as a beehive. This was all accomplished while she was having to be carried and placed everywhere since she couldn't use her back legs. She was a great patient and the vets all were pleased with her cooperative attitude even though she was stressed and in pain. It took a month of round the clock attention, carrying her out to poop in a sling (she peed without knowing it, so that was a clean up job each time) She knew that I was going to take care of her and I managed to be calm about everything while around her, although I cried buckets of tears while she was sleeping because I was so afraid it was permanent damage to a 2 year old dog that I had fallen in love with. Consequently she doesn't hate me...I am totally her person and she thinks I am a pack leader that she can depend on if something freaks her out. It has made her a phenomenal therapy dog for children as she knows that I will protect her from anything weird that might come up. I think that DNSL83 is totally on the money. The dog picks up on their pack leaders fears and multiplies it. You've got to set the tone. Although I know that there are some dogs that are way more nervous by nature...or rescues that have had some bad experiences that will never go away in their minds or a bad vet experience that has killed it for the dog in that setting. I'm just saying that for most dogs, they will pick up the stuff going on at "the other end of the leash" so calmness and squelching your own fears helps a lot. I thank God that my dog came through OK, but I value the bonding that came from the experience.

My female Boston Terrier, Tess, LOVES the vet. It can be ANY vet. But then again she loves people, and probably would love an axe murderer. She submits to whatever is in store, but is happy the second it is over. She doesn't react to needles or examinations. I guess I am one lucky duck. And I am not nervous with her in the vet because I know she is a sound, stable dog with good health.

My male Boston, Harpo, doesn't like the vet, but I don't think he hates me for taking him there. He just knows that each time he's been there since he was a baby, unpleasant things have happened to him. (He's got irritable bowel syndrome and his first major emergency involved an endoscopy.) He's also a nervous dog, but blame me? Hardly. He senses my nervousness at the vet with him and he tends to react to it. I get nervous because I wonder if they'll find anything else wrong with him and we'll end up building a new wing of the veterinary hospital with the money we spend there. All in all, he's nervous but much better when I am not in the room with him getting shots or having blood drawn. He recovers quickly and is delighted when we exit the building.

When we get home, he's back to same old Harpo. Harpo the nervous wreck. So, I don't think he thinks I'm to blame for his experience, but more than that, he's glad I took him back to home sweet home.

Well childern, do not like shots, WE do not like shots, Why would our pets like them?..But it is done to keep us all well, Just get over it. Your Pet Doctor knows what is best, Our Kids forgive us. so well our Pet Kids. (PS) THEY HAVE TOO, WE ARE ALL THEY HAVE......LOL

My dogs LOVE going to the vets! They love seeing all the people and pets there. The only time I got upset was when I left my dog, Emma, at the vet's for surgery on her luxating patella and Emma was upset too. I don't know if she was reacting to my attitude or that I was leaving her for the first time.

My cats, on the other hand, hate the vet. The carrier, the ride and then the indignities they are subjected to. But they are well behaved and don't act mad at me. When Patrick was in intensive care for three days I visited him several times a day and he would cry so mournfully when I left it broke my heart! He wasn't mad about the vet's, he was just happy to come home, but he was mad about the 10 days of medication I had to give him! As he felt better, he got rather violent in his attempts to block the medicine dropper. I was just glad that he was well enough to scratch me! I am very grateful they saved his life, whether he realizes it or not!

My vet, who happens to be a neighbor offered to take care of my diabetic cat shortly after a low glucose incident which led to a emergency ver visit, (because she happened to be out of town) rather than use my regular sitter. He loved it and met her at the door during the twice a day visits, and suckered her into combing him by jumping on the bed.

Now if he did not hold that against her after all she has had to do to him, then he will certainly forgive me. If I forget to give him shot promptly, he will show up to let me know I am late. After almost 10 years of sticking him twice a day I do not think he holds it against us.

Now that does not mean that I do not have to track him down to get him into the carrier, but I think it is the ride he hates more than the visit to the vet.

Actually I thought I could be there for anything as I am very calm and this calms my pets. And I was fine when the vet tech showed me how to give my cat fluids to be repeated at home. My cat was fine as was my husband who was also holding the cat and we had the bag hanging from a cabinet handle in the kitchen; cat on the counter. Then sound began to disappear and things went dim and I fainted. So my husband is holding the cat on the counter with needle in him and I am on the floor. And apparently he is not sure who to help.

Needless to say we don't do that at home anymore.

My dogs never seem to mind the vet, as they get a lot of attention (and with hip dysplasias, laryngeal paralysis, multiple lipomas, etc., etc., we are there a lot). I do let the techs handle one of the dogs for procedures; the other dog is better if I do it. The cats also seem to tolerate visits well also, but as jim2735 stated above, I think they object to the car ride more than the visit. Again, most have health issues, since most are the "unadoptables" from the shelter where I volunteer; if I can't get them well enough for adoption when I foster them, then they're here to stay. My bathroom isolation ward is equipped with vaporizer, treatment supplies (fluids, tubing, needles, a permanent hook on the wall to hang them from) not to mention thermometers, dressings, and whatever else may be needed at any given time. And I do all these myself; no second person available, and the cats don't seem to mind for the most part. When the get too rambunctious to give fluids by myself, I know they are on the mend, however temporary it may be. I also give all their meds, do nail trims, ear cleanings/meds by myself, and no one seems to hold a grudge.

I wait until I have a relief vet before I bring my kitties in to my clinic for treatment. The dogs don't seem to care but the cats take it personally.

My dogs never seemed to care much about vet visits until the one developed Cushing's, and had to be left there for testing on a regular basis. THAT, she hated, and after that when it was clear we were heading to the vet, she'd get upset.

But normal vet visits, the exam, the needles, even the fecal rod? They seem to regard it as no big deal, hey, another opportunity to GO somewhere in the CAR! Yeah!

People are stupid! Look how they coddle their kids. It's the same everywhere... doctors, schools, fights, and political correctness runs rampant.

I just ignore them all :)