How to deactivate a cat (with science!).
15It turns out there’s science behind this:
https://vet.osu.edu/cvm/clipnosis-technique-can-calm-cats-vets-office-and-home?
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It turns out there’s science behind this:
https://vet.osu.edu/cvm/clipnosis-technique-can-calm-cats-vets-office-and-home?
Now that is cool. I will have to try that on my 17 year old cat when I give him his subQ fluids as that tends to be a 3 handed process. One to hold the needle in place, one to keep him from getting up and one to pet him to distract him. I have figured out how to hold him down and hold the needle in place with one hand and petting his head means I can grab the nape of his neck if I have to, but this would be easier.
@Kidsandliz I actually paid someone to come help me do that a few times. Even two people had difficulty getting one small cat to hold still.
@Kidsandliz I had to give mine fluids as well. Most days he was pretty calm and didn’t care but occasionally he would act up and I’d let him run off. Those days were rare enough that I’d let it go for the day. Better to have skipped the fluids than torment him. Damn, I miss him.
Do that to my cat and you betta sleep wit one eye open.
@cranky1950
/giphy cranky cat
That is magic and a little bit unnerving.
Yup. My cat does that. That’s how I give her pills and teach her “NO”. (Well… I just do it with my hand, not a clip) It’s how mama picked them up and taught them stuff.
Hm. I scruff my cat to give him a pill.
This video is interesting. I’ve never had my cats go completely still when scruffing. Maybe my fingers don’t pinch tight enough, I have fairly weak hands.
@RiotDemon Generally, none of the ones previous to the one I have now went that frozen. This one does tho, lol. I love it.
I realized it shortly after I got her. She was clawing something she wasn’t supposed to and I grabbed her by the scruff and BAM… she froze and stayed that way until I let go. 3 yrs later, she still does it.
Ok, I knew that grabbing a cat by the scruff of the neck releases endorphins and gets them to calm down, but those office binder clips pinch pretty hard, so I’m suprised that it doesn’t hurt the cat. Then again, the mama cat picks up the babies with her teeth, which are pretty sharp, so maybe there aren’t any nerve endings in that part of the skin?
@Doodpants pinch the skin on the tip of your elbow. Probably pretty similar.
@RiotDemon Thanks a lot. I put a binder clip on my elbow, which caused me to lie down calmly on the floor, and it was like an hour before someone came along and found me to remove it.
@Doodpants @RiotDemon that was awesome. I have tears…
@Doodpants good to know it works on humans!
It simply looks terrified to me. Still, science, I guess.
@Pufferfishy that is Def calm cat. Terrified cat is not going to calmly get up and hop off the table. Terrified cat is going to hide in a corner and if you keep coming it’s going to Fuck. You. Up.
@unksol Yeah, i could see where both those would be true.
I wish this would work on doggos - we have to sedate ours for nearly anything involving the Vet
@Pufferfishy doesn’t work on all cats. That cat was pretty relaxed to start and obviously a house cat. It just didn’t want to stay on the table. But it knows when it’s being picked up like mom did and just kind of goes limp.
Try this on a cat who is not up for it. Or in pain. They will twist right around on you and sink their teeth and any claw they can in. I’ve taken cats that were crushed in car engine belts out. They crawl in there cause it’s warm. You get them free to take to the vet and they will destroy your hand right through the glove. Terrified kitty equals you dripping blood lol. And maybe rabies shots.
@Pufferfishy @unksol The article in the link goes into the details on the amount of pressure from the clip and clarifies there is no pain involved. And also points out that the technique becomes more effective over time as the cat gets used to it. I use this to calm down my rowdy little male alpha cat when he gets too pushy - my female calico practically goes into a coma when you pinch her ruff.
This also works with puppies (to an extent)…it’s always how we picked up kittens that were mildly feral (farm cats) when I was a kid
Mr. Whiskers will come over and wind around my feet when I’m at my desk. He’ll crouch down when I lean over to pick him up but will stay there. I’ve been using his scruff to pick him up when he does that…I didn’t know that’s what he’s been wanting! He’ll already be purring when he gets to my arms.
@therealjrn I didn’t know anyone picked up cats differently. I guess you could around the belly or something. But idk why anyone would. Grabbing them by the scruff is the “normal” way unless they really don’t like it.
@therealjrn @unksol I always pick up my cats by one hand under the front legs and then the other hand to support their butt/back legs.
I honestly only pick them by the scruff when I need to put them inside the cat carrier.
@RiotDemon @unksol Mr Whiskers “dips” more than crouches…it’s not like he’s trying to get away. But he’ll be very content when I pick him up. He’s a loverboy. He loveslovesloves being held.
This line from the article sounds like BS.
“There are 2 million to 3 million cats a year that get killed in this country because owners can’t do things like trim their claws. And if the owner learned how to do this, and was trained properly in how you teach a cat to permit you to clip its claws, then these kinds of procedures could save millions of cats’ lives per year.”
There might be 2-3 million cats that get put down a year but it’s certainly not because of nail trimming. No one requires putting a house cat down because you got a minor scratch. Shitty owners who don’t like the way their cats behave(shredding the curtains) and don’t want to take care of them or address the issue put them down. Are we really murdering cats because they squirmed when you try to clip their nails?
Animals in shelters and ferals might get put down because of space or behavior. Cats are after all an invasive species and sometimes they can be so aggressive it’s just not safe. But usually TNR is preferred. We’re killing cats because shitty owners won’t get them fixed or let them outside