Cats are among the most stressed animals during veterinary visits, with fear and pain causing welfare harm during examination, treatment, and hospitalisation, and delaying owner-seeking of necessary care.
Veterinary visit stress in cats creates a vicious cycle: fear of veterinary visits reduces owners seeking care, delayed care leads to more advanced disease at presentation, advanced disease requires more intensive intervention, and more intensive intervention is more stressful. Breaking this cycle requires systematic investment in cat-friendly practice from waiting room design through to handling technique and post-visit recovery. The evidence base for interventions including pre-visit gabapentin, cat-only waiting areas, and gentle handling techniques is now substantial enough to make these standard practice in high-welfare veterinary settings.