Does Your Presence Help Your Cat at the Vet?

New research says that you being there can reduce stress—and that most cat guardians prefer to be present, even for blood draws.

Photo: 135pixels/Shutterstock

By Zazie Todd, PhD

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Going to the vet is a stressful experience for any cat. Is it easier for cats if their guardian stays with them during the exam? Previous research suggests it might, so a new study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science looks at whether the guardian’s presence reduces signs of stress during a standard vet exam. The results show that it does, and that most cat guardians prefer to be there. 

Dr. Carla Moody (UC Davis), one of the authors of the study, told me in an email,

“The survey results provide insight into owner comfort being present versus absent during their cat's examination and procedures, as well as having their cat taken back to the treatment area. 

“We recommend that the cat-owner bond be given greater consideration during veterinary visits. We suggest that owners be given a choice to be present or absent during their cat's examination and procedures, and if possible, the cat should stay in the examination room for procedures instead of being moved to a treatment area. 

“Current guidelines recommend to avoid taking cats to a treatment area if possible, since this exposes them to a multitude of additional potentially stressful stimuli. If the owner doesn't want to be present during their cat's examination or procedures, they could leave the examination room.  If the cat needs to be taken back to a treatment area, then our results suggest increased owner comfort if a familiar veterinarian or staff member move the cat to the treatment area.

“We are currently working on follow-up research which used a questionnaire to survey US cat owners on these topics for greater generalizability of our results. So far, our preliminary data show similar findings [to this study].”

Treatment areas at the vet

It's very common for cats to be taken back to a treatment area for procedures such as blood draws. Lauren Hare (UC Davis), first author of the study, was surprised by the findings.

“Many times veterinary clinics focus on getting specific procedures done in treatment areas as they keep most of their equipment there. It also ensures the owner doesn't feel uncomfortable witnessing the procedures since some of these procedures may include needles. 

“Our survey found that owners reported themselves as more comfortable being with their cat during these procedures, which surprised even myself as I worked in a veterinary clinic and had assumed they wouldn't want to. I wanted to see cat owner's opinions on matters such as this when we started making this survey, which is why I'm happy to see those results in my study and the possibility that we may see similar findings on the broader US survey. 

“Research has found that pet owners believe it's important that veterinarians consider their emotional state, and pet owners want to be well informed and involved in their pet's health care. 

“Giving cat owners the choice to remain in the room, even if they choose to look away during the procedure, shows veterinary clinics are providing consideration towards their emotional state alongside the cat-owner bond.”

Cat owners want to be present

The study shows that overwhelmingly, people wanted to be there for vet exams and procedures and thought that their cat would also be more comfortable then. 91% of the participants said they felt comfortable to interact with their cat during a vet exam when the vet and assistant were present. Around half (49%) thought that it was very easy for a vet to handle their cat, with a slightly lower rating for vet staff (42%).

"We recommend that the cat-owner bond be given greater consideration during veterinary visits."

There was a preference for a familiar vet and vet tech [vet nurse], with around half (52%) of people saying that they were very comfortable with a familiar vet or staff member taking the cat to a treatment area, but only 36% if the vet was unfamiliar and only 30% if the staff member was unfamiliar.

For a procedure like blood or urine collection, most people (76%) still said that they would like to present while it was done.

Owner presence and cat stress at the vet

The scientists compared cats’ behaviour and physical signs during a mock vet exam with and without the guardian present. Cats were more likely to make noises such as hissing, growling, yowling, or meowing when the guardian was not there. These noises are signs of stress in the cat, suggesting that the guardian’s presence reduces stress levels. No other differences were found, except that male cats licked their lips more often than female cats. Lip licking is another sign of stress.

There were some interesting findings relating to how the cats were kept, including that cats with supervised outdoor access were less likely to make noises before the mock vet exam and quicker to choose to leave their cat carrier than cats who were indoors-only or who had unsupervised access to outdoors. This isn’t due to differences in the cat-guardian relationship, because all of the cats and guardians had a close relationship.

33 cats and their guardians took part in the study at the vet clinic at UC Davis. Each cat was taken into an exam room in their basket, given a little time to see if they would come out of it (if not, they were lifted out) and then given a mock vet exam. The exam included weighing the cat, assessing their body condition score, taking their temperature with an ear thermometer, listening to their heart with a stethoscope, examining the head, and checking for fleas. 

“Giving cat owners the choice to remain in the room, even if they choose to look away during the procedure, shows veterinary clinics are providing consideration towards their emotional state alongside the cat-owner bond.”

One part of a standard vet exam that wasn’t included was an abdominal palpation, in case this more stressful procedure might make it harder to detect any effects. The exams were done by a vet on the research team along with one of two research assistants

Each cat had the mock vet exam twice: once with their owner present and allowed to interact with them, and once without, with a gap of at least two weeks in between. The order of these two visits was randomized. The cats’ guardians also completed a questionnaire.

In this study, the examination took place on the exam table with the basket placed on the ground. Although most people had a carrier with a detachable or openable lid, some did not. This meant some cats who did not choose to come out had to be removed via the opening in the front of their carrier.

How to help your cat with vet visits

It’s better for cats if you get a carrier that has a removable top. This means that your cat can remain in the base of the carrier during most parts of a vet exam, which can help them to feel more comfortable. It also makes it easier for you to train your cat to go in their carrier because you can break this down into smaller steps (i.e. with and without the top). You can find a training plan in my book Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy.

Other things that can help your cat go to the vet include choosing a vet who uses low stress handling or Fear Free techniques and finding a Cat Friendly Clinic. You can also speak to your veterinarian about whether medication might help (a recent episode of The Pawsitive Post in conversation discusses this with Dr. Adrian Walton of Dewdney Animal Hospital).  

Future research and summary

It's not surprising that everyone who took part in this study had a close relationship with their cat, because people with a less close relationship would be less likely to volunteer for research. It’s possible that one way the guardian’s presence helps the cat is through a strong attachment that means the guardian is a safe haven for their cat during stressful events. The relationship between a cat and their person can vary a lot, so it would be really interesting to see more research on this.

It's a tricky topic to study. Dr. Moody said,

“I think a big takeaway is that we need further research to do a better job at isolating the impact of 'owner presence vs absence'. We likely had some ceiling effects occurring due to exposing cats to many potentially stress-inducing stimuli during veterinary visits, such as placement into a carrier, travel, exposure to the waiting room & exam room, handling, & exposure to unfamiliar people, animals, smells, and noises!”

Until this is done, we can look forward to the results of their wider survey of cat guardians in the US.

I think many people will be interested in the results which show that, when possible, it is better for cats to have their guardian present during a vet exam, and for procedures to occur in the exam room rather than out back.

Reference

Hare, L. V., Marsilio, S., Halperin, I., Stellato, A. C., & Moody, C. M. (2025). Owner presence versus absence during cat veterinary examinations: cat responses and owner attitudes. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 106792. 

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