If you're shopping for a carrier, you might consider getting one that has a door in the top, as well as the one in the end. It's MUCH easier to stuff kitty in and hold the body and head down while getting the tail inside.

The one disadvantage is that one day when I was taking Don Juan to the vet, he figured out how to work the sliding catches on the top door and got the door open... while we were on the freeway. I told him that he would have liked being in a car accident even less than paying a visit to Dr. J.

Now, I put a bungee cord around the carrier.

Just another suggestion: I found that Don Juan makes much less fuss during car trips if I put his carrier on the back seat with a seat belt around it, rather than just putting it on the floor of the car. I think he gets less engine noise and vibration there.

Liz