How Do You Get Your Cat To Go To The Cat Carrier?

04-30-2002, 02:33 AM

Sydney has never done difficult if we wanted him into that carrier . We let him play with it first , so he sees it as a normal thing !

BUT !!! Last week he had to go in every day to get his daily shot of antibiotics .... . I can tell you now : his attitude to that "cage" has changed !!!! He freakes out now as soon as he spots the darn thing !!! During his last visit at the vet , he refused to get out ; so I had to take the whole box apart !!! I defenitely need another box : larger and with a top opening !!!!

Former User · 04-30-2002, 02:38 AM

Originally posted by lut
larger and with a top opening !!!!

Yeah, that's a good idea. We have the top open too, and without that, I don't think we would get C & K out from there in the vets. Now it is pretty easy just to lift them from the top

**Lachesis** · 04-30-2002, 01:48 PM

we've only gone to the vet once but all 3 did very well... we leave both carriers out and they love to nap in them... they think nothing of it when we took them for a ride. I was sure they'd spaz out....

I was petting them and Pepper managed to sneak out while poor dh was driving down the road... at first it was no big deal but then she wanted her paws on the stearing wheel (by the time Milo got out

and Max was trying).
Amazing enough Milo and Pepper were fine. They were mad when we put them back in but didnt fight it at all...

**Tubby & Peanut's Mom** · 04-30-2002, 05:01 PM

Here's a copy of how I get Peanut into the carrier (from Edwina's Traumatic Time originally)

"Peanut is usually so scared at the vet that she just sits there and lets them do what they need to do. Tubby isn't necessarily scared - I think he just wants to do his own thing and check the place out - but he does put up a fuss when the vet does things that Tubby doesn't like, but is generally pretty good. I just take him on his leash, but I put Peanut in the carrier to make her feel safer, like she's got a place to hide. My trick to getting her in is hours before she needs to go in (the day before if the appointment is early in the morning) I'll bring the carrier up from the basement and just set it out. That way she has plenty of time to check it out, and is generally over the trauma of the carrier before it's time to put her in it. Then (bad mommy) I trick her by giving her a treat, then picking her up and giving her smoochies, as I'm approaching the carrier without her knowing. The only way I can get her in is back end first, so as I'm smooching on her, I'm slowly repositioning her so I can hold her back feet and just slide her in. Before she knows it she's in and the door is closed and she's wondering what happened! And she's also realizing trauma time is here. Not just the vet, but the carrier, the car, the entire experience doesn't thrill her. But once we get home I open the carrier, she comes flying out (because she knows we're home), goes to her usual spot and starts cleaning herself as if she has to get all those stinky vet smells off, then 15 minutes or so later, she's on the chair fast asleep. "

**wayne0214** · 05-01-2002, 07:46 PM

Although I purchased a pet carrier at the pet store, I found that the door is somewhat weak and flimsy. After placing a couple of my furkids in it, they found a way to tear off the door and get out. Ttherefore, I have made 2 pet carriers, out of wood and screen. There is no way they can get out of these home-made ones. Generally all that is necessry is to open the lid and place my cat in it. There may be some initial resistance to the insertion, they soon become acquainted with it and calm down, until I begin the journey in my truck.

When I take my furkids to the vet or to the spay/neuter clinic in town, they feel somewhat safe and secure in them. I usually place the least aggressive, or the smallest, cat in the store-bought one, in this case it was Princess, during their spaying appointment. When it came time for the attendant to pick her up for a preliminary inspection, Princess locked her legs in the carrier , pushing herself up against the top (as she is a long-legged cat), and it was nearly impossible to get her out. The home-made ones are top loaded with a hinged screen-lid/door. Yet, I have had better results with them in the vet's office, not being so afraid, and cantankerous! I suppose what makes them so afraid at the spay/neuter clinic is that people are lined up with cats and dogs, to be operated on in the morning. All of my furkids are afraid of dogs.

....wayne

**Heather Wallace** · 05-02-2002, 05:17 PM

i usually get my cats in their carrier by force.

Tatty went to the vets so much last year that the minute he see's any carrier he runs away, he thinks he has to go to the vets again. The thing is, the rabbits are in it and it's not even for him, LOL!

**tuxluvr** · 05-02-2002, 08:56 PM

Whenever I see the word "cat carrier" I'm the one who gets nervous - this is more trauma than I like to think about...Ritz's first trip to the vet wasn't too bad because the only other experience with the "cage of doom" was when I brought her home - this wasn't as bad because I sang to her and she actually slept on the hour plus ride.

The first trip to the vet for an overall checkup, she didn't know what was happening so she was a trusting little kitten....but it was evident early on she didn't like this place. She growled and hissed at the vet, something I had never heard from her before. Getting her in and out of the carrier was easy - open door, put favorite rattie and favorite blankie, and in goes Ritzy.

Second trip-midnight emergency UTI...40mile trip to only vet open at time. Now a bit larger, the task of putting her in the carrier was a little more difficult, but an alternate "top loader" door proved beneficial. At the vet, under loud protest, she is extracted, growling, hissing and spitting the entire time (how do the vets hear around all that noise?) The vet had to sedate her to examine, so the ride home was mostly a long nap

Third trip-spay surgery -Cat carrier is placed in kitchen day before the visit with blankie - Ritzy runs off but eventually gets used to the idea and actually takes a little nap inside. Something in that little kitty memory snapped, though, when it came time to "go" she quietly disappeared...was located under a chair between a bunch of magazines. Two humans were required to muscle Ritzy into carrier, and pitiful kitty noises gave mommycat the guilts for weeks to follow. AT this point, it became evident to me that Ritzy had one of those "kitty with a tude" warnings on her chart - the vets and technicians seemed almost relieved that she was going. More pitiful moans on the way home and I swear she milked the "wounded kitty" thing for all the spoiling mommycat could muster!

Fourth trip - annual booster shots, etc. If anyone tells you that cats have only short term memory, don't believe them! I had not had the cat carrier out for a year, and the minute this thing appeared in the kitchen, Ritzy did a disappearing act that would put Houdini to shame. It made me think that there must be a "cat zone" that kitties can zap into when they don't want to be found...it was CLEAR she was going to have no part of this...I'm thinking next time I'm going to have to get a new carrier or soft sider...at the vet, they literally had to "dump" her out onto the exam table...getting her in was easy though, as she would have gone anywhere to get away from that mean man who puts cold things in private places! They weighed the carrier with the cat and the carrier empty to get the "net weight" of the kitty...more growls and hisses and "balled up terror kitty" made me wonder how you ever get a good "reading" with all this fuss.

Now, the cat carrier is in the same room with the "evil hoover" and carries the same disdainful sneer from Ritz. If I open doors, usually Ritzy darts in immediately - not this room....she won't go near it, and If she sees me bringing anything out, she goes into a kitty snit!

Sweet Ritzy, responsibilities of mommycathood aren't always easy, but very much worth it...

**AmberLee** · 05-02-2002, 10:40 PM

Oh what a classic tale!!! Love the way you put words together!

**krazyaboutkatz** · 05-02-2002, 11:58 PM

My cats used to like their cat carriers and they would sleep in them. Now they are much smarter and I have to force them in. I usually put the carrier in a corner with the door open and then push my furbaby in it very fast and then try to close the door as fast as I can. It usually only takes about 5 minutes or less for me to get them in it.

**Tubby & Peanut's Mom** · 05-03-2002, 11:03 AM

Originally posted by tuxluvr
Whenever I see the word "cat carrier" I'm the one who gets nervous - this is more trauma than I like to think about......

Now, the cat carrier is in the same room with the "evil hoover" and carries the same disdainful sneer from Ritz. If I open doors, usually Ritzy darts in immediately - not this room....she won't go near it, and If she sees me bringing anything out, she goes into a kitty snit!

tuxluvr, you sound like Terry. All I have to do is mention the word vet, and he gets all panicky and stressed out. Tubby doesn't really mind going to the vet, Peanut doesn't like it but takes everything in stride, but Terry is in a "kitty snit" for days beforehand.

I've learned I need to take my two one at a time to the vet so I don't need his "help."

But poor Ritzy. It's a shame that a little trip to the vet can turn such a sweetheart into such a demon. It's really surprising to hear about these Jekyll and Hyde kitties (Edwina too). I guess I've been real lucky with my two. They've been completely healthy all their lives....aaahhhhh....I just had an epiphany. Maybe that's why they are so good at the vet, because they don't go real often, the trauma has time to fade away in their memories. Although the cat carrier trauma will never fade for Peanut.

She's been in it more because of me moving than for going to the vet, so she knows that when she gets put into it the next thing will be the big machine that makes a lot of noise and moves (the car), then there will be a strange place at the end of the trip. That she doesn't like. Poor kitties. It's a good thing they get over their trauma quickly.