The cage - getting him used to it

Right now I have no cage to practice on, but I will be looking out for something to use. Tsekani hates getting into his travel crate however. After reading the thread about getting ready to show, I figure that I will work on crating and caging.

Tsekani has access to the whole house right now. He sleeps with me, or wherever he wants to. When I take him places, it's a battle to get him into his crate, but once he's in the vehicle he settles down.

I have been thinking of placing treats in the crate, or feeding him inside the crate (with the door open) until he gets used to being in there.

Next question - should I look for a specific crate, or can I make do with a rabbit cage or something similar? I am not in a place that sells anything cat show related. Should I keep Tsekani in the cage for certain lengths of time? What if he yowls and/or tries to get out?

Feeding him inside the carrier is a good idea for him to get more used to things. Most of my cats were never "caged' or trained for cages. They just took it in stride. A few tried initially to get out, but soon found it was nicer to curl up in a soft bed in the cage and go to sleep rather then try and get out.

Personally I would not worry too much on cage training. But getting more used to a carrier would be more important.

One of the few things that GK and I have agreed to disagree on although I agree carrier training is as important.

I feel cage training/conditioning is important because of the fact that most of our cats are free roaming in our homes.

It really depends on how many shows you think the cat will be shown in. I've seen a lot of cats stress out, become fearful in the cage. Many cats may equate the cage to being hospitalised at the vets....

As for which cage, all show flyers will tell you what size the show cages are and it's pretty standard. You can go out and purchase one for training purposes.