Not looking forward to this...

I'm taking my two skitty kitties in to the low-cost clinic at the humane society this Friday, to get their rabies shots and certificates for the move. This means I have to get them into the carrier.

The clinic is first-come first-served, so I need to be there early, and I am not not NOT a morning person so my patience level in trying to get ahold of them won't be the greatest. Not too worried about catching Panther, but Squirrel is skitty even around me. I'm thinking about trying to get her into the cat carrier the night before, but that seems like a lot of unnecessary time stuck in there, and I'll probably need to change the towel by the morning so they'll have a chance to escape. On the other hand, since we're going to be moving, maybe it'd be a good chance to get them used to being in the carrier again.

Also, they haven't been to the vet since they were kittens and a lot easier to hold in place. Should I take bandages?

Are you moving by car? Because if you are this worried about the vet..... I don't even want to imagine how you feel about the trip!
No need for bandages... Not in my opinion. Good luck!!

Do you know for sure that they hate the carrier?

I never have issues like that with mine, soon as I set the carrier down at least one cat (usually 2) gets in it unprovoked-they like to be nosey and sniff it and nap in it. Don't make her stay in the carrier all night - that will just enforce this issue. Are you using one carrier for both cats? If so put the tamer one in first, if you were to put the wilder one in first she could get out when you open the crate to put the 2nd cat in.

Leave the carrier out & open and cover the carrier with a blanket (don't let the blanket cover the entrance), I bet they will check it out while you sleep. Having a blanket (or something similar) makes the crate 'cave like' and more likely for a kitty to feel safe in. Put cat nip in it & tuna (nip at the front, tuna at the back). Do that tonight & in the morning.

Do you free feed? If so take their food up just for tonight, that way they will be that much more eager to go after the tuna in the carrier. In fact, just open one can of tuna, use half tonight and the other half in the morning.

Take note that they might make a mess with it in the carrier, might just want to use newspaper in there tomorrow, or an old towel. I would take something to cover the carrier with - to use in the car & at the vets office. I always cover mine when we are at the vet, keeps them calmer and helps keep germs out that they may catch.

You may want to consider leaving the carrier out all of the time with the door off of it, this way the carrier is just an everyday object. Have soft blankets in there, I bet it will be a favorite sleeping spot!
Good luck!

Everything she just said! I usually start leaving the carriers out and open a few days before a vet visit, just so they start playing and sleeping in them. Toss a little catnip in there in the morning, and the only problem is keeping the ones who aren't going from stowing away. When it was less cats and less carriers I used to leave them out all the time and at any given time would find a cat asleep in one.

When we moved, it took two adults about 20 minutes to get my girls into their carrier.

So, when they went to the vet a few days ago and I was the only one home, I knew I needed to be prepared.

I took out the carrier and placed it somewhere they would be forced to interact with it (I put it infront of the TV they watch their CatDVD on so they would stand on it to get closer). As soon as I touched the thing, they scattered in opposite directions. They eventually did get used to it being out, but as soon as I moved it, touched it, etc, they were under the bed.

So, I hid it in the bathtub the morning before we had to go to the vet (in the afternoon). When the time came, I coaxed them into the bathroom with treats. It was the only room where there isn't a piece of furniture for them to hide under. Locked in the bathroom, it took about 5 minutes for me to get both of them in....although they weren't happy about it. If they were in any other room, they would have been under the bed/couch so that I couldn't get to them. So, I recommend you trap them in a place with few/no places for them to hide.

If you're trying to get them both into one carrier, you might want to think about getting second. My problem was that once I got one in, the other would try to get out when I tried to put the other one in. I know my girls would probably like to be together, but I don't think it's possible anymore. They are too heavy for one carrier anyway.

Edited: My girls were very good at the vet. Belle is a hisser/swatter when she's scared/not happy, and she hissed once when she got out of the carrier, but was good when the vet was handling her, etc. Delilah was too scared (poor thing!) to put up any fight at all. So, by far, the carrier was the biggest struggle of the trip.

They don't mind the carrier itself, once they're in it, but they don't much care for the process of being put into it. Squirrel can be hard to catch so I end up having to chase her around the apartment. Panther is a bit easier to catch, so I'll definitely do her first.

I have two carriers--one big one and one small--but I only expect to need the big one. They and Chilsa traveled together in the big one, about as far as I'm going to be moving (with the smaller one as backup in case anyone went nuts, but no one did). I think it helps them to have a friend to cuddle with. Squirrel and Panther are both on the small side so I had no problem lifting them and Chilsa (who was pretty big) together.

I keep their carrier out all the time for them to climb on and use as a cave if they want to--I set it up in a corner behind their feeding area, when we moved in here, and just never moved it from there. They don't go around it much but at least they've seen it around so it isn't some strange monster that's going to eat them. I'll definitely try the treat thing with it though. They're super-addicted to the new treats I found on clearance a few weeks ago so I'll see if they'll chase those in.

I'll try the bathroom thing too, if I can get Squirrel in there...or my clothes closet would be about the same.

If you have probs on friday morning try putting the treats in the back of the carrier and step back a little. The bathroom idea is great too!

Good luck, I hope everything goes smoothly!

VERY FRUSTRATED.

I got the cats in the carrier with a minimum of bloodshed. Squirrel was hissy, which I expected, and I had to corner her behind the toilet with the carrier in the bathtub, and the bathroom door closed, to get her into the carrier. Panther was pretty easy. (The bloodshed was from when I picked Squirrel up the first time, in the living room, and got her almost to the carrier, but she jumped away when I freed a hand to open the carrier, and pushed off from my hand. No direct aggression, just a serious DO NOT WANT.)

At the humane society, my skitty kitties were surrounded by dogs. Barking dogs. Barking dogs that barked at each other and a few times stuck their faces against the wire grate door and that was all that was keeping them from the cats. So the cats were really wound up by the time they were called in. Then...they wouldn't let me go back with the cats, even after I explained that they could be a handful because they'd been semi-ferals as kittens.

No one could've seen this coming: they couldn't even get my cats out of the carrier for all the scratching. DUH. Take two skitty kitties, chase them around the apartment first thing in the morning, stick them in a room full of dogs with dog sounds and dog smells, take them away from their only remaining source of security, and stick your hand in there. I think anyone that knows anything about former ferals could've told them that was a recipe for hamburger hand, so how does the freaking humane society not get it?

More frustrating: they didn't even have a referral list.

We went to a Petsmart with an in-store clinic, and found out that they waive office visit fees for a couple hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which will bring the total cost down into the same range as the humane society clinic. I asked, and the Petsmart clinic will let me go in with my cats, so it has a reasonable chance of working. If I'm the one to reach into the carrier to get them, it'll be fine. I tried it when we got back home, reaching in there to give them treats and stroke their fur gently...they're wary but not complete maniacs when it's me reaching in.

After finding out when to bring them in on Tuesday (it's first come first served, so I plan to be crazy early), we went birdwatching. I'm guessing the Rare Parakeets were a bit nervous, but Squirrel's eyes got rid of that hyperdilated crazy look after a few minutes of that. We'll go birdwatching after they get their shots for real too.

What a visit! Have you tried a carrier that opens from both the side and the top? Usually you can find them up to the medium dog size. It's a lot easier to get a very reluctant cat in the side, but out of the top, IME. They're a bit heavier than the usual carrier because of the extra metal, but worth the saved aggravation.

I can't afford another carrier, and anyway, if I can be there the carrier won't be a real problem. I mean, getting them in will still be a production, but they'll behave coming out of it if I'm there...

Also, I'm not thrilled with the idea of a heavier carrier since my hand still hurts from carrying the one I have. I don't remember them being that heavy before...Panther is definitely going on a diet.

Stupid humane society. They could've just declared me a volunteer for the next 20 minutes so I could go back with them and it would've been fine.