Soft carriers - escapable?

I'll be transporting kitty out of state soon and the airline I'm flying with requires soft sided carriers, due to the hard ones not fitting under the seats properly. I'm looking at some online but I'm wondering, couldn't a cat just claw through the mesh and get out?? She has her claws (which I could trim beforehand, not sure if that would prevent her from trying) but unless the mesh is laced with metal or something, I'm afraid she could just claw her way out during the 4 hour flight. I'm gonna go look at some in person within the next few weeks to see what seems sturdiest, but has anyone had issues with claws/mesh on their carriers? Some of them have smaller mesh areas that the cat probably couldn't fit through, but I'm still thinking if those mesh patches got torn or ripped it might damage the structure/integrity of the bag. Thanks for any info

I have had my kitten escape from a soft carrier once.  It was when I took her to the clinic to be spayed, and as instructed I left her in the car while I retrieved the paper work.  I panicked upon seeing her not in her carrier, but then realized that she was sitting on the driver's seat.  She had managed to unzip the thing while I was not there to watch her.  I don't see why you would have any occasion to leave your cat while on your journey though.  Both of mine have safely been transported on a four hour trip multiple times over the past year by car, and I have never had another problem.  Stella scratched at the mesh on her carrier, but got bored when it didn't accomplish anything.
 

It would be a good idea to trim kitty's claws in any case, but the mesh on the carriers is made of a material that is very difficult for cats to tear or shred. I'd be more concerned about her escaping by unzipping the door. My soft-sided carrier came with a clip that holds the zipper tabs together. If you don't have a clip, a twist-tie will work as well.

GoldyCat said:

It would be a good idea to trim kitty's claws in any case, but the mesh on the carriers is made of a material that is very difficult for cats to tear or shred. I'd be more concerned about her escaping by unzipping the door. My soft-sided carrier came with a clip that holds the zipper tabs together. If you don't have a clip, a twist-tie will work as well.

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Yeah that!  Twist ties are wonderful...

Yea, that is worrisome. I started out w/ one of those as Angel's first carrier. He almost got out once at a vaccine clinic. The zipper split!!

(It was one of those triangle shaped ones from walmart).

Thank goodness, I caught it in time & was able to get it zipped back up, but it was very scary! If you can find one that maybe has the zipper on top,

that would be better, & less likely to happen w/ no weight on that area.

Also sense she will be w/ you, you will be able to keep an eye on it, but a light tranquilizer from the vet to help make her sleepy may be a good idea to help her not be in a freaked out & stressed mode.

Best of luck to you!!

I love my soft carrier and there has never been an issue with Abby clawing through the mesh. The last time we used it though the zipper split and all of a sudden we had this:


Yep, a loose, crazed kitty in the car! We were lucky that it happened n our vehicle as opposed to outside. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another soft carrier though. I'll just be a bit more diligent about examining the zippers.