Need advice on getting cat in carrier

Several days before a scheduled vet visit for our cat Simba, I would bring out the carrier, put a nice fluffy towel or little blanket in and leave the door open. The cat would then get used to seeing it and would venture in and have a nap with the door open so he knew it wasn't a bad place. He still made a fuss to and from the vet in the car, but at least it wasn't a problem getting him in the carrier.

With Bijou and Mika we are lucky in that we just put their harnesses on and take a leash for when we exit the car. Makes it much simpler especially since both have gotten used to going on car rides so they don't make a fuss at all anymore.

When we have to take Cindy to the vet, we close off all the bedroom doors so she can't get under a bed. Then hubby goes to get her and I sit on the stairs so she can't get up there (even tho the doors are closed, she could still get in the laundry area and hide behind the dryer or washer. Once hubby gets hold of her, he puts her in the carrier (which we have up on a table) by holding her front paws so she can't get her feet on either side of the carrier and turn it into a fight.

We've had her to the vet so many times, it's getting easier.

I have to sort of roll Gizmo up into a ball and put her in backwards, bottom first. She gets discouraged easily so it's relatively easy to close the carrier after she's sitting in it.

You can try to spray 'Felyway' in the carrier and after a while place some catnip or a catnip toy in the carrier and see if your cat will go in . Just make sure you close it right away .

Or what I had to do with one of my cats and I know it sounds brutal , but I placed the carrier up so the door would be looking at me . Then I had to grab the cat by the neck and place him in . Even after a year I had to do that , every month , he was a Persian and had to go once a month to the groomer .

In any way I wish you good luck and a save trip to the vet .

I had the WORST experience getting my cat into a carrier to go to the vet - she HATES being picked up and somehow sensed I was after her for something unusual. I ended up after a hellish chase and much injury (to me) putting the carrier on its end with the door facing up and dropped her in. I am definitely getting one of those carriers that have an opening on the top.

Seriously, she was fine in the car, adorable and sweet and cute and perfect at the Vet (I was covered in sweat, cat poop and bleeding profusely) but the carrier incident will stay with me a long time. She got home from the vet and hid for two days. She was completely freaked out - maybe it reminded her of being captured and then sent to a warehouse to be neutered...which couldn't have been a good time for her.

I am leaving the carrier in the dining room on the floor with the door open and she goes and sniffs it but won't go in. I am going to get some Feliway spray and also a special honeysuckle mat to put in it to entice her. The advice to make it a place to hang out and not something she sees only when she goes to the vet is sound. It can really help.

Good luck.

Hmm... that sounds vaguely familiar. JoJo's second trip to the vet (first after adopting Jack) ended with me bleeding, permanent holes in the tanktop I'd been wearing, and smelling like kitty poop. I was living in a larger place at the time and had to chase her up and down a flight of stairs, chase her out from behind the couch, get jabbed by her claws all over my left shoulder and a very long bloody scratch from my left clavicle down between my b**bs and ending under my right breast. Jack had gone quietly into his carrier first and watched the whole show patiently... for a half an hour. This was all before I decided to buy hard sided carriers. I had purchased cardboard ones... bad... I hate those things... but my parents alwasy used them. Mind you, she was what I now consider an indoor feral, so human touch was foreign to her. Even now, she does give me a fight, but not nearly as much.

I do put the carriers on their end and put them in feet first. It's the ONLY way I can get them in there. Hard sided carriers with metal doors are the best carriers. i also have a pet stroller, but putting two of them (one at a time) is tough. Although as I was typing this, I just thought up a way to temporarily divide the space to detain one cat in the secure end to get whomever is second inside without any escapees. I'll have to test my theory.

JoJo gives me the worst scratches... she gave me one a couple days ago that's two inches long and took forever to scab up... My little holy terror. And now she's reasonably tame.

Plastic hard carrier, on it's end... but only after leaving it out... my two cents: buy some soft fabric (like those fleece blankets or something), but a ton of it... maybe half a yard per carrier. Then rub them with the blanket, or leave it out for them to sleep on. Then use that inside the carrier for the day or two before the trip. their scent will be inside the carriers.

I have a hard sided carrier that I use for my cats. When I'm not using it, I just remove the metal door and put it in my bedroom. The cats run in and out of it chasing eachother. They'll hide in it and jump out at the other one. If I leave the door on it, then they bite at the openers because they want in. When it comes time for the vet, they don't put up much fight when we put them in it. I've also heard that if you make it a habit of feeding the cat in the carrier, just put the food in the back of it, it'll make it more familier and not as sacairy.

Honestly,, I don't use a carrier. Both my girls goe on harnessess, and do really really well with them. Their so excited about going outside we don't have any issues at all, and since their on a leash and harness no issues. It's not like I walk them, it's just so they can't leave me. My vet finds it's soo funny when they come in on a harness. She told me that she thinks it's a better idea to have them on a harness since they hate the carrier.. Just a thought...

Heather

Ive been grooming for 10 years and worked in a vet clinic and if you try to make the carrier a place for them to want to go hang out or sleep and then you take them to the vet in it their not going to forget it and will probably resist that much more it is always best to pick them up comfort them and put them in backwards and quickly shut the door. thats in general if your a lucky one that can trick them every time great you have a good one there but 95% arnt going to go willing, and the less fight the better the experience. every bad experience is a lasting bad experience, cats are very smart talk to them and reasure them some of us dont like going to doc or dentist its the same for them.these are just experiences ive had or learned trates over the years, i dont know all and iam not claiming to just telling any of you who are reading this, whats worked best for me over the years.

ruby is a former feral that is *just now* getting to the point that i'm allowed to pet her. she doesn't like to be held or picked up or restrained in any way, and i, too, have the scars to prove it.

for the two weeks before her vet visit, her carrier was out, open, with her pad inside. and every day (about the time of the vet visit: 1:00pm), i'd toss a few treats inside. she'd go in about 1/2 way, eat the treats and come back out. sometimes, i'd catch her snuggling down for a nap in there.

on the day of the vet visit, i tossed the treats in (only i threw them towards the back of the carrier). when she went in, she had to go in more than 1/2 way. i finished the job by gently pushing her backside and tail in the carrier and closing the door.

went so smoothly, we were 15 minutes early for the appointment!

Most of the time, mine will go in with a minimum of struggle, but, on a bad day (and yes, especially with Smoochie, I have gone to the vet bloody ), put her/herd her into a room where she can't hide (I put the ones I can find in a bathroom usually, BEFORE I get the carrier out ) and then set the carrier up on its end, wrap the cat quickly in a towel and then put her in hiney first into the carrier. I can get 3 cats in one large carrier this way.

I am glad to hear that most of you use the hard plastic carriers - I was considering spending money I don't really have to spend right now on one of those soft ones thinking it might be easier for her. But I guess it has more to do with the picking up against her will (which is strong) than being in a carrier at all.

By the way, I saw someone in a store today with their cat in one of those strollers. It was so funny - the kitty was still making a fuss but she got her shopping done.

Any news? Did you get your kitty to the vet yet?

I leave my carrier out all the time, the cats see it as somewhere to nice to be cosy, a trip to the vets doesn't seem to phase them.

Actually, I'd spend the money on the soft carrier. We had hard carriers for my two girls, and they hate them. It's a fight every time. With Patches, we would wait for her to fall totally asleep, then pick her up and dump her in before she could realize what was happening.

For Puppy, we purchased a soft carrier. We only did it because we took him on the plane, but it's been worth every penny. Vet trips are no problem. He walks right into it, and he will even take an occasional nap in it. While at the vet, he actually doesn't want out of the carrier once he's figured out where he is. However, it has a top and side opening, so we just unzip the top and take him out. I wish we got one of these years ago!