Yeah, right! (sounds like a Tui Beer advert) Well, actually it can be possible.
The biggest goal to aim for here is in making your pet feel comfortable being inside a per carrier and being transported in the car itself. We have done everything we can inside the clinic to make these areas cat friendly (such as cat only waiting areas, elevated cage spaces, cat only consult rooms, use of pheromones and low-stress handling techniques). But is it often getting the cat to the vet that owners dread the most. And the problem amplifies over the life of the cat because they hate carriers and we hate the fact that they hate carriers, we tend to only pull them out when we absolutely have to – which is usually for a trip to the vet clinic or cattery. There is never any “positive” experience for the cat, to make them feel happier about being in a carrier or in a car. So nothing changes except that owners avoid putting cats in carriers and cars more and more, which means seeing the vet less and less.
But with determination, patients and a little knowledge. It is possible to train even an adult cat to be much happier being in a cat carrier. It is easier if this training starts young in life before any fears are established, but it is possible to retrain an adult cat.
Here are five important steps in making cats carrier trained which include:
- Choosing the best type of carrier for your cat
- Choosing the right location for training your cat to its carrier
- Make the carrier cat friendly
- Helping the cat learn to ride in the car
- Help for fearful cats
By following a few simple training steps, it is possible for your cat to stop seeing the carrier as a stressful place and start seeing it as a safe place.
It is important that this process is not rushed and your cat must be allowed to be comfortable at each stage before moving to the next one. It may take some time to change the way your cat feels about being put into a cage.
There are some great resources regarding travelling in pet carriers. The ISFM website page https://icatcare.org/advice/?per_page=12 has some great general resources for pet owners on cat care, including this topic and CATalyst YouTube library https://www.youtube.com/usercatalystcouncil/videos ) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RGY5oSKVfo.
