A cat and dog sling carrier is being promoted on Yahoo so I thought I would have a look. They seem more suited to dogs up to about twelve pounds in weight than domestic cats but that doesn’t preclude cats. You can buy it on Amazon and there is a nice review by a lady (@theglitzygypsy) who uses the sling carrier to transport a “needy cat”. Her first hand experience is very useful to assess the product.
In her case, her needy cat is a one-eyed Persian. Her Persian cat is a rescue and she was having a hard time adjusting to the other cats in her new home. Persian cats are known to be a little more anxious than other cats which can cause inappropriate elimination or at least that is my experience of this breed reading about them. Although this may be due to their very long fur.
After having such a positive experience with this carrier, our cat rescue is planning to purchase more of these for some of our disabled rescues. I bought the grey one, and haven’t tried to turn it inside out and use the reverse polka dot side. I wanted an inconspicuous color for when I don’t want to draw attention to the fact that I’m shopping with a cat in a baby sling. The carrier is very well made and has a detachable leash attachment.
In this instance she was nervous with the other cats but liked to be glued to her owner’s side. The owner travels a lot and she found this sling to be useful in that it made travelling easier with her Persian cat. She encouraged her to use the carrier by giving her treats and after a while she settled down and stayed inside the carrier and fell asleep. She adjusted to it well and likes to sit in the carrier while she’s being transported around the house.
It allows her to look down on the other cats from “her ivory tower”. Her confidence has improved as a result. Overall, this purchaser is very positive about the iPrimio Dog and Cat Sling Carrier.
The lady works for an animal rescue organisation and she says that the rescue is planning to purchase some of them for the disabled cats. It’s well made and has a detachable leash. In America the price is amazingly good value at just under US$16.
I don’t how good it is from personal use but it gets a good rating on Amazon at four stars out of five from a large body of purchasers. I can only guess at its usefulness. My gut feeling is that it is useful for individual cats with specific requirements such as disabled cats or very anxious cats. Of course it’ll be great for handbag dogs which are a current trend. These are toy dogs popular with celebrities.
I know that my cat likes me to carry him around. In fact he asks me to pick him up and carry him. Knowing that, this sling may be a useful addition to my home. I think it actually addresses one major issue of the human-to-cat relationship which is that humans are much much taller and it is important, on occasions, for cats and humans to be at the same level. I do this by lying on the floor next to my cat so that I dramatically reduce my height. He loves it. I wonder whether this cat and dog sling achieves a similar result in that the cat is raised up to the height of a person. And they are also in close contact which allows the cat to feel the warmth of the human caregiver. That’s go to be a big positive. It probably improves bonding.
They are available on Amazon. I’d search for the Amazon website for “cat and dog sling carrier” and go from there. If you have one please leave a comment to help others decide.
