It might be fair to say that nearly all domestic cats hate the carrier. This is because (a) it is associated with unpleasant experiences e.g. going to the veterinarian and (b) it is an unfamiliar, very confined space.
I’d like to hear from regular visitors on this one if possible. What do you do to ease the dislike that cats have for cat carriers?
It seems to me that one sensible way to achieve this is to leave the carrier out rather than hidden away to allow your cat to become familiar with it. And place it in a nice warm area. Make the interior comfortable. Place a favourite toy and/or some catnip inside it.
In all, make a disliked object one that your cat is familiar with and liked or at least accepted.
When the time comes to use it, he may be less resistant to being placed in it. However, there is always the intractable problem of it being associated with an unpleasant experience, which is difficult to overcome.
It is probably sensible to do all the things to get your cat to like a carrier before it is used in an activity which your cat will dislike. Once the connection between the carrier and an unpleasant experience has been made it is difficult to break.
P.S. My cat dislikes the cat carrier. I open the carrier and place it in a room. I then collect my cat and ‘ambush’ him by placing him in the carrier before he has time to realise what is going on.
one more comment. top load carriers.
I cannot tell you how much I admire you for getting through all the hardships you faced and arthritis and never abandoning or giving your cat to a shelter. I volunteer with a no kill rescue group and it breaks my heart that people move and leave their animals behind to die or give them up to us because “they are too busy”. It is interesting to me that every cat has their own personality and it is hard to generalize how to handle different situations for cats. I can also tell from your answer that your cat must be very bonded to you and love you.
Usually if they can see the cat carrier, they know what’s next. That’s why I cover her eyes, and put her in head first. If I wrap her and put her in feet first, it will be easier for her to get out. I have arthritis in my hands, which prevent normal grasping and holding, so this is the way it works best for me.
I live in a tiny cell-like room, with barely enough space to walk around my bed, so no way the carrier can be out. I do have 4 vertical sleeping spots for her, and one on the floor in the closet. The closet bed butts up to the litter pan. My clothes may smell, and have cat fur, but that’s just the way we roll. I’ve had to do a lot of adapting for both of us, but at least she can get out into a fenced yard with her halter and RED leash once or twice a day, while I keep a watchful eye for the leash, when she goes behind a bush, or looks like she wants to jump the fence.
Renting with pets reduces the options home owners have
Usually if they can see the cat carrier, they know what’s next. That’s why I cover her eyes, and put her in head first. If I wrap her and put her in feet first, it will be easier for her to get out. I have arthritis in my hands, which prevent normal grasping and holding, so this is the way it works best for me.
I live in a tiny cell-like room, with barely enough space to walk around my bed, so no way the carrier can be out. I do have 4 vertical sleeping spots for her, and one on the floor in the closet. The closet bed butts up to the litter pan. My clothes may smell, and have cat fur, but that’s just the way we roll. I’ve had to do a lot of adapting for both of us, but at least she can get out into a fenced yard with her halter and RED leash once or twice a day, while I keep a watchful eye for the leash, when she goes behind a bush, or looks like she wants to jump the fence. Renting with pets reduces the options that home owners have.
I’m just grateful that we’ve been accepted to live in this house. And also very grateful that when we were “homeless” from Dec. 2016 to May 2017, we were given a couch to sleep on from my cat loving friend with 2 cats of her own. We were confined to a room, and I couldn’t take her outside at all, because of loose neighborhood dogs.
She never cried to get out once, even though for years prior, she’d been used to her daily outings. It was as if she knew we didn’t have a choice.
I never put my cat head in first, she freaks out even more because she sees what is coming so she fights and scratches the hell out of me. I wrap her in one of her fav blankets like a burrito and put her in feet first very quickly, before she has time to wiggle and scratch.