trying to catch an unwilling cat

[irisblue]

is a rodeo with claws and feline and human wailing. And he still has to go to the vet. ::I feel like a monster::

[Walk away]

1. At some point parenthood sucks!

Soon it will all be over and you will both be home sitting on the couch

[Curmudgeoness]

2. It is never easy, but

I have found a few things that have made it easier. First, I get the carrier out days before I use it. If it is there long enough, ready to go, the cat starts to treat it like another piece of furniture----and is not warned about anything that will make it hide. And fight. At least until the last minute, and you can at least touch the cat before it knows what is happening.

Now, I just have to worry about when the cat figures out the days it will take to use that horrible contraption.

[Freddie]

6. This works with 2 of my 3

I just leave the open cat carrier out for a few days and since both my boys like to nest in boxes and small places it soon becomes a favorite napping spot. Samantha is not so gullible and has to be caught but that's easy, just tap a can of Fancy Feast on the counter and all 3 are there pronto.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. Well, I cannot say that my cats have ever napped in the open carrier

but at least dragging out the carrier is not tipping any cats off that it is time to hide. I used to get it out at the last minute, but that just made it too hard, since any cat in the house disappeared and hid in any place where I could not reach them.

My one kitty that I have now is the worst I have had with the carrier. I have to leave the carrier sitting on it's side with the opening up, so that when it is time, I can grab him, hold him with one hand and hold his back legs together with the other hand, and drop him in. He is so difficult, and what makes it worse is that he has problems that require very regular vet visits. Damn it.

But I love him anyways.

[irisblue]

3. it was not fun

Majik is very shy but a fast blur when he needs to be, with surprisingly strong grip on the vet table edge. His consumption of water has been way up the last 4 nights, given his age diabetes is a possibility. yeah

[DainBramaged]

4. Catnip, large bath towel, oversized carrier

I put the carrier out s couple days before and spray the towel with catnip spray and my kitties fight to go in the carrier. Sometimes I throw treats in to get them ready then, gently close the door and we're off.

[ginnyinWI]

5. I have one who always throws up in her carrier.

One time she made it as far as the vet's parking lot--and then bleaaah!

Through experience I've learned to put an absorbent towel in the carrier. You might think to just leave it empty, so to clean up easier, but then they stand in their vomit and have nice gross feet at the vet's. Better to have it absorb into the towel!

Funny thing: on any trip home, there is no puking. Even on a trip home after a week at the cabin, with food in her tummy. Strange.

[Curmudgeoness]

8. You think that's bad! (And it is.)

My cat always poops in the carrier, either on the way to the vet or on the way home. It is a given. It used to be peeing, but no longer.

I agree that leaving the carrier without anything in it is not an option. Nothing worse than a cat with pee or poop or vomit all over itself! I got tired of washing towels or afghans with crap all over them as soon as I get home from the vet, so I bought pee pads and fasten them down in the carrier so that everything at least doesn't get all over the carrier and the cat.

I wish I knew why he did this, and what I could do about it!

[ginnyinWI]

10. I've been there too!

When the kids were growing up we had a cat who always did the "three P's": puke, poop and pee! We could count on it when we'd go to Grandma's place on the lake every summer.

Eventually we discovered that if we let her out of the carrier, she was fine and did none of the P's. There was always someone to keep her away from the driver; generally she'd stay in the back of the wagon perched on some luggage looking out the window.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. Oh my, I am not sure how you got the nerve

to leave a cat that was always messing the carrier into the interior of the car. I am not sure if it is the carrier or the car, but with how bad he stinks the car up, I do not want to think about him pooping somewhere. Gads. But it might just be the carrier....he is fine at the vet's office, curious and comfortable. I don't know. Too bad I don't have someone to keep him off of me when I drive him to the vet, or I would try this.

Question though. How do you get hold of the cat when it is time to get out of the car? That would be a big worry for me, since I would not want him running away.

[ginnyinWI]

12. you probably need a helper.

Someone to hold the cat while you get the carrier ready and put him in. If you decide to do a test run, protect the seats and floor with something, just in case.

I think people are able to condition their pets, even cats, to riding in the car. You have to do short trips and not to the vet! Just around the block and then back, and kitty treats, etc. I never wanted to spend the time so don't have personal experience.

I have two cats now: one is an absolute angel in the car. Never does anything but curl up in a ball until the car stops, then she pokes her nose out to see if we are home or not! The other is the puking one.

[LisaLynne]

9. He has to go, though.

It's terrible and I always feel like a jerk, too, but we all have to do things we don't want to do. Cats don't understand this, but it's true for them, too!