Cat Carrier: a symbol of trouble!

Whenever a cat sees a carrier suddenly appear in a place where a moment ago there was none, there is or soon will be feline hell to pay. To a cat, a carrier can only mean one of two or three unpleasant things: a trip to the vet, the groomer or a boarding facility.

All of these kitty-unacceptable locations demand an alteration of daily schedules and are, therefore, worthy of non-cooperation. Cats associate the carrier with a change of routine and so you must be very careful and try to outsmart them (ha!) if you need to transport your cat or cats anywhere.

One possible tactic is to bring the carrier out of the closet or wherever you keep it, a day or two before you need it, and put it opened in an obvious place, like the living room.  Make sure the cats see it and a favorite blanket and some catnip might even entice them to investigate. The cats may be wary initially, but when they see they are not being shoved inside it, they may venture inside and check it out. 

They seem to like being inside as long as the door is open. I once was lucky enough to find the cat I needed to take to the vet already conveniently sleeping inside the carrier. I simply closed the door. Don’t count on this, however, as it is not a common occurrence. Usually, in a household of multiple cats, the one you don’t need is the one that is sleeping comfortably in the carrier. (It’s Murphy’s Law of averages or some such thing.)

Another tactic is to pretend you don’t see the carrier. Walk around it, bang into it and say, “Oh, I didn’t see that there.” Do your best to avoid it. Your disinterest may spark a spiteful interest from your four-legged children. This works once in a while, but only if you have a great deal of time on your hands and you don’t mind wasting it. This is therefore not recommended as a strategy whenever appointments are concerned.

As a last resort, you might consider getting in the carrier yourself, thereby showing them there’s nothing to fear.  Even if you can manage to pull this off, I would bet money you won’t be able to get out without the help of the local fire department. I wonder what the cats would do if that happened.  They would probably laugh and figure that we deserve whatever we get for trying to outsmart one of them!  Maybe they would release us the next mealtime (or maybe we would be the next meal.)

Who knows?

The feline shadow, that’s who!

Cats. Go figure.

Happy carrier!

© Marjorie Dorfman 2007