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My cat is due for another vaccination and I am dreading the fight to get this little 7-8 lb ball of muscle and fluff (and teeth and claws) into his carrier. Last year, I managed by putting snackies in it every day for about a week before V-day, but I know he won't fall for that again. Ideas, anyone?
I just pick mine up by the scruff, tilt the carrier so the opening is up and drop her in. She's mean, but usually goes in without too much of a fight. A welding glove on the other hand is a VERY useful tool.
Make it a happier place for him. As long as it has a negative association or is a total unknown he will fight being put in it. Is it front loading? If so leave it out in a corner somewhere open. Take a towel you've used and fold it up inside as a bed/nest. He will find it and most likely will start using it. You can also introduce him to it by feeding him in it or just giving him treats toys in or near it.
It is a slow process, much like kennel training a dog, but once he is familiar with it he will stop fighting you.
My kennel owner showed me a neat trick (if you have a carrier with a door in the side rather than top) and I will attempt to describe here: hold the front two paws together in one hand and, leading with their front paws, gently but firmly guide the cat thro the door with the other hand/arm. It's amazing how cooperative they are if you do this.
If the carrier has a flap in the top like one of mine, you pretty much have to hold his hind legs together with one hand, hold him under his front armpits with the other and lower him in.
I have a carrier with a front door. I stand it on the back end out of sight/sound of Emma, then grab her and drop her in head-first. She is not happy but she goes. The others just go in when I put them in front of it but she hates it. Yowls all the way over and inside, finally shuts up when whatever is being done is over. Good luck!
I too always had a problem. Whenever she saw her carrier come out she would hid under a bed. They are so smart!
Now when I know I have to take her to be boarded or for a check up I am very discreet. I have her travel bag in a closet and don't take it out till the last minute.
I pick her up-pet her-then put my hand over eyes then right into her carrier-works every time.
I don't use top-loading carriers, find them impossible to deal with, and with a multi-cat household the subtle approach doesn't work. All mine get put into a front-opening solid carrier the same way and with no muss and fuss. Put the carrier up on a table, quickly grab cat's front paws in left hand, back legs in right hand and put the cat in backwards (i.e. butt first.)
When you try and put them in front first you can't control the front legs which are used as clawed skids which then whip around like lightning and rip you to shreds, plus you won't find the cat to even try to get it into the carrier for at least another week.
This works for me too.
The carrier stays upended in the same place at all times. That helps as far as keeping an element of surprise and catching the cat off guard. As has already been mentioned, felines have a keen sense of when something out of the ordinary is about to happen. I had to give up on the old method of leaving a trail of treats a long long time ago, lol.
I keep an old shirt of mine in there for cushioning. Although it doesn't accomplish much in terms of reducing the virtually non-stop complaining that goes on, it still serves as a security blanket of sorts. More importantly - owners of plastic carriers take note - hard surfaces which can get heated to uncomfortable levels during warmer weather don't have to be come into contact with.
My cat has no clue that his carrier is what results in the vet. Its front loading, soft-walled (like a big purse with mesh sides) with a fuzzy removable liner. I leave it unzipped and in his corner with his toys and food and he lounges in it like its a kitty-cube. I put it there from day one with a lil cat nip tossed in for good measure and on the rare vet trip, I call him over and toss in a new toy and in he goes. He doesn't realize its vet time (or babysitter time, which he hates more) until I take him outside. The carrier is something that's familiar to him and he associates it with "good" instead of "vet." Even when we play together, I will zip it up on him (part or all the way) so that he remains clueless. All I have to deal with is a very betrayed-acting kitty when we get home.
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