What sort of cat carrier works best
People collect all sorts of things from teaspoons to cars but I reckon we should collect pet carriers. I wish everyone could see all the imaginative containers that our feline friends come to see me in.
Here are some of them: various cardboard boxes, including apple boxes and computer boxes; gym bags and back packs; freezer baskets with wood over the top; plastic storage containers with holes in the lid; washing baskets; possum traps; and the hand-crafted wooden boxes made by the home joiner.
With the last one, just make the air holes very small and multiple rather than less and larger as we had one small patient with her head stuck out the hole for a few scary minutes.
You would be amazed at the size gaps that cats can squeeze out of.
Oh and the best one lately was a 20-litre drench container with the top cut off and hinged.
But some sort of container is better than none at all, as poor ‘‘Hubbles’’ found out this week.
Hubbles is a 4-year-old usually gloss white persian who almost made it in to the hospital this week but decided to scramble out of her owner’s arms and dash off as she got out of the car.
Cats are the opposite in many ways to dogs.
But importantly, they don’t think it is fun to go to different places and sniff everybody and everything. They just like a nice quiet life in their own environment knowing that everything is the same.
So it’s not surprising that your purring friend becomes a demonic, obsessed beast when you retrieve the cobweb covered cage in the back of the garage one day.
All four legs become rigidly extended as you try to force them in to the carrier. That is if they haven’t disappeared well before that.
We get at least one postponement a day as a result of a feline sensing something is up and ‘‘doing a runner’’ well before the carrier even appears sometimes. And a few people arrive with scratches to show for their kind efforts to ensure their friend’s continued health.
So how can all this be avoided?
The best way is to have the carrier out all the time.
I know this isn’t practical but at least if the appointment is scheduled for a particular day then get the carrier out several days earlier.
If you can have the carrier out then use it as a bed for them or a feeding station every day.
Putting some cat nip in the basket can help them relax.
A lot of the plastic carriers can have the top half removed to use as a bed (remember to store the clips somewhere safe – of course then you’ll never find them again).
And removing that top half can make it so much easier to sit them inside and then place the top on for the ride rather than the forcing technique in the front door of the carrier.
Cardboard pet boxes are another alternative for the infrequent visitor as they cost less than $10 and are effective. ‘‘But my moggy would shred a box.’’ Open wire cages versus closed plastic carriers. Some cats feel happier being able to see around them and others become frantic in an open container.
Generally an enclosed space feels safer for them, which is why they are quite happy in gym bags for example (just watch that they have been outside to the toilet first).
The idea of an enclosed space was amazingly demonstrated when a huge batch of cats arrived at the hospital last week inside pillow cases, then inside their carry cages. It certainly was an education for us because all these patients were relaxed and not stressed one bit compared with those cats that were in open wire cages.
If you have to put them in the front door of a container, try putting them in backwards if they are doing the ‘‘four legs to each corner trick’’.
But definitely, some sort of carrier is better than none. You never know when there will be one of those big dog things in the waiting room.
So back to Hubbles.
The hospital quickly emptied out of people with everyone searching for Hubbles. Within minutes she was located under the flats at the rear of the hospital where she had gone in through a vent. Some coaxing with food and very luckily the story had a happy ending.
Hopefully, some of these ideas might help to get your furry feline to us with as little injury to you and as little stress to them as well. When you do get here, we keep dogs and cats separated as much as possible so that everyone’s visit is stress free.
And speaking of stress free. The days are getting longer, which means summer is coming.