Whether it's a 5 minute drive to the vet for a yearly check-up or a cross-country trip to a new home, every pet owner will eventually have to travel with their pet. Most cat-owned people will be familiar with the way a normally friendly and loving pet suddenly turns into a possessed ball of teeth and claws when you try to put them in a carrier. Somehow, they seem to grow dozens of extra legs and all of them are tipped in razor sharp claws that are imbedded in tender parts of your anatomy. Then, once you have won that battle and the cat is safely in the carrier, that's when they play the sympathy card and start crying like they are being tortured (which, of course, is what they want people to think.)

The problem is that, for most cats, the only time they see the carrier is for that dreaded yearly trip to the vet and their memories of being caged are most likely bad memories (especially for pet store or shelter cats). The trick is to get them to associate the carrier with good things happening to them. It is possible to train a cat, you just have to go slow, be very patient, and don't be discouraged by a few set-backs. Expect the training process to take at least several months; use your cats reactions to judge when to go on to the next step.

Start by bringing the carrier out of storage and place it in the room where your cats spend most of their time. Either remove the door or fix it so it will stay open. Don't try anything right away, just let them check it out and get used to it being there. A good idea is to sleep with a towel in your bed for a few nights then place it in the carrier. This will put your scent there and make it seem safer to your cats. Once your cats are used to presence of the carriers, put a favorite toy or a few treats inside. Take advantage of the cat's inquisitive nature and food-driven personality to get them to go into the carrier on their own. Place a dish of their favorite food inside or serve their regular meals there. With any luck, after a few weeks, they should start seeing the carriers as their own territory and start hanging out in them.

Time for the next step - closing the door. Every time you see your cat go into the carrier, close the door behind her, but don't latch it. Letting her push the door open and let herself out teaches her that she's not "trapped." Be very careful not to make any sudden moves or noises while the cat is inside the carrier; don't do anything to startle her.

Step three - the latch. This step can take months, depending on how long your kitty needs to be in the carrier. If you just need to prepare them for the occasional trip to the vet it won't take as long as it would if you're preparing for an extended car trip. At this point, your cat should be going in and out of the carrier freely and be comfortable enough to sleep and eat inside. Now is the time to start latching the door, but open it as soon as the cat notices and tries to get out. Do this repeatedly through out the day. Gradually, increase the amount of time before you let the cat out; just a few seconds at a time. A good technique is to distract them from being confined. If your cat is playful, poke a straw through the air holes in the back of the carrier; if food is the key to your kitty, try placing bits of ham or turkey through the holes. Talk to them; pet them through the air vents. Anything to keep their attention focused on you and on being happy instead of worrying about the latched door. Work up from a few seconds at first, to a few minutes, and, eventually, up to a few hours in the carrier. Don't rush this. You don't want the cat to be at all stressed when they are inside and if you go too fast you may have to start from scratch.

Step four - the car. Take the carrier out to the car and just sit in the drive way with the engine running. Let your cat get used to the sound and vibrations of the engine. Do this every day for a week or so. Now it's time to drive around a bit; each time go a bit further. Most cats will cry a bit at first, but, as they get used to all the sensations, they will calm down and ride quietly. Sometimes I think that a short ride can be more confusing to them than a longer ride. They don't have time to get used to the experience before it's over so they don't get a chance to calm down and realize that nothing horrible has happened to them.

We used this process several years ago to prepare our two cats for a trans-Atlantic flight with several layovers. Neither of them had ever been in a carrier before and we spent 6 months working with them every day. They spent over 24 hours in the carriers on that trip and, other than an urgent need for a litterbox, they showed very little stress when we finally reached our destination. We still keep the carriers, now called "Kitty Kaves" out at all times and all of the cats frequently nap in them. WE never have any trouble getting them into the carriers when it's time to go somewhere and we usually don't hear a thing out of them while we're driving. Now, when we get tot the Vet's office and it's time to get them out of the carrier, that's another story!!

*Disclaimer: none of this applies to Missy. She still moans and cries every time we take her some where. So far, we're up to the sitting in the car with the engine running portion of her "travel training." Please, grant me patience!!

This article is Copyright © Kathy Hyle, and printed with permission of the author.
June 24, 2001

Read Kathy's stories: Life with Furballs