Safe travel to your veterinarian for your cat

My mother has a cat named Thomas.  Fortunately for Thomas, he has been a relatively healthy cat over the years and has not required any serious veterinary care.  However, Thomas does come to visit me at the clinic regularly for his preventative health care.  Sadly however, Thomas does not live close and does not like riding in a pet carrier or riding in the car for the 45 minutes it takes to get here.  By the time he arrives, he has urinated, defecated and vomited in the carrier due to anxiety over the trip.  As I open the carrier I see a pitiful looking kitty crouched to the back of the carrier, drooling, pupils dilated and wet all over.  How horrible for him.  Does this scenario sound familiar to any of you?  Does your cat run and hide when it sees you bring the carrier out for a trip to the vet?  Do you have to apply a box of band-aides to yourself after having spent 30 minutes trying to stuff Fluffy into the carrier?  Do you listen to your cat "sing" with anxiety by yowling the entire drive to the vet?  Well, I hope this blog will help you and mostly help your cat!

First of all let me stress that pet carriers are important for safe transport of your cat to the veterinarian.  Cats loose in cars are a safety hazard to the cat and the driver.  An anxious cat suddenly darts from under the seat to under your feet and you miss the brake and....well I think you know where that is going.  Maybe you opened a window....and the cat jumps out.   You make a sudden stop, and your cat, that was on the back of the seat, is now a missile into a windshield!  Let's assume you made it to your vet office without mishap.  You cradle your cat into your arms to carry it inside the clinic, you open the door to enter at the same time a dog (leased or unleased) exits....your cat freeks! scratches your eyeballs out,  claws out of your arms and is now loose in the parking lot and out towards the street!  (seen this happen!!)  Maybe the dog jumps up on you to say hello, or jumps for a kitty snack!  Bad news.  I don't know how many times I have heard a cat owner tell me that they didn't put their cat in a carrier, because it hated it.  I hate worse hearing of horrible accidents involving the cat for the lack of a carrier.

Several issues come to mind as to why your cat hates a carrier.  First of all, your cat was not properly socialized to the carrier as a kitten.  Think about it, during its critical socialization period as a kitten,  you never taught your cat that being in a carrier could be rewarding and safe.  We take it for granted that the cat will accept being stuffed into a box and drove across town and be happy once there to be mauled by strange people at the vet's office (physical examination) and then poked with needles, etc.  Boy that was fun!  For a lot of cats I see, the only time they are ever see a carrier or a car is to come to the vet.  Your cat doesn't forget...carrier = bad news. Unlike dogs that often accompany their owners to a variety of places besides the vet (so riding in the car is fun!) cats are less likely to have early positive experiences about carriers and cars.

Since a picture speaks a thousand words...  I invite you to please take the time to watch this 11 minute video provided by Catalyst Council (in fact a new favorite link of mine).  This video could help you teach your cat that a carrier is not its worst enemy.   Cats & Carriers: Friends not foes

If you like this helpful information, please recommend this blog to your fellow cat lovers.