Do you have one of those cats who always knows when you’re
planning a trip to the veterinarian’s office? Perhaps your cat even
knows before you’ve taken the carrier down from the shelf? Is your
cat psychic?
In reality, your cat is just picking up on the very obvious signals you’re sending out. Oh, they may not seem at all obvious to you but remember, your cat has highly-developed senses and he knows when you’re not acting as you normally do. Your cat isn’t reading your mind – she’s reading your body language. If you tense up as you head for the closet to get the carrier because you’re gearing up for the inevitable battle about to take place, trust me, your cat is well aware of the fact that you aren’t your normal happy-go-lucky self.
A big part of the problem is that the carrier usually only comes into view when it’s time for that dreaded trip to the veterinary clinic. From kitty’s point of view NOTHING fun ever happens there. Make the appearance of the carrier a little less awful by not having it be exclusively associated with vet visits. Leave the carrier out all the time so it loses its fear factor. If you use a kennel-type carrier, take the door off, line the carrier with a towel, and leave it out as a cozy hideaway for your cat. Get some totally irresistible treats and periodically place a treat near the carrier. Every once in a while casually toss a treat closer and closer until you’re eventually placing the treat inside the carrier. You can even feed your cat his meals near, on, or inside the carrier.
Once your cat is comfortable with being in the carrier you can replace the door. In subsequent sessions, casually close the door when the cat is in the carrier, offer a treat and then immediately open the door again. Hopefully, you’re getting the idea of how we’re getting the cat more and more comfortable with the carrier. You can then eventually work up to closing the carrier door, walking around the room with the carrier and then placing it back down.
The next step is to take the cat for a short ride in the car so he sees that not every trip in the carrier ends up at the vet clinic.
I’ve written about the importance of cat carriers in previous blogs and the reason I’m repeating this information is because I come across so many people who never take their cats to the veterinarian simply because they dread the battle of trying to get an extremely unhappy cat into the carrier. Your cat’s annual vet check-up is extremely important and shouldn’t be missed because of the carrier war.
For more specific step-by-step information on how to retrain
your cat to the carrier, refer to the book, Starting from Scratch.
Starting from Scratch
Pam Johnson-Bennett is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant and owner of Cat Behavior Associates, LLC.
