Where's Jackson Galaxy when you need him?

By Catscratchfever - 24/04/2023 22:00

Today, I took my cat for a very short car ride in her new carrier. I’ve left it out for weeks to let her get used to it, and before this she was relaxed enough to nap in it. Now, she won’t go near it no matter how many treats I use. I move cross country in June. Back to the drawing board. FML
I agree, your life sucks 644
You deserved it 188

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Talk to your Vet about the cat equivalent of Dramamine. Besides being confined, kitty may have been a little motion/car sick (not enough to puke though) and may be having a bad memory there. Also, that can relax them enough to ride without the carrier.

Second this. Several of my friends have used this to get their VERY indoor, nervous cats moved from one city to the next (a few by car and two by plane). The cats tended to be kind of off the next day but otherwise totally fine and without much memory of the travel. Definitely what I would do myself if I were to move.

Comments

Talk to your Vet about the cat equivalent of Dramamine. Besides being confined, kitty may have been a little motion/car sick (not enough to puke though) and may be having a bad memory there. Also, that can relax them enough to ride without the carrier.

Second this. Several of my friends have used this to get their VERY indoor, nervous cats moved from one city to the next (a few by car and two by plane). The cats tended to be kind of off the next day but otherwise totally fine and without much memory of the travel. Definitely what I would do myself if I were to move.

Liberal use of catnip and pheromones in combination with treats might help at least a bit while you’re working on the vet option mentioned elsewhere in this thread?

That brings back memories! My wife, my cat, and I moved 1000 miles. Mr Bill, the cat was an exclusively indoor cat and he was my cat. We went to the vet, got the pills and they gave me a cardboard carrier. I managed to get Mr Bill to eat the pill (butter on the pill, in his food) and put him in the carrier. Everything was fine for about an hour or two and then Mr Bill had to take a dump… No sooner did I notice the smell than he chewed his way out of the cardboard carrier - He was not staying in there. Eventually after some obvious distress at traveling and me talking to him, he settled down for most of the ride crouched under my seat. 2 days later we arrived at our destination. My biggest worry besides Bill’s initial distress at traveling was if someone might accidentally let him out of the hotel room while we were at a hotel or out of the car at a gas station or restaurant. Be sure to take a litter box and litter. The tranquilizers work but it’s not easy to get a cat to take a pill. Best to you OP!

icky mess. cats are lactose intolerant, so yes they love the milk/cream/butter. If you use that to get them to take the medicine, just be ready for the aftermath.

Interesting, I had not thought that Mr Bill might be lactose intolerant. But the vet was the one who told me to use “butter” and I actually used margarine because in those days that’s what we used in our household.

you'll have to hold her by her scruff to get her in and if you don't have a top load, get a top load. mine hates hers too

Get yourself a pair of kevlar gauntlets, too. My cat would instantly know if she was going to the vet and they last time I picked her up without gloves, the wounds took weeks to heal. First time I tried with the gloves, I picked her up without a scratch and she spent half the time clawing and biting and the other half looking at me like "WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING?!?!"