Help! Can’t get cat into carrier for her appointment this morning!

[Maggiethecat]

Unusually difficult today!

Throw a blanket over her!

Cats are absolute bastards when they know the cat carrier is out!

I assume you've tried dreamies etc?

Good luck!

If she won't go in for a bit of food Put a blanket/towel over her. Pick her up and put her in.

If you are desperate you could scruff her and slide her in backwards. (I'm presuming it's a front door carrier as these are trickier than a roof one.

Stand the carrier up on its end, lower cat in arse first. Wear sleeves. And possibly gloves.

Tip carrier box upright, wrap cat in towel legs first in.

Scruffing helps. It looks a bit rough but cats are conditioned to relax more when scruffed because that makes it easier for their mums to carry them when they’re little, so get her in as gently as possible but with one hand carrying the scruff, but NOT carrying the whole weight of the cat by the scruff.

I wrap mine in a towel and stuff the cat and the towel into the box.

We had a really big rescue cat years ago who hated the carrier. I had to leave the top of it off in a different room, then throw a towel or blanket over him, wrap him, and then plonk him into the bottom half and grab the top to pop on at sort of the same time. Every single time🙄

I realise this doesn’t help now but in preparation for next time leave the box out with a couple of treats scattered about. Normalises the box and balances out the fear of the box with some treats!

What’ll work [best] will depend partly on your type of carrier, but as PPs have said, bundling them in a towel (learning how to make a before next time 😸) & bundling them in is your best bet. You need to keep them from switching states of matter & the bundle-bundle does so. (Balanchine was once Cruelly Betrayed by his blankie in a purrito - I know, is nothing sacred?! - but he did graciously forgive it. Once it returned from a having a hot bio wash as he’d expressed his anal glands AND had a stress wee on it 🤦🏻‍♀️)

Good luck!

Put the cat in head first.

Thank you all!! I have tried various of these suggestions in the past including this from @Allmarbleslost which is what worked in the end today. I made several attempts at this, finally getting Rubber Maided up and managed to get her in back legs first.
She was v feisty in resisting and of course at the vet, having called to say I’d be late because of the struggle, she showed me a liar. Little Missy walked around the room when released from the cage and then casually went back and sat right in it 😂

Our cattery showed us a trick, which has worked every time. Put the carrier on a table, and hold the cat just below the entrance of it, facing the door. Quickly move your hands and the cat down an inch or so, the cat will think they are falling and will step up into the carrier.
It's made things so much easier for us, no more turning up late, covered in cat hair and scratches! It makes it a one person job too.

Oh, vets aren’t fooled by cats willingly returning to their carriers there: the carrier smells of home & is how they will be conveyed back there!

I've had to cancel and rebook vet appointments before because the furry blighters wouldn't go in the carrier.

I feel your pain!

Top loading carriers are the way forward. So much easier.

I had a cat years ago who it took two of us to get her into a carrier, and even then it could take several attempts. She was the softest soppiest cat in the world until she saw the carrier, then just flipped....

Thankfully the ones I've had since then have been a lot more amenable!

Cat carrier upended. Put in some oven gloves. Grab cat and drop / stuff in. Cats are generally willing to get back in the carrier at the vets because it is better than the alternative!

@Bangkokbaby - keeping that one up my sleeve!!

I used to tip out the contents of two plastic laundry baskets and plop my late Dcat into one, clapping the other basket over the bottom one, then used twist ties to keep the baskets together.

This is hysterical.I’m picturing the reality of trying to do this to my feral cat. He would take half my face off before I’d even laid the towel across his back.

Ours is a fiend, too quick for the towel. Even took the cat sanctuary 2 goes to get her in. They said good luck with her!!!

She is small and not fierce but can shift like greased lightening.

Now we have basket out at all times and feed her in it. She stetches out long and thin so her back legs are outside. Not daft.

DH has the fastest reflexes so on vet days he is allocated to shut the door.

Have missed a number of vet trips in past as she has gone awol at the speed of light - she does the star fish thing as well - legs out with claws to catch hold of basket edge.

Top loader for next basket - but do they not just leap out?

Maybe my reflexes are just not up to the job of cat handler.

@Alltheyearround You have to be quick with the lid, but we’ve never failed yet.
We have a mesh basket and the whole lid hinges up so you have a big space to drop the cat through. Ideally a second person is starting to close the lid as you put the cat in, but I do it by myself usually.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MDC-Cat-Carrying-Basket-Black/dp/B01DZXNH26/ref=asc_df_B01DZXNH26/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309990657539&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11468883409736723166&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045119&hvtargid=pla-655113535193&psc=1

Sorry, no advice but this is a hilarious thread. Who knew there would be so many ways to stuff a cat into a box!