Has anybody ever put their cat into a car without the carrier?
Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at
11:56 am
I put my cat in a carrier for the first time to take her in my car. She was so fearful that her heart was beating extremely fast and her mouth was wide open the entire time. She was also meowing constantly, but I was most concerned about her heavy panting and wide open mouth. She also became aggressive and tried to escape the carrier. I’m wondering if I could put her in the car directly because maybe the carrier was the main problem.
Filed under: Cat Supplies
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Please don’t do that. It is very dangerous and your cat will be as traumatized from being in the car as being in a carrier.
I would suggest you get a bottle of Rescue Remedy from a health foods store. You shake the bottle well – put drops on a towel or such in the carrier and give two doses in the half hour before she goes in the carrier.
I know your cat may be scared, but you have to keep it in its’ carrier. the cat might be thrown around in the car, and could possibly vomit. She might wander around the cat and get hurt. I think most cats get scared. my cat meows when he goes to the vet too. give her a toy that she loves to play with, and put it in there. she can chew on it, and hopefully keep her mind off of the ride. Hope this helps
DONT DO IT! She could cause you to have a wreck or get straggled in a seat belt or something and then you wouldnt be able to help sinc your drivin….try putting a blanket in there with her or sumthin that she’s familar with lik a fav. toy…
For your own safety never ever put a cat with claws into a car without a carrier if you want to be able to get out unscathed. Your cat was petrified since it was her first time being taken for a car ride. She needs more time to adapt to riding in a moving vehicle then she will calm down considerably more, be patient with her and allow her to ride with a carrier in the front seat of your vehicle more often this will allow her to understand that riding in a car is not so bad after all. If you schedule a vet appointment for her she will have to be transported by vehicle so its best to get her used to your vehicle.
she’ll get used to it, just don’t open any windows
Yes, but this is dangerous. Put her in the carrier and put a towel over it.
Your cat might run out of the car when you open the door.
My cat did that when he was little. He ran across a four lane street. Luckily he didn’t get hit by a car or get lost.
Leave the carrier out so you cat will get used to it, like a week before you have to take her to the vet. Try putting your cats food in there too.
Don’t do it because cats get scared there but you must put her in the carrier or she may get traumatized and more
I travelled half way across Canada with my cat sitting on a pile of household pillows under the rear hatch. Would have used the cat carrier but we could not remember who we lent it to.
I would never recommend this way to transport a cat but in our instance everything worked out okay. 2-1/2 days of high speed highway travel and two nights in motels did not faze her one bit.
YEP
Done it both ways
Depends on cat, on their personality
Accustom her to carrier in house
Try her in car without driving anywhere. Get her used to it.
Let her explore car
Some cats are very nervous of carrier.
Some cats are very nervous of car movement and even carsick
Put carrier out in house with soft blankie in there, toy, maybe some catnip
Two of my cats LOVE their carrier, play in there, go in and out
If you are just going for a nice ride then its fine but just keep the windows locked and the ac on. my cat stepped on the window roller down thing and it went down and he freaked out. but still, keep them locked. if your going to the vet however, you can let your cat out of the carrier in the car but once you get there you got to but her in the carrier. if she dosnt like it even if its her size you may want to get a bigger one so she has more space to walk a bit.
You should be keeping your cat in the carrier, it’s safer for both you and your cat. Start out by making sure the carrier is the right size. If it’s too small, she may be feeling claustrophobic, which would make her panic like she did before: panting for breath and a racing heart. Keep an old towel in the carrier so she can sit on something soft rather than just the hard, cold plastic bottom of the carrier.
Try to get her used to the carrier at home rather than in a moving car. Put a low-calorie cat treat (seeing as you’ll be using these often, it’s best to opt for the low calorie ones rather than fattening up your cat =]) in the cat carrier. Be patient and wait for your cat to go into the carrier and get it, but don’t close the door. Do this a few times until she’s used to being in the carrier. Then, start to close and secure the door while she’s in the carrier. After she’s used to that, start carrying around the carrier for a few moments. When she’s accustomed to that, put her in the carrier and bring the carrier into the car, but don’t start it. And, finally, once she’s used to that, bring her (in the carrier, obviously) into the car and start the car. (For each of these steps, she should be receiving one cat treat during some point of being in the cat carrier.)
If, however, she refuses to go into the cat carrier even with the treats inside, put her into the cat carrier and then give her a treat, and do that with all of the above steps rather than just luring her into the carrier with a treat.
Hope I helped!
- Alice