*Is Your Cat Or Pet Carrier Trained?*
By: John1lt
30 January 2020

In the event of a disaster you may be forced to leave your home, by order of local authorities or of your own choice, in either case I think it is a good idea to train your house pets to ride in a pet carrier. I prefer the hard side plastic carriers. We've had as many as 7 cats and if you've ever moved with a cat you know that sometimes cats can be difficult. A little training will make things better in an emergency or even during routine life events like moving to a new home or going to see the vet.

There have been many evacuations during the recent California wildfires. One survival expert recently posted on his blog how his area was evacuated and he went back into the evacuation zone to retrieve items and the family cat even though he was already out of the area on vacation when the evacuation order was given he said he felt obligated to go back for the cat.

This got me to thinking about how some animals behave when stressed. Some animals are difficult to manage in good times and are worse during stressful times. We have found that by routinely putting our cats in a pet carrier and taking them for a ride the cats are less stressed and easier to handle because they are accustom to being put in a pet carrier. If the cat doesn't associate the carrier with going to strange places and having strangers pock and prod them, aka the vet, then they will be more willing to be put in a pet carrier. Often times instead of taking the cat for a ride we will put a towel over the carrier and leave him alone for 20 or 30 minutes. He's so accustom to being in the carrier now he hardly ever fusses after being put in the carrier. Cats are notoriously hard to train but we had our cats leash trained at one time, we've since stopped that practice but leash training is a much larger article the point is your life and your pets life will be easier in a high stress moment like an evacuation if the animal is trained and accustom to doing activities like being placed in a pet carrier.

If your pet struggles against you when being put in a pet carrier, and I've seen some cats fight for all they are worth against being put in a carrier, I would recommend starting a routine of placing your pet into a pet carrier. Start off with practicing everyday or every other day. Then move to once a week. I wouldn't practice putting a feisty pet in a carrier any less than once a month after they become accustom to being put in the carrier. It's like any other training, once you stop it is soon forgotten and you have to start all over again. Like I said cats are especially hard to train and work with don't give up, there are books and internet resources to help you train your pet. If you do give up and decide the animal is untrainable then plan on leaving that pet behind in an emergency. I have yet to have a pet that couldn't be trained. Animals like routine so if you make it routine they will usually go along with what you want. You may have to entice the animal with food or treats at first but eventually you should be able to easily place your pet in a carrier without any trouble. Once trained even routine events like going to the vet or moving to a new home will be easier and less stressful for you and your pet.

John1lt

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