Cat Cages

[catnip]

Hi

Might be a bit of a silly question but what's the best way to get your cat used to cat cages for transporting to the vets etc? It's just my mother's two cats are impossible to get in to them and we want to train our kitty to not totally hate it!

 

[yayi]

Although my cats are not very fond of their cages, they are not difficult to put in. For a few days, I leave the cages open and put treats or their food in there. And that's it. However, because they have only been used for vet visits, the cats know exactly what the cages are for.

 

[sandtigress]

The thing to do is disassociate the cages from "evil vet trips". You want to make them a happy place to be, so you could put comfy towels/blankets/beds in there, leave them open all the time, and put fun toys or yummy treats inside. Ideally, the cats would be comfortable enough with them to just hang out in them.

Maybe once in awhile you could close the door for a little bit with kitty inside, then open it back up again and give him/her a treat, just to show that closing the door isn't a scary thing.

 

[mom of 4]

I have Zoey's crate open and accessible all of the time. Periodically I will put her food in it to encourage her to go in and out of it. Her lamb's wool bed is always lying in front of the crate entrance, so she is there often.
Sometimes I even find her in the dog's huge crate.

 

[jen]

I have carriers and stuff laying around all the time. Now if I put a new one down, they all immediately come there to explore it and fight over who gets to go in. They sleep in them sometimes and I don't even usually put blankets in them.

 

[cococat]

I don't know. Mine has always like the dog's crates, she sometimes lays in there b/c they are soft and always open. She likes her crate too, although she doesn't have to get in it much, if I throw in a treat it isn't a problem she is so curious she usually just goes in on her own

 

[catnip]

Thanks. Will give those suggestions a try.

 

[catnip]

Well I decided to leave the cage open in the kitchen for the kitten to explore since yesterday. He was in and out, having great fun exploring. But this morning he peed in it! This is the first accident he has had; he was no bother to train. So I had to close the cage as I was leaving him alone for a few hours this morning.

Not sure what to do now as if he starts to see it as another place to go, I can't risk leaving it open!

 

[feral65]

duct tape. JUST kidding! sorry, i couldn't resist. :-)

really, it's not that hard but you have to be fast, have a firm grip, and show no fear. just do it as quickly as possible. this is one situation where even your 15 year old sweet cat will protest and could hurt you otherwise...

 

[camille eonich]

You can get the cats used to the cages, mine sleep in theirs, but when it's time for you to put them in the cage there is no way they are going in the hateful thing.


Put the cage up on a table or a counter with the door all the way to the edge. That way once you catch the cat and try to put it in the cage there is nothing for them to get a foot hold on. Mine don't even try to fight anymore.

 

[EnzoLeya]

I put the food dish in ours when we first got it. Now when we get out the pet carrier he runs right in looking for a treat, whether or not I remembered to put one in their.

 

[danigirl16003]

My cats love there cages. Since my husband and I have no kids our cats have a room to them selves so that is where there litter boxes are and one of there food and water bowls are and the rest of the cat stuff goes. We just keep our 4 cages stacked 2 high side by side.
We bought our cages a few weeks after we got our cats to take them to their first vet appointment. (We only had 3 cats then) They hated them. It was a struggle to get the 3 of them in there cages. After we got home from the appointment my husband let the cats out and asked were he should put them. I had him put them in the cats' room. He left the doors on them open and soon over time we noticed that we would come in and they would be sleeping in them.
Now days around our house everyday between 3:30 and 4:00pm our 4 cats climb in to there cages in the livingroom and meow like crazy becuse they know that 2 of the cats get on there harnesses and leashes and go for walks for 15 minutes each (separately). Then the 4 of them get fed soft cat food or canned cat food and cat sip milk for cats. We feed them locked in there cages becuse otherwise they argue over who has more. Then the other 2 get taken out for walks.
Mine just go in now becuse they know they get treats and good food and they will get to go outside so to them the cage equals good things.
To get cats to like there cages I would put treats in the cages and leave the cages open and out all the time. My cats also like small stuffed animals so I put them in the cages so they have cage buddies.
It is strange to me that my cats like the cage though becuse when one is being rambuctious and is starting fights and just bing a terror they get put in a cage for 5 minutes with a towel over it so they are blocked of all stumulation and have to calm down. They always come out of what my husband and I started calling "the time out box" looking like they just woke up from a refreshing nap and there happy to come out and be calm. Even though we use it as a form of punnishment they still like there cages becuse more good things happen in the cage than bad.

I hope that helped I know that was a lot of rambling but when I start talking about my fuzzie babies I can go on and on. Good thing this is the internet becuse if some stranger started talking about cats I would whip out my wallet filled with pictures of the 4 of them.