Plastic v material transporters and cats getting claustrophobic

JimmyL · Apr 24, 2022

Hi

I have a long journey with two cats, part of which involves 2.5 hours on a plane. I can take my cats on board but the transporter size is quite restrictive. But it does fold out to give more room ( see picture). After the plane ride I can put them in much larger boxes for the remaining car journey.

I have taken a couple of car journeys with the cats to get them used to traveling ( 45 mins on the first practice run) They were OK but started to get a bit agitated. I was worried that they might be claustrophobic. After a while they tryed to push their heads againt the fabric and then claw at it.

I have been told that, after a while, the cats will calm down on the trip; they might go through an early stage of being agitated and frenetic.

I wondered what are peoples experiences of fabric v plastic transporters and keeping cats calm that have to ge in confined spaces for a few hours?
Thanks

ArtNJ · Apr 24, 2022

Cats *like* small cozy spaces...when *they choose* to go in there. They aren't claustrophobic, they just dont like to be confined somewhere not of their chosing, especially when the outside sights and smells are strange and scary. Sometimes, when cats fight after going somewhere (usually the vet) there is the thought that if they are in a two cat carrier, this issue is less likely to develop. However, you aren't going to the vet, and thats really a discrete issue.

So my two cents is that bigger carriers are unlikely to help. Cats just dont travel well. A two cat sized carrier may or may not be more convenient for you, and as noted above it does have potential advantages when taking cats to and from the vet, for cats that sometimes have problems with "non-recognition aggression". Sometimes its easier to get cats in a bigger carrier. But otherwise I dont see it mattering.

LTS3 · Apr 24, 2022

Some cats can claw their way out of soft sided fabric / mesh type carriers. That's something to take into consideration. Even if your cats aren't generally scratchers, a scared stressed cat will be determined to claw their way out of a carrier to escape.

Covering the carrier you end up using with a light towel will help to keep the cats calm because they can't see outside of the carrier and therefore can't react to what they see.