Shy Large Cat And Pet Carrier

[FeralMoggie]

Hello

We have recently adopted a rescue cat named Eddie he is a large, quiet and shy cat. We have
been told by the cat adoption centre that Eddie has had a bit of a rough passed with his
previouse owners. Our thoughts are that at some point he may have been hit or kicked because he does have a slight limp on one of his front legs. The point of me putting this post in is we
need to find a better way of getting Eddie into his pet carrier to get him to see a vet for
a regular checkup and to get his claws clipped. Eddie is a large muscular male tom cat with large claws hence we have to have them clipped every so often. He is not used to being picked up and when we do attempt to pick him he always struggles and it does traumatise him and it really makes him lose the trust weve built up over the months. Then it takes him days after to gain back any trust to allow us to get close to him again its just as upsetting for us as it is for him. Im wondering whether anyone can offer any advice on how we can get him used to his pet carrier and make this less stressfull for him aswell as it is for us afterwards. We love Eddie and we really dont want to traumatise him or hurt him.

Thank You.

 

[Kflowers]

Get the largest carrier that you can manage. This means the door will be wider and less likely to bump his legs. Unless your vet gives you some calming gel (it exists and others here know the name of it, I don't) getting into the box will just be a trial.

Sometimes it helps to leave the carrier out all the time with a nice cushion in it. Put treats inside and let him come and go as he wishes. He needs to think of the carrier as a den, a safe place. There that's the general advice and I've seen it work. Mine, Sweet Gum, considers her carrier a safe place - she runs to it when there is a weather alert in case I want to push her in and take her to the basement. This took a couple of months.

I do not understand why the carrier remains a safe place in the cat's mind after being pushed in (you always have to give a bit of a push) and taken to the vet, but it does, at least for mine. Sweet Gum maybe a little abnormal.

With others, I've used the cover with a towel and shove towel and cat into the box.

Where it is normal for cats particularly large cats to be uncomfortable when being picked up, you might want to ask your vet to give him an exam, maybe x-ray to be certain everything is where it should be. If someone kicked him, they may have injured his middle and displaced organs. And certainly look at the bad leg and the connections from it to the rest of him.

When picking up a large cat, loop one arm under his chest and the other under his back legs. You want to take most of the weight on his back half. Too much of the weight on his chest, under your arm will make it difficult for him to breath and he will panic.

 

[FeralMoggie]

Get the largest carrier that you can manage. This means the door will be wider and less likely to bump his legs. Unless your vet gives you some calming gel (it exists and others here know the name of it, I don't) getting into the box will just be a trial.

Sometimes it helps to leave the carrier out all the time with a nice cushion in it. Put treats inside and let him come and go as he wishes. He needs to think of the carrier as a den, a safe place. There that's the general advice and I've seen it work. Mine, Sweet Gum, considers her carrier a safe place - she runs to it when there is a weather alert in case I want to push her in and take her to the basement. This took a couple of months.

I do not understand why the carrier remains a safe place in the cat's mind after being pushed in (you always have to give a bit of a push) and taken to the vet, but it does, at least for mine. Sweet Gum maybe a little abnormal.

With others, I've used the cover with a towel and shove towel and cat into the box.

Where it is normal for cats particularly large cats to be uncomfortable when being picked up, you might want to ask your vet to give him an exam, maybe x-ray to be certain everything is where it should be. If someone kicked him, they may have injured his middle and displaced organs. And certainly look at the bad leg and the connections from it to the rest of him.

When picking up a large cat, loop one arm under his chest and the other under his back legs. You want to take most of the weight on his back half. Too much of the weight on his chest, under your arm will make it difficult for him to breath and he will panic.

Hello Kflowers.

Thank you for your reply and advice. The problem is with Eddie being such a big bulkie cat that does not like being handeled and having a rough past with his previous owners, it can be traumatising for him and myself. He went to the vets yesterday for his check up and when i went to pick him up he struggeled backwards out my arms and almost fell to the floor. Im worried i may of hurt him when i tried to stop from falling because i think i may have gripped him a bit to hard to stop him from falling. Now he wont even come close to me and its beginning to bother me a bit now. I dont want him to associate me as someone who will hurt him which i will never do. Im trying to find a way of doing this with out being traumatic to him and ourselves.

 

[FeralMoggie]

Hello Kflowers.

Thank you for your reply and advice. The problem is with Eddie being such a big bulkie cat that does not like being handeled and having a rough past with his previous owners, it can be traumatising for him and myself. He went to the vets yesterday for his check up and when i went to pick him up he struggeled backwards out my arms and almost fell to the floor. Im worried i may of hurt him when i tried to stop from falling because i think i may have gripped him a bit to hard to stop him from falling. Now he wont even come close to me and its beginning to bother me a bit now. I dont want him to associate me as someone who will hurt him which i will never do. Im trying to find a way of doing this with out being traumatic to him and ourselves.

Another problem about this is we spend 6 months gaining his trust and then a simple visit to the vets comes along and then all that time we spend gaining his trust goes out the window in a matter of minutes trying to get him in his pet carrier. It is very annoying and upsetting, now its going to take another week or so to get him to come close to me.

 

[Kflowers]

Did the vet say why he was limping?

A lot of cats require a day or so just to recover from your fit of insanity. I mean what other reason could you have had for taking them to the poking stranger in the stinky office? Once a couple of days pass and dinner turns up and nothing else disconcerting happens, he'll decide your episode has passed and everything is cool.

I hate to say it, but vet visits are a part of life. So is the abiity to stuff him in a carrier. You may have to carry him to safety -- the basement or inside hallway if there is a tornado or hail storm that might break the windows and scartter glass over the floors, or out of the house if there is a fire or the furnace blows up.

Again heavy cats have trouble breathing if you do the major lifting under their chests.

Yes, I know the wiggle back in attempt to escape. I've caught one as he wiggled and was holding him upside down by his back half. That was good for a few hours' sulk. He was used to going to the vet and coming home.

I had another who actually became so upset she had a stroke on the way to the vet. At least that's what the vet said. She recovered from it. The vet gave her Valium to take before I brought her in in the future. Since she went to the basement for storms all right, I think she was afraid of the car.

 

[Kflowers]

Not all the work you've done has gone away. Each venture with a return to the safe place strengths what he's learned. He discovers he can be in the carrier and go to the vet and then come home and every thing is fine. It's the way confidence and security are built.

 

[FeralMoggie]

Did the vet say why he was limping?

A lot of cats require a day or so just to recover from your fit of insanity. I mean what other reason could you have had for taking them to the poking stranger in the stinky office? Once a couple of days pass and dinner turns up and nothing else disconcerting happens, he'll decide your episode has passed and everything is cool.

I hate to say it, but vet visits are a part of life. So is the abiity to stuff him in a carrier. You may have to carry him to safety -- the basement or inside hallway if there is a tornado or hail storm that might break the windows and scartter glass over the floors, or out of the house if there is a fire or the furnace blows up.

Again heavy cats have trouble breathing if you do the major lifting under their chests.

Yes, I know the wiggle back in attempt to escape. I've caught one as he wiggled and was holding him upside down by his back half. That was good for a few hours' sulk. He was used to going to the vet and coming home.

I had another who actually became so upset she had a stroke on the way to the vet. At least that's what the vet said. She recovered from it. The vet gave her Valium to take before I brought her in in the future. Since she went to the basement for storms all right, I think she was afraid of the car.

Yes Eddie has a slight limp, we seem to think it was something to do with his previous owners, he may have been hit or kicked at some point because he doesn't like peoples feet or shoes. Hes a strong cat but hes had a rough past with being passed on from owner to owner, he also had a older brother that he used to play with but they were both split up when they were young. Hes a tuxedo cat with a sweet face and i do love him alot even though he does have a nasty habbit of using his claws somtimes when i come to fuss him but i dont he intentionaly does it though. Thank You for your replys by the way

 

[jen]

Yes Eddie has a slight limp, we seem to think it was something to do with his previous owners, he may have been hit or kicked at some point because he doesn't like peoples feet or shoes.

If he is a large boy my thought would be arthritis.

 

[Kflowers]

Arthritis can start at any age. My Sweet gum developed it before she was a year old.

 

[Father of furbabies]

If you have room, setup the carrier in the corner of the room and encourage him with treats to investigate it (someone mentioned this). Put a cushion in it also.

Once he is trusting you, put a dirty shirt in there also so he can smell you. It might be comforting to him to think you are in there with him.

If he chases toys try tossing one near the carrier and slowly work him into chasing it into the carrier. This will let him grow comfortable with the carrier and not see it as a threat. Once he is comfortable with the carrier, put him in it and carry him to another room and let him out. Again this is to get him comfortable with the carrier and it being moved about.

Don't force the issue but try to do it every other day or few days so it becomes routine with him.

Now the issue of picking him up. Just sit on the floor where you are comfortable and play with him while slowly encouraging him to get closer to you. Once he is comfortable with being next to you to be petted and played with, slip him into your lap and continue. The next step is moving the same procedure to sitting in a chair or on a sofa. Once he is comfortable with that, try carrying him from room to room and just putting him down. In time he will like being picked up and carried.

All in all it just takes time and patience. Never give up as a cat that came from a damaged home, if it even had a home, takes time to relearn how to trust and love.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Hello

We have recently adopted a rescue cat named Eddie he is a large, quiet and shy cat. We have
been told by the cat adoption centre that Eddie has had a bit of a rough passed with his
previouse owners. Our thoughts are that at some point he may have been hit or kicked because he does have a slight limp on one of his front legs. The point of me putting this post in is we
need to find a better way of getting Eddie into his pet carrier to get him to see a vet for
a regular checkup and to get his claws clipped. Eddie is a large muscular male tom cat with large claws hence we have to have them clipped every so often. He is not used to being picked up and when we do attempt to pick him he always struggles and it does traumatise him and it really makes him lose the trust weve built up over the months. Then it takes him days after to gain back any trust to allow us to get close to him again its just as upsetting for us as it is for him. Im wondering whether anyone can offer any advice on how we can get him used to his pet carrier and make this less stressfull for him aswell as it is for us afterwards. We love Eddie and we really dont want to traumatise him or hurt him.

Thank You.

Hello, F FeralMoggie and Eddie, and welcome to TCS! Eddie sounds like a very sweet little man (we'd love to see pix!) and other posters have given excellent suggestions which I can't really add to except to say WELCOME! and please keep us posted on his progress, won't you?

 

[basscat]

Getting them used to it or teaching them not to be afraid? Take the door off and put some bedding in it...and treats every now and then. They like boxes and curiosity will eventually get the better of them. Just more or less keep it near them. And use the other advice listed above also.
HOWEVER,
I use the smallest carrier I can get away with. Less room inside has always translated to less "fit throwing", and easier to carry (less bumping into stuff).
I use a medium dog carrier. And there's PLENTY of room in one of those.

Frisco Plastic Kennel, Almond & Black

 

[Kflowers]

I did suggest the biggest carrier you could handle to make it easier to stuff him inside. Of course, I forgot that makes it easier for him to wiggle passed you on the way out before you get the door shut. On the other hand the larger carrier will be easier to pad with pillows. There's a lot to be said for either size.

Basscat is right the smallest possible one is the easiest for you to carrier. There is some mathematical/physics thing that happens when you put the cat in the case and have to hold it way out to your side that increases the weight. It increases more as the cat starts pacing.

The last carrier, but one that I used was for teenage cats. It fit one of mine like an overcoat, but it was easy to carry. And as Basscat said it did eliminate the pacing, the wiggling and the fighting once they were in it. We unscrewed the top to take them out. Still do that.

 

[basscat]

Cat sizes-vs-carriers can fool you. I have a small carrier. I would call this your basic normal sized cat carrier. Our big cat is too big for one of those.
So, I use what's considered a medium. You would swear it's too small as well. But, once he's in there. He'll sort of half way curl up...appears to be comfy and acts like he comfy. And there's still quite a bit floor space left.

 

[Kflowers]

That's a good size. It's the size in relation to SG's size that we use. I was using the smaller one when we had the 15-17lb cats and it was really hard to carry them off to the side. I'm assuming that's not a lot of weight to you, but it was more than enough for me. A cat is much heavier in a carrier than when you've got him in your arms.

here's a hint to keep things calm at the vet. Many vets for some reason want to weight cats in the reception area or the high traffic area inside the clinic. They will even try to use the same scales they use for dogs (cat does not want to touch the floor touched by strange dogs). Weight your carrier and whatever you stuff it with without the cat in it. Write the weight on a strip of masking tape and tape that to the top of the carrier. Be sure to mention it when the kennel help starts to take your cat away to weight them. The kennel help really appreciate not wrangling unhappy cats more than they need to.

 

[basscat]

Yes! Our carrier weighs 5lbs and that's how we weigh him (cat and carrier).
The vet just takes our word for it though.
And I sure agree with a carrier full of cat being heavier and awkward than just "cat". Ours is carrier trained, which is good. He darts right into it because it means he gets to "go".....BUT, twice a day I realize what a mistake it was not to have a harness and leash on him from day one.
I carry him to his outdoor enclosure every morning, and to back inside every evening. UGH
So if you have a big cat, harness and leash training does have it's advantages.

 

[Kflowers]

I got an adorable safari jacket harness for SG about a year ago. The instructions said to leave it where she could get used to seeing it, smelling it, touching it. She has yet to go near it.

 

[mschauer]

I quickly scanned the other replies and I don't think anyone has suggested this yet: Gabapentin. It isn't it's main purpose but it can be given to cats to relieve anxiety.

One of my kitties, Coco, has always had carrier terrors. Getting her into a carrier has always been extremely traumatizing for both her and me. I tried all the usual suggestions and nothing helped. I also had never been able to clip her claws.

I recently changed vets and the new one recommended Gabapentin. I tried it and it is magic! I give it to her once a month so I can do monthly "maintenance" like claw clipping and Adequan injections. I also give it to her before a vet visit.

Better still, in the short time I've used it she has become easier to handle even when she isn't "under the influence". I think she remembers what it was like while she was under the influence and remembers it was nothing to be afraid of.

For this purpose the dose is 100 mg and and takes at least 3 hours (4 for Coco) to reach full effectiveness. The dose might be higher for a big cat.

It is a prescription drug so you'll need to talk to your vet about it.

Oh, and it is available as a flavored melt tab that can be crushed and added to food. I have a lot of experience pilling cats but it is just impossible with Coco.

 

[Maria Bayote]

Put his favorite toys inside his crate, and yes, your used shirt or two. Leave it open until he gets familiar with it. I understand the difficulty and stress as I had one cat also before who I rescued from the streets and was so afraid of any moving objects and loud voices. Everyday I had to search for her at the most impossible of hiding places in the house, and could not be touched. It took us a lot of time to gain her trust and eventually became a lap cat. Soon when your cat senses he is not going to be intentionally hurt anymore I am sure he will come around.

 

[Purr-fect]

I agree with others. Leave the carrier open in an area he frequents. Put a few treats in it. Let him get comfortable with the carrier. Dont approach him when he is in it.

Greg and arnold are now so comfortable with the carrier that they will go an lay in it when we put it out. The other day we had to take greg to the vet. He was suddenly limping.

When I picked up greg to put him in the carrier, I found arnold laying in it. He wouldnt get out. I had to tilt it to get him to leave.

The trip to the vet is another story.

Ps our boys are also big. I bought 2 medium sized dog carriers to transport the cats. The carriers were used previously. I disinfected them and scrubbed the surfaces. New carriers are ridiculously expensive. The boys would have panicked in a standard sized cat carrier as they couldnt even turn around.