Part of the A1017 was closed today. The A1017 is the main access to our cattery, as it crosses the eastern end of Lamb Lane. It’s a busy road at the best of times. The closure caused an outbreak of congestion and cussing as vehicles tried to turn around at the barriers. Drivers travelling to the cattery were joined by others trying to find a way around the closure, causing our own local traffic jam and sending arrival times out of the window.
It made me think about transporting cats to and from the cattery. As soon as you start pulling out the suitcases and getting the cat carriers out of the attic, cats know something’s about to disrupt their routines. When you want to put them into the carrier for the trip to the cattery, suddenly they find all the hiding places you never knew existed. One of our clients brought three of her four cats on time and reported that Tigger had been shut safely in the kitchen. When she’d returned with the carrier, Tigger had disappeared. There was no chance that he had escaped from the room, and nowhere in the kitchen he could hide that she could find. After fifteen minutes of calling, searching and treat-rattling, she’d given up, shut all the doors into and out of the kitchen and brought the others to us. She returned home to find Tigger sitting in the middle of the kitchen waiting for his food. She still doesn’t know where he managed to hide.
For the calmest trip to the cattery… plan ahead.
Get the cat carriers out a few days early. Be sneaky – put their favourite toy or dry treats into the carrier and leave the door open. Leave them to explore – don’t try to coax them in or peer in at them if they go into the carrier. If you find them asleep in the carrier, let them sleep (that’s a win). The more often the cat gets to sit in the carrier and nothing happens, the more he or she understands that the carrier is not always a scary place.
The day arrives when you need to put the cat into the carrier and put the carrier into the car. Placid cats will be irritated, but will allow you to pick them up, give them some fuss and place them gently inside. Nervous cats will run and hide. The more you pursue them, the more worried they become. By the time they get into the carrier you’re both upset.
The best approach is to locate and lock off all the hiding places you can find the day before, without making any great fuss about it. Get everyone in the house to be calm and quiet in the hour or two before you need to leave. Make sure you know where the cat is, so you can approach him or her casually when it’s time to pick them up. Lastly… don’t feel that you’ve failed if the cat is still worried. It takes time, but you’ve begun to build the pattern of getting the cat into the carrier calmly.
The same rules apply when you’re driving to the cattery. Check ahead of time for anything that might cause a delay or diversion. Drive at a steady pace – gently around bends and no sudden acceleration or braking if you can help it. Stick to quiet music or silence. Talking in a calm voice lets the cat know that you’re there and you aren’t worried. I think it helps the humans to relax, too.
Don’t be too driven to chase your cat into a corner to stick to an arrival time. Do your best, but if the cat needs an extra ten minutes to be coaxed into the carrier, ring us and discuss it. We understand.
Eventually, your skittish cat will come to understand that nothing really awful happens. They’re not allowed out (“What?”), put into a carrier (“Well, really!”) and driven to the cattery. Once there, they’re shown into a cabin that smells of cleaning chemicals (“Oh yuk!”) with a bowl of dry food, comfy bedding and ramps to explore (“Ooo, this is nice…”). Usually, the first thing the cat does on being let out of their carrier is to head for the treats, explore the corridor and then settle into a cushion in their cabin to sleep off the excitement of the day. As they grow older, they might lead you on a token game of hide and seek or grumble all the way from home to the cattery, but they will come to accept that this is an odd game you play every so often. We’ll look after them while you’re gone, and soon you’ll come back to take them home to a bowl of their favourite food and their own bed.
