One cat would yell for a while, then settle down. When she was older, it took longer for her to settle down, until she was just yelling constantly for hours. I finally gave up and let her out of the carrier - the only time I’ve ever done that, and we were an hour from home with no traffic and no stops needed - and she stopped yelling immediately, just stood on my lap, panting.
At which point I realized that, as large as our car carrier was (it’s one of the largest ‘carryable’ ones I’ve seen), it wasn’t quite tall enough for the cat to stand completely upright and she was in pain because of her arthritis. We’d been torturing her, for hours! We made some changes after that!
For people who have carriers with a smooth or only slightly rough bottom: your cat may be yelling because they can’t keep traction and are unexpectedly sliding a bit on curves and turns. We got one of those non-slip shower mats and cut it down to size, to reduce slipping, then added a beach towel for comfort. Everything is still washable (use white vinegar to get rid of the smell of cat urine), but the cat is much happier!
I was told a cat carrier should be large enough the cat can stand fully upright, and wide enough they can turn around without too much difficulty! I usually put a towel in the bottom for grip, but bath mat and towel sounds even better!
Ours is an old carrier. The interior dimensions are 16 inches tall, 14 inches wide, and 24 inches long. Our cat was maybe 14 inches tall, but of course she wouldn’t want to stand fully upright and either bang her head on the roof, or constantly brushing her ears against it. Plus the bath mat and towel ‘raised’ the floor a bit. And sometimes when you scream, you just want to throw your head back and let go!
I like the bath mat because I can suction it to the bottom of the carrier, so neither she nor the towel slide around like they would on plain plastic or metal.
One cat would yell for a while, then settle down. When she was older, it took longer for her to settle down, until she was just yelling constantly for hours. I finally gave up and let her out of the carrier - the only time I’ve ever done that, and we were an hour from home with no traffic and no stops needed - and she stopped yelling immediately, just stood on my lap, panting.
At which point I realized that, as large as our car carrier was (it’s one of the largest ‘carryable’ ones I’ve seen), it wasn’t quite tall enough for the cat to stand completely upright and she was in pain because of her arthritis. We’d been torturing her, for hours! We made some changes after that!
For people who have carriers with a smooth or only slightly rough bottom: your cat may be yelling because they can’t keep traction and are unexpectedly sliding a bit on curves and turns. We got one of those non-slip shower mats and cut it down to size, to reduce slipping, then added a beach towel for comfort. Everything is still washable (use white vinegar to get rid of the smell of cat urine), but the cat is much happier!
I’m going to add a bath mat or one of those drawer grippy pads to ours, that’s a really good idea I never thought of.
My old girl vomits in the car. We took her to the vet the other day and it’s literally a 5 minute drive just around the corner and she puked.
Luckily I angled the carrier so she didn’t get any puke on her and none in the car.
She also has arthritis but the motion sickness is the worst part of driving her anywhere. Keeping her angled forward towards the road helps with it.
I was told a cat carrier should be large enough the cat can stand fully upright, and wide enough they can turn around without too much difficulty! I usually put a towel in the bottom for grip, but bath mat and towel sounds even better!
Ours is an old carrier. The interior dimensions are 16 inches tall, 14 inches wide, and 24 inches long. Our cat was maybe 14 inches tall, but of course she wouldn’t want to stand fully upright and either bang her head on the roof, or constantly brushing her ears against it. Plus the bath mat and towel ‘raised’ the floor a bit. And sometimes when you scream, you just want to throw your head back and let go!
I like the bath mat because I can suction it to the bottom of the carrier, so neither she nor the towel slide around like they would on plain plastic or metal.