How to get an Aggressive Cat into a Carrier?

If you need to go to the vet, you’re taking your cat along for travel, or you’re bringing your cat to a friend’s house to keep an eye on it, you’ll need to put it in a carrier. If you have a friendly or normally tempered cat, getting it into a carrier for travel shouldn’t be a problem.

However, some cats can be aggressive, which will make getting it into the carrier much harder and more dangerous. Let’s go over some of the best tips to help prevent you from being scratched and bitten as you try to get your cat into its carrier.

The Right Carrier

The first tip to keep in mind is that the right carrier will make getting an aggressive cat into it much easier. This means getting a carrier that has a large opening with a large door.

If you need to pick up a cat that’s fighting you, a large opening will make it easier to get the cat into the carrier.

You also want a door that automatically locks when it is closed, so you don’t have to try and manually lock a door while a cat is fighting you from inside the carrier.

Gloves and Long Sleeves

If you are going to try and power your way through this scenario, or in other words, you’re just going to take your chances and pick the cat up, wearing the right gear is essential. This means wearing long sleeves, maybe even two-long sleeve shirts.

At the same time, wearing thick gloves is recommended as well. Thick winter gloves or even some gardening gloves will do fine for this purpose, just as long as a cat’s claws can’t make their way through the material.

When you go to pick up an aggressive cat, you want to be wearing some protective layers to keep from getting scratched up. Wear your gear, pick it up, weather the storm, and get it into the carrier as fast as possible.

The Towel Method

Either way, wearing gloves and long sleeves is highly recommended when trying to get an aggressive cat into a carrier. However, if you want to add another layer of protection, using a large towel is an option.

With your protective gear already on, take a large and thick towel, and wrap it around the cat. Take the towel, quickly place it on the cat from above, wrap the cat up, and put the whole bundle into the carrier.

The towel wrapped around the cat will prevent them from flailing their limbs and catching you with those razor-sharp claws.

If you can take the towel off with the cat in the carrier, power to you, but if this is not possible, just leave the towel in the carrier with the cat. It may come in handy when it comes time for getting the cat out of the carrier.

Bribery Works Too

If you don’t want to touch the aggressive cat, but you still need to get the little beast into a carrier, bribery is a go-to option. If your cat has a favorite toy that it can’t resist going after, place it in the carrier and make sure the cat knows it’s in there.

If the toy is not enough to entice your cat into the carrier, take things one step further and use some food. A bit of meaty cat treats or maybe even some tuna should do the trick. Cats are still animals and no cat can resist a good treat.

If all goes well, the food should lure the cat into the carrier and distract it for long enough so you can close the door behind it, before it notices that it has been duped.

The Trusty Laser Pointer

Have you ever seen those videos of cats going mental trying to catch the dot from a laser pointer? Whatever the reason for the cat’s obsession with that red or green dot, this is something you can use to your advantage.

If you have a cat that goes wild for the laser pointer, which most cats do, shine the laser into the carrier. You may have to start by shining the laser at the ground near the carrier and slowly luring the cat into the carrier over the span of a few minutes.

If you have a really wild cat that absolutely loves going for the laser dot, you might be able to manage shining it into the carrier right from the get-go. Most cats won’t be able to resist.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt about the fact that some cats can be aggressive, and this makes getting them into a carrier a difficult task. However, using the above tips and methods, you should be able to get the cat into the carrier without getting bitten or scratched.