Step 1: Set-up the environment and carrier

Make the carrier a normal part of the environment! If the carrier only appears shortly before your cat must be in it, it's difficult to make it feel like a safe space. Think of the carrier as an opportunity to provide your cat with a new favorite hiding spot and keep it somewhere where your cat can access it at any time. Follow these steps to set up for success! 

1.    Place the carrier in the location you'd like it to stay.

2.    Either remove the door or secure it so it can't swing or shut on its own.

3.    Prepare some tiny pieces of treats (half the size of a pea) or get some of their dry kibble.

4.    Put a couple pieces into the carrier before your cat is in the room. 

Tip: If your cat already has big feelings about the carrier, try draping a towel or small blanket over the top and sides!

Step 2: Associating the carrier with food and good feelings!

Ready to start a training session? Follow these steps:

1.    Let your cat enter the room and toss them a treat any time they look in the direction of the carrier.

o    For now, keep some distance away from the carrier so your cat doesn't have to worry about being forced or shut inside.

2.    Continue tossing treats as they approach, air scent (sniff) or engage with the carrier.

3.    Give your cat the power of choice (check out the first 1:50 min of this video) and remember that moving towards/into and moving away from the carrier will reinforce your cat so they feel safer and more interested in going into the carrier. 

Plan to do several sessions following these steps until your cat seems more enthusiastic about engaging with the carrier! 

Tip: If they do enter the carrier, give them a treat jackpot — provide a larger quantity of treats, either all at once or tossing them very rapidly if you have good aim. Keep in mind, some cats will startle or become fearful if you reach towards the carrier while they're in it, so having the jackpot inside the carrier before you start the session will work best for most adult cats.

Step 3: The only surprises are inside the carrier!

When you're not actively training around the carrier, keep it in the environment — remember, it lives there now — and toss a couple treats or pieces of kibble on top or inside it throughout the week. Check regularly to see if they've been eaten. Where the treats are placed may vary based on your cat’s comfort level. A cat who hasn't ventured inside during a training session may or may not enter the carrier when you aren't around, so make sure treats are easily accessible! You want your cat to find those treats and to show interest in engaging with the carrier on their own. You can also leave small toys inside, such as pipe cleaners, balls or toy mice, catnip filled toys, etc. 

Tips:

• The goal isn't to "bribe" your cat into the carrier, but rather to reward them for choosing to engage. By making sure treats are within easy reach of where they're already comfortable, we reduce the likelihood of bad feelings or too much pressure being associated with the carrier. Many cats may start investigating further inside the carrier on their own even if the treats were just placed by the entryway. 
• Continue this game throughout the training process!

Step 4: Shape further engagement and entering the carrier 

Step up your training game with a shaping exercise!  Shaping is a way of training that lets the animal choose what to do, rather than us telling them what to do. This empowers them to try different things to see what 'works' and allows us to teach both simple and complex behaviors by breaking them into tiny pieces. We reward each small step toward the final behavior as the steps occur in the required order (a --> b --> c-->), and shape into the final desired behavior. It’s often helpful to see an example of shaping to understand the concept, so check out this video example of shaping getting into a box followed by a carrier. Shaping requires some patience, but once our pets start figuring out, it's a lot of fun for you both! Once your cat is comfortable going into a carrier, it's time to introduce the next step, which might be a challenge for some cats.

Step 5: Introducing the door 

1. Reattach the door if you had removed it entirely and ensure it is secure and cannot swing freely.
   • If your cat's behavior changes as a result of adding the door, repeat the earlier training exercises until they return to the same comfort/enthusiasm level as prior to adding the door. 
2. If you did not remove the door, calmly and slowly begin reaching a hand towards the door as your cat is engaging with or positioned inside the carrier. If at any point they flinch, fidget or freeze, stop and remove your hand. You can, if the cat is watching you, toss treats with the other hand to reward them for remaining calm and comfortable. 
   • Do not reach towards the door if the cat is in the carrier with their back to you! We don't want them to feel trapped. 
3. If possible, touch the door and remove your hand while treating the cat for remaining calm. Do this several times until your cat does not appear to react. 
4. A note on door sounds: Many doors have a latching mechanism with springs that makes a noise that is scary for many cats. Practice desensitizing them to these sounds! 
   • Start while your cat is relaxed and facing the carrier but is still some distance away from the carrier. While sitting next to the carrier, use one hand to squeeze the latch mechanism and the other to toss a treat at the same time. After a few times of you squeezing the latch while tossing a treat, make the latch sound and then toss the treat immediately after. The goal is to reward the cat for remaining relaxed. 
   • Oftentimes, our cat will get up during this game and begin to approach since most of us lack perfect aim. When in doubt, toss further than nearer to the carrier. Once your cat is enthusiastically participating and does not seem to mind the sounds, begin tossing a bit closer — in the space between your cat and the carrier (but always closer to the cat). 
   • The goal of this game is to decrease the distance between your cat and the carrier when they hear the sound of the latch so they are enthusiastic about approaching when they hear that sound, as opposed to wanting to move away.
5. After touching the door several times, keep your hand on it and unlatch it, so you can begin to move it. 

Step 6: Introducing door movement

At this point, your cat should be comfortable moving into and out of the carrier, and they are ideally choosing to relax or play with toys while inside. Now it's time to add movement to the door, which for some cats, might be challenging. Watch their body language closely and remember to go slowly despite the excellent progress you've already made! 

1. Begin moving the door slowly, about 1 inch at a time (inwards and then back out) and reward your cat for remaining calm and relaxed either at a distance from the carrier or while engaging with it in some way. Ideally your cat will allow this behavior while inside the carrier before you move to the next step. As with the other exercises, treat while doing this! 
2. Once you can close the door at least halfway in one movement while your cat remains calm inside, begin building the second half of the 'close'! 
3. Immediately after the door reaches the closed position (not latched) open it all the way — you're not quite ready to linger with it shut yet! Continue rewarding for calm, relaxed behavior. Repeat this several times.

Step 7: Closing the door

Once you can close the door while your cat remains calm in the carrier, it's time to build duration! 

1. Hold the door shut for 1-3 seconds before opening it all the way. Pause for 5-10 seconds then repeat, rewarding your cat for remaining in the carrier for the duration of the door being closed as well as once the door has been opened again. 
   • Remember the concept of choice! If your cat needs to step out for a moment to shake it off or take a break, that's absolutely ok! See if they'll go back into the carrier on their own again afterwards — that's the signal they're ready to continue. If they take a longer break or go do something else, they're done for the moment and that's also ok! 
2. After some repetition, begin to squeeze the latch while the door is fully open. Reward them for remaining calm and release the latch again before shutting for 1-3 seconds. Slowly increase the duration the door is shut (not latched). 
3. After some repetition, squeeze the latch and do not release it while closing the door for a few seconds. Slowly increase the duration you hold the latch down while rewarding your cat for remaining calm while the door is shut and when it opens all the way. 
4. After some repetition, close and latch the door for one second while rewarding your cat for remaining calm. Unlatch and open the door and reward them for remaining inside or allow the cat to exit as they need. Increase the duration that the door is closed and latched at a pace your cat is comfortable with! 

Step 8: Carrier-on

From here you'll want to start building comfort with the carrier being picked up and being moved with the cat inside. As you can likely imagine, this is a gradual and mindful process, just like the earlier steps. If you need additional training support, check out our 6-week Cooperative Care & Handling class for dogs and cats which is offered over Zoom (no travel required! See a preview here) or contact us about private lessons (also offered over Zoom). Throughout this process, be sure to continue associating the carrier, movement and travel with rewards and prepare to have higher value treats on hand as you run into challenges at any level of this training plan! 

Tip: ALWAYS hold your carrier with two hands/arms underneath it, as opposed to holding it from the handle. The swinging of a carrier is scary and feels insecure, whereas supporting it from underneath is much more comfortable for you both. In addition, cats prefer to be higher up, rather than at a height that might bring them face to face with a potential predator, like a pup, while at the vet! 

More Tips:

• Make sure your cat stays relaxed through this process.
• Always cover the carrier with a towel or small blanket when you’re out of the house.
• Keep practicing going in and out of the carrier and going for short car rides once in a while so your cat doesn’t associate the carrier with the vet all the time! While out, swing by your local coffee shop and ask for a "Puppuccino" — it's a shot of whipped cream that your cat will enjoy a few licks of! We don't recommend giving them the whole thing as we don't want any upset tummies.
• Looking for more cat training help? Check out our live online Cat Training classes.