Cat carrier training: how to get your cat used to their carrier

Cat carrier training comes down to one rule, and it solves most cases: leave the carrier open all the time in the room where your cat lives. Brought out only on vet days, a carrier becomes an alarm signal — in two or three goes, your cat learns that its appearance means something unpleasant is coming, and they vanish under the bed before you’ve even put it down.

Why your cat hates it

It’s almost never the object itself. It’s what it signals.

Cats link a signal to a consequence very quickly. If the carrier only comes out of the cupboard for the annual jab, the association is made, and it sticks. On top of that there’s a smell problem: a carrier stored away for eleven months smells of cupboard, plastic and — often — the stress of last time. For an animal that reads the world through smell, it’s a strange, worrying object dropped in the middle of their territory.

The good news is that both causes can be fixed, with nothing complicated.

The ten-day carrier training routine

Do this when no journey is planned. It matters: you don’t learn to swim on the day you’re drowning.

Days 1 to 3 — the carrier becomes part of the furniture

Put it down open in the living area, with any doors removed or tied open. Put a piece of fabric your cat already sleeps on inside — not a new blanket, a used one that carries their scent. Then do absolutely nothing else. Don’t call them, don’t point at it. Let them ignore it, sniff it, avoid it.

Days 4 to 6 — it becomes interesting

Drop a treat at the entrance, then the next day a little further in, then right at the back. Never anything that makes them go all the way in on the first day. You can also give them their meals in it, or at least put the bowl in front of it, then closer and closer.

A play session with a fishing-rod toy around and through the carrier goes a long way: your cat goes in mid-chase, without thinking about it.

Days 7 to 8 — closing it, briefly

When they settle in it of their own accord, close it for a few seconds, then open it again before they ask to come out. That’s the whole principle: stop before discomfort, not after. Add a few seconds each time, over several short repetitions rather than one long one.

Days 9 to 10 — movement

Lift the carrier, take three steps, put it down, open it. The next day, walk round the room. Then go down the stairs. Then a spell in the parked car, engine off, and back home without doing anything else.

This last stage is the one almost everyone skips, and yet it’s the one that breaks the “carrier = vet” equation. A cat that has made ten car trips that led nowhere stops anticipating anything.

A carrier that stays out, then tucks away
It unfolds in seconds with no tools, so it can stay open in your living room while your cat gets used to it, then fold down to 12 cm and store flat. Discover the foldable carrier →

The four mistakes that send you back to square one

• Forcing them in while they pull back. A cat that’s pushed clings to the edges, and the experience sticks. If you really have to, bring them in from above and lower them in vertically: that’s why a top-opening carrier makes such a difference.
• Only bringing it out for bad news. This is the root cause. The carrier should live in the room all year round.
• Washing it with a strong product. To a cat, bleach, even diluted, smells very much like urine, and essential oils are toxic to them. Warm water, Marseille soap, bicarbonate of soda if the smell lingers.
• Rushing it. Three weeks of preparation for a fifteen-minute appointment seems out of proportion. Yet it’s the best return on effort you’ll get in your cat’s whole life, because it pays off for the next fifteen years.

If your cat already panics

When the negative association is already in place, two extra steps join the routine.

Neutralise the smell. Wash the carrier with warm water and Marseille soap, sprinkle bicarbonate of soda inside, leave it overnight, then vacuum. You’re wiping away the traces of stress left by previous trips.

Use calming pheromones. A synthetic facial pheromone spray, sprayed into the carrier 30 minutes to an hour beforehand — long enough for the solvent to evaporate — genuinely helps. Spraying it just as you put your cat in is pointless, and the smell of alcohol puts them off.

A carrier that folds also has an advantage during this settling-in phase: left unfolded in the living area all the time, it becomes a familiar piece of furniture, then folds away once the journey is over — as with the foldable carrier.

Visibility also helps a lot during this phase: in a carrier with a clear porthole window, your cat keeps eye contact with you, which noticeably reduces the feeling of being shut in.

You can also transfer their own pheromones: gently rub a cloth on their cheeks, then wipe it along the inside edges of the carrier.

Finally, in the most difficult cases, a vet can prescribe a mild anti-anxiety medication before a journey. It’s not an admission of failure: for a cat with a heart condition or a very old cat, panic is a real medical risk.

On the day

1. Bring the carrier out the day before, or better still, never put it away.
2. Don’t let anything show. Your cat reads your agitation. Get everything ready in advance and keep to your normal pace.
3. Put their harness on before settling them in, and clip it to the inner tether if the carrier has one. The moment you open it is the only real chance of escape.
4. Cover the carrier with a cloth during the journey. It’s the most effective thing you’ll do all day, and it’s free: without the scenery rushing past, a cat often calms down within a few minutes.
5. Carry it close to you, with both hands or over your shoulder, never at arm’s length.

The carrier helps, or it gets in the way

Everything above works with any model. Two features simply shorten the process.

A top opening, first: it lets you lower your cat in vertically instead of pushing them into a tunnel, which removes the most counterproductive move in the whole method. A rigid base, second, because a carrier that keeps its shape when left open in the living room looks like a bed — and ends up becoming one, which is exactly the point.

That’s also why a carrier whose inside feels like a bed — like the quilted model — gets accepted faster than a bare crate.

Our top-opening carrier combines both, with three breathable mesh sides and zips backed by safety clips. The whole range is in the Outdoors & adventure collection.

To choose the carrier itself, start with the guide to choosing a cat carrier; and for the occasion that nearly always prompts this search, see taking your cat to the vet without stress.