Re: Newbie questions: What kind of pet carrier?

"Wendy" wrote
"-mhd" wrote in message

>>Although a soft one will work fine to hold a cat, you may find the cat 
>>gets
>>'scared' and pees in the carrier.  If you have a soft type, you will
have 
>>issue getting it clean again.  A hard carrier will not have this
problem.

>>Easiest hard carriers have an entry gate at the 'front' and at the top 
>>both.  Also, put a towel at the bottom so if they do 'pee' because they 
>>are scared, you wont be bringing a wet kitty to the vet and trying to
dry 
>>the worst off
>>as she/he gets examined.

> I prefer soft ones as they much easier to carry and are probably much
> more comfortable for the cat. As far as accidents go I would much
> rather throw the bag in the washer than try to wash a car seat that
> the hard carrier drained onto. A towel fits just fine in the soft bags
> as well.

True but most of the ones I saw, were too small for my cat or had enough 
soft 'filler' as to be difficult to deal with in a wa****ng machine.  I've 
had 2 cats who were 'pee-ers' and the deep bottom of the plastic ones have

worked well.
> -mhd
>
> I would imagine the size and weight of the cat might determine which
type 
> serves better. I haven't seen too many x-large soft carriers and would 
> worry about the handle pulling off if I was lugging around a large cat.
I 
> lug a lot of cats around though and most people only need to use their 
> carrier on the occasions kitty visits the vet.

That too.  And thanks for quoting mhd- due to spam, I tend to filter on 
@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 here.  mhd is just an innocent casualty of this.

> I have had some cats who preferred not to have much of a view and many
of 
> the soft sided ones have screening on the sides that would provide too 
> much view to a skittish cat. I'm not overly impressed with the zipper 
> closures either. If one has a cat who really doesn't want to be in the 
> carrier,

The ones I saw didnt look all that strong.  I was worried if I did have to

try and wash it, it wouldnt survive.

> having to zip close provides too much time for the kitty to engineer an 
> escape. I do like something with a top door though in case you need to
get 
> a sick kitty in and out of the carrier. Years ago I had to take a
carrier 
> apart to get a sick boy out of it and have gone for carriers with a top 
> door since. You do have to double check to make sure the top door stays 
> latched though as some have a tendency to work their way open. Bottom
line 
> is that I would imagine you get whatever type best suits your cat.

All good!  If 'Newbie' has a storage problem, she may find the collapsable

soft carrier that can be stored is best of all for her needs.