15 Creative Ideas fur Getting Your Cat Kid to Climb into their Carrier

Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor

Jul 15, 2026 10:15 AM EDT

Putting your cat kid in a carrier is one of the hardest things you can possibly do as a pawrent. But between vet visits, holidays and more, there are more than a few times a year that we need to carry our cats. So I hope this collection of creative ideas will help you convince your cat to climb into their carrier.

On Reddit's r/NoStupidQuestions subreddit there are indeed a lot of questions that could have been answered with a little commonsense, but that is the whole point of the forum. Though I do not believe that the question we are answering with this list a stupid question at all. If anything it is incredibly smart for each and everytime we have to bring out the carrier and watch our cat kids lose their minds it breaks our hearts all over again. I myself cannot say how many times I have spent upwards of an hour chasing after my wriggling cat trying to corral him into his carrier.

But by the end of this list I hope that both you and I will find some suggestions that not only suit our lifestyle but also our cat's. As with anything there is no one size fits all cats rule, so how you end up doing things is down to you guys. I just wish for you to not end up full of scratches with a cat who refuses to leave his hiding spot under the bed.

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Angry looking cat lying on parent in bed next to cartoon cat carrier with no entry sign
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So yeah, I tend to agree that the carrier needs to be a familiar thing to a cat. You should not think of it as solely a stressor, as it only stresses when it is brought out with the sole purpose of taking your cat somewhere. But if it is a regular part of life it is much easier to convince your cat to get in. Heck, part of your play time with them can be putting them in the carrier and closing the door. Through play our cat kids can learn and get used to a lot of different things.
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Now, this one and the bathroom one and many of the others that reference swaddling all fall under the same category - great last minute last resort options. They do work with enough force and lack of fear on your part, but they come at a cost. That cost being stress for the cat and likely a lot of scratches and maybe even bites for you. I would not recommend them being part of your standard operating procedures, only to be used in severe emergencies. The rest of the time make your cat’s carrier a happy and homey place to be where you play with them.
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