I have both the soft and hard sided carriers. I really like the soft one
except that for some reason, it doesn't keep its shape and the top of it
will cave in when my cat is in it. So I usually use the hard one. Both the
soft and hard carriers I have are "top loaders" and I really recommend that.

S.
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"Wendy" wrote in message
...

"-mhd" wrote in message
...
"cshenk" wrote:

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
an
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.

-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.

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, 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.