Yet ANOTHER reason to keep your cat in a carrier when traveling!

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...
in article , CatNipped at
wrote on 2/15/05 6:41 PM:

"Steve G" wrote in message
oups.com...

CatNipped wrote:
(...)

My seatbelts aren't that long,

To go thru' the carrying handle? Is your car designed to be used by
anorexics only?

I use a very large carrier (I have two very large cats), and no, the
seatbelt doesn't fit through either the air holes on the side of the
carrier
(too small to allow the buckle through), nor long enough to reach to the
top
of the carrier and go through the handle.

Even if I used the smaller carrier, I wouldn't buckle it that way
either -
it would still allow the carrier to shoot forward from the handle and/or
the
cat inside would be thrown around inside of the carrier to slam against
the
front. It's much safer to have them restrained with a harness with a
seatbelt wovern through the back strap of the harness. Like that they're
strapped in just like the people wearing shoulder seatbelt harnesses -
the
safest way to ride inside a vehicle.

Hugs,

CatNipped

Maybe you should show Steve just how big Sammy is. I know you showed the
link to Petsmart, but get her next to something. And she is not yet 1 year
old.

OK, here's a picture of her standing with her paws on the top of the bottom
window pane. The bottom half of the window is 26 INCHES HIGH (66cm)!!!
Sammy's head extends a good 8 inches (20.3cm) above that, and if she
extended her paws up over her head that would probably be another 6 inches
(15.2cm). That's 40 inches (101.6cm), or 3 1/3 feet that she can reach just
by standing and stretching. She can stand on her hind legs in the kitchen
and put her front paws on my counter top. This picture was taken when she
was 8 months old and small than she is now. She's now over 15 pounds and is
only 10 months old - and still growing.

http://www.possibleplaces.com/squirrel/

I'm sorry, but despite everything people have said here, they've yet to
convince me that a carrier is safer than a halter and seatbelt arrangement
that will *hold her body* still instead of holding her carrier still while
her body is being thrown around inside of it. She enjoys sitting next to me
in the cab of my truck and is much calmer and more confident by being
treated like the person she is rather than an animal that must be caged! ;
She sees us belting ourselves into our seatbelts and sits quietly while we
do hers for her.

And Phil, the carrier fear isn't an issue any more since I don't use them
any more. I still keep them in my hall closet in case of fire and the need
to confine all 4 cats at one time, but other than that they all use the
halter and seatbelt arrangement when we travel - to the vet or anywhere
else - and they're all *much* happier with those travel arrangements. I
think sitting up on the seat like everyone else, being able to see around
you at what's going on and what's passing by, is much less scarier than
being confined in a plastic box.

Hugs,

CatNipped

I'm sorry, but despite everything people
have said here, they've yet to convince
me that a carrier is safer than a halter and
seatbelt arrangement that will *hold her
body* still instead of holding her carrier
still while her body is being thrown around
inside of it.

A cat wouldn't get "thrown around" in a carrier unless the car is
rolling. In your average accident, there is a forward thrust. In a
carrier the cat would only move a few inches.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

wrote in message
...
I'm sorry, but despite everything people
have said here, they've yet to convince
me that a carrier is safer than a halter and
seatbelt arrangement that will *hold her
body* still instead of holding her carrier
still while her body is being thrown around
inside of it.

A cat wouldn't get "thrown around" in a carrier unless the car is
rolling. In your average accident, there is a forward thrust. In a
carrier the cat would only move a few inches.

Megan

OK, maybe the problem here is communication... Again, my carrier is *BIG*!
My cats, who are deathly afraid of being put in there, scrunch themselves
are far to the back of the farthest corner of the carrier as they can.
Should I stop short they would be thrown about a foot or two forward into
the side of the carrier (and then rebound to hit the back of the carrier,
and should I be hit from the side they would be thrown 2 or 3 feet into the
metal door of the carrier and again rebound. *Definitely* worse than being
brought up short by a halter around their bodies.

If you want to transport your cats in carriers, and they are obviously
smaller carriers than I have, that's fine - I'm not saying you shouldn't.
I'm just saying that I feel my cats are safer being restrained with a halter
and seatbelt than they would be in *their* carrier - and they like it *MUCH*
better.

Hugs,

CatNipped

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

CatNipped wrote:
(...)

I use a very large carrier (I have two very large cats), and no, the
seatbelt doesn't fit through either the air holes on the side of the
carrier
(too small to allow the buckle through), nor long enough to reach to
the top
of the carrier and go through the handle.

OK. You could extend some (rock) climbing accessory cord or tape from
the carrier to the seat belt if you wanted to strap the carrier in. But
your harness setup sounds OK to me, if I'm picturing it correctly.

Steve.