--

Some thoughts related to travelling with cats
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Then of course there is the "carrier". I think it's important how it is
constructed, for safety and for making the cat as little uncomfortable
(and scared) as possible.

When I was _very_ young we had a basket made of very thin wood. The
material and technique was the same as in these:

http://stab.se/hantverk/korg.JPG
http://www.castor.bjurholm.se/hemsidor/johan/agnes_spkorg.gif

This basket was completely dark inside with no possibility to see out.
The material was also thin enough for an energetic cat to claw through,
and it had been used for transporting cats for many years... It had been
"repaired" by putting newspaper as "wall paper" on the inside
(especially the corners, which is where the cats "attacked" most
fiercly).

It looked like this, closed:


                 __
                / /|
               / / |
 VK           /_/| |
       ______| |_|_|_________
      /|/|/|/| |///|/|/|/|/|/|
     /|/|/|/|| |//|/|/|/===.\|
    /|/|/|/|/| |/|/|/|/|/./|/|
   |/\/\/\/\/| |/\/\/\/\/|\|\|
   |\/\/\/\/\| |\/\/\/\/\|/\/|
   |/\/\/\/\/| |/\/\/\/\/|\/\|
   |\/\/\/\/\| |\/\/\/\/\|/\/|
   |/\/\/\/\/| |/\/\/\/\/|\/\|
   |\/\/\/\/\| |\/\/\/\/\|/\/
   |/\/\/\/\/| |/\/\/\/\/|\/
   |\/\/\/\/\| |\/\/\/\/\|/
   `---------------------'


and open:



                  /|
                 / |
             ---/  |
               /   |
 VK           /|   |
       ______| |   |_________
      /|/|/|/| |  /         /|
     /|/|/|/|| | /         /\|
    /|/|/|/|/| |/________./|/|
   |/\/\/\/\/| |/\/\/\/\/|\|\|
   |\/\/\/\/\| |\/\/\/\/\|/\/|
   |/\/\/\/\/| |/\/\/\/\/|\/\|
   |\/\/\/\/\| |\/\/\/\/\|/\/|
   |/\/\/\/\/| |/\/\/\/\/|\/\|
   |\/\/\/\/\| |\/\/\/\/\|/\/
   |/\/\/\/\/| |/\/\/\/\/|\/
   |\/\/\/\/\| |\/\/\/\/\|/
   `---------------------'




Of course, the cats *HATED* it! And the construction of the lid didn't
exactly make it any easier to get them _into_ it to begin with (imagine
the fun with two half-grown kittens who had to go to the vet at the same
time and had to travel in this thing...).


Later on we got a more cat friendly basket, of the same kind of material
as the ones in these pictures:

http://home.ljusdal.se/photo/3861.lovrafsa.korg.jpg
http://www.imm.ki.se/~Morry/IMAGES/KORG.JPG


It had a narrow "window" near the top where the cats could get a 360
degree view of the world. It was not very deep (the cat could not "sit
up" comfortably in it) and the "lock" was _very_ poor, the "hinges",
like the "lock" could only be described as a joke. The shape of the lid
in combination with the flexibility of the material made it possible for
a cat to squeeze through at the front corners of the lid.

It looked like this, closed:



       ______________________
 VK   ///////.====.//////////|
     ///////'------`////////||
    ///////////////////////|/|
   |==========?==========||//|
   |_|_|_|_|_|I|_|_|_|_|_|///|
   |=====================|///|
   |=====================|///|
   |=====================|///
   |=====================|//
   |=====================|/


and open:



       .__________&__________.
       |=====================|
       |=====================|
 VK    |=====================|
       |=====================|
       |=====================|
       |=====================|
       |=====================|
       >---------------------<
      /|====================/|
     //|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_/||
    ///|==================/|/|
   |=====================||//|
   |_|_|_|_|_|I|_|_|_|_|_|///|
   |=====================|///|
   |=====================|///|
   |=====================|///
   |=====================|//
   |=====================|/



This was not much more popular than the first one, and it was way too
easy to break out of. It now serves some useful time holding accordion
notes, and for that purpose it is just excellent.


We now have a modern miracle. A small, white wire cage with free sight
in every direction except down and a construction that not even a feline
Houdini would be able to break out of.


This is my first attempt at drawing it:



 VK          .===.
     .------'-----`----.----.
    /_'_'_'_'_'_'_'_'_'/_|_|_\
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|||_|_|_||
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|||_|_|_||
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|||_|_|_||
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|||_|_|_||
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|||_|_|_||
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|||_|_|_||
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|||_|_|_||
   |__________________|_______|



And the second:


       ______________________
      /_/_/_/.====._/_/_/_/_/|
 VK  /_/_/_/'------`_/_/===./|
    /_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/|/|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|/|/|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|///|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|///|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|///|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|///|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|///
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|//
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|/



(I'm not happy with either. The cage is a little bit rounded to the top
and not quite as square as it looks in my pictures, it's wider at the
base than at the top, but that kind of line is very hard (impossible) to
do in ascii)


Open:



       ______________________
 VK   /_/_/_/.====._/_/_/_/_/|
     /_/_/_/'------`_/_/---/_|
    /_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/|_|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|__/|___________
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| //_/_/_/_/_/_/
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|//_/_/_/_/_/_/---
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|/_/_/_/_/_/_/


Note the tray at the bottom.



       ______________________
 VK   /_/_/_/.====._/_/_/_/_/|
     /_/_/_/'------`_/_/---/_|
    /_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/|_|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_______
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|__________/|____
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|         //_/_/
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|________//_/_/---
   |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_______|/_/_/



You can pull it out completely! Because of this there is no need to try
to force the cat into the box, you just put the cat on the tray and
push. The cat sits still on a comfortable cushion while the tray slides
into the cage. The only problem then is to keep the tail from getting
squished when you close the lid. This one *works*!  :)