When Sam Winegarner got a call at work from a neighbor that her front door was ajar, her first thought was for her two indoor cats. The neighbor was able to get one of the cats to come to her but Winegarner’s other cat, 11-year-old Talon, is skittish with strangers so Winegarner knew he’d never come to anyone but her.
Winegarner raced home and began looking for Talon, paying close attention to bushes and other concealed places close to the house. She let neighbors know he was missing and posted on websites like Nextdoor and local Facebook pages.
A friend spotted Talon darting across a busy street and frantically called Winegarner, who ran over with a crate. She spotted him hiding in the bushes and gave the cue for their well-practiced game of “Get in the bag!” Talon darted into the crate — and back to the safety of their home.
“Like many cats, Talon loves to dive into empty grocery bags,” Winegarner says. “I realized that I could replicate that with a crate, which would make transporting him to the veterinarian or in an emergency much easier. I started to use the verbal cue, “Get in the bag,” while crinkling up a paper bag by the crate and offering a treat. He quickly caught on, and soon he’d enter the crate by the verbal cue alone.”
Trying to get your escapee home safely is a great reason to crate train your cat. But just as important is during a disaster when you need to evacuate with your pets. The last thing you want to do in an urgent, stressful situation is try to stuff a fearful cat into a crate. Worse is trying to simply carry your cat in your arms. Many people have lost cats while trying to carry them to safety.
So, how does one crate train a cat? Pretty much how you’d train a dog. You want the crate to be associated with something positive — like treats or a tasty meal served in the back of the crate until they’re comfortable with it.
To begin, leave the crate door wide open. Every so often, when your cat’s not looking, toss a few treats around and into the crate so they can discover them. Use something your cat will love, like small pieces of chicken, cheese or freeze-dried liver. You can also leave an exciting new toy inside the crate. Periodically leave special treats in the crate throughout the evening and continue to every day or so for the next few weeks but don’t close the crate door. Once your kitty is comfortable with the idea of being in the crate while eating, close the door briefly. When they’re finished with their treat, open the crate door.
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When you throw treats in, give a cue like saying, “Crate!” or in Talon’s case, “Get in the bag!” Show your cat one of the treats and toss it in the crate. Then repeat, repeat, repeat.
And, of course, be sure your cat wears a breakaway collar and is microchipped! Microchipping is the single most important thing you can do for your pet to ensure they’re reunited with you if you become separated. Thanks to a generous donor, Marin Humane offers free microchipping for cats. To make an appointment to have your cat microchipped, please call 415-883-4621.
Want to learn more about training your cat? Visit marinhumane.org/oh-behave.
Lisa Bloch is the director of marketing and communications at Marin Humane, which contributes Tails of Marin and welcomes animal-related questions and stories about the people and animals in our community. Go to marinhumane.org, find us on social media @marinhumane, or email lbloch@marinhumane.org.