CPAP machine vs. Cat

Muse-Inc wrote:

jdm2857 wrote:...Then just deposit the cat from above.

Not when they go spread-eagle and can't be squashed thru a smallish door

Been there done that! LMAO

I have 5 of the little brats and have been worried about how things would go when the CPAP gets here. In my bed it typically looks like a kitty bomb went off and scattered them all over the bed and me. My oldest kitty likes to snuggle at my neck and happy feets the scalp, I imagine he will not be liking the CPAP as he gets freaky when anything new or different comes in the house, he hissed at the new furniture for a month!!

My two standard long haired dachshunds are great on giving face-washes first thing in the morning. They're also very protective. So, I got my Hozer hose manager and set it up, with the longer hose and hose huggie I'd bought to go with it next to the bed for over a week before I got my machine.

The dachshunds, to my astonishment, ignored it, once they were sure it wasn't attacking me.

So, when I brought the machine home and set it up. they weren't especially interested. Just another addition. My Sunny-lady did get upset when morning face-washes were out the window, but quickly learned that if she bounced on the bed, and waited until the mask came off, all would be as it was Before The Machine.

They also learned that with the machine, I was no longer getting up multiple times in the night, causing them to go on alert, wondering what had awakened me. So THEY were sleeping better.

The only problem I've had is when Shadow-goof decides to use my hose as an under-fur air conditioner. He tucks himself over the hose and I end up with a heated hose... which, when I wasn't expecting it, is disconcerting. (I still don't think either the TSA or the airlines will believe the dachshunds are necessary medical equipment....)

Dogs have masters. Cats have staff.

Kiralynx wrote:My two standard long haired dachshunds are great on giving face-washes first thing in the morning. They're also very protective. So, I got my Hozer hose manager and set it up, with the longer hose and hose huggie I'd bought to go with it next to the bed for over a week before I got my machine.

The dachshunds, to my astonishment, ignored it, once they were sure it wasn't attacking me.

So, when I brought the machine home and set it up. they weren't especially interested. Just another addition. My Sunny-lady did get upset when morning face-washes were out the window, but quickly learned that if she bounced on the bed, and waited until the mask came off, all would be as it was Before The Machine.

They also learned that with the machine, I was no longer getting up multiple times in the night, causing them to go on alert, wondering what had awakened me. So THEY were sleeping better.

The only problem I've had is when Shadow-goof decides to use my hose as an under-fur air conditioner. He tucks himself over the hose and I end up with a heated hose... which, when I wasn't expecting it, is disconcerting. (I still don't think either the TSA or the airlines will believe the dachshunds are necessary medical equipment....)

Hey at least you don't have to out the bucks on a heated hose!! I wonder if you could get the doxies certifed as service animals

Julie wrote:You don't squash 'em, you put them in (down, whatever) a-backwards so they don't see it coming, but do wear gloves if you can.

Tried that, ours always knew when the carrier would be used, even tried one of us playing with the cat while the other gets the carrier and just before the cat sees the carrier casually picking up said cat and cuddling while walking to carrier. Didn't help. Tried the bassackward thing...2 learned to springboard off the carrier over the head or shoulders and head for whatever hinterland they could hide in and not be reached (underneath middle of bed, behind washer, etcetera). The 'unscrew top of carrier' approach seemed to work best for us. Thank goodness we didn't have to do that often!

Although you can train a cat to use a carrier , it is very difficult. Some professional animal trainers consider domestic cats to be among the most difficult animals there are to work with. I have tried many of the approaches discussed here with my cats, with varying degrees of success. In the end, not using the carrier unless there is a desperate need seems to be the best approach. Brush fires are a big problem here. I need to be able to get all three cats in a carrier as quickly as possible should a brush fire approach.

Exotic cats can be real challenges as well. But unlike domestic cats, they tend to be smarter and more trainable. A lot of owners 'crate train' their small exotics, just like you would a dog. We often use the 'carrier door facing upwards' method with small exotics. Still though, no cat likes having its will crossed, and they let you know about it if you do!

Put the carriers without their doors on the floor where the cats' food bowls go. Put the food bowls inside the carrier. Near the door at first, move it back later. Sooner or later the cats will get hungry enough to go in.

Leave the water bowls outside the crates so they don't dehydrate.

jdm2857 wrote:...Leave the water bowls outside the crates so they don't dehydrate.

Ours would've dehydrated, that's for sure! We once tried putting the carrier out with door open and cushy kneadable blankie inside for days...added catnip...then added favorite treats...then gave up They knew...gotta be psychic...that thing was going somewhere they didn't wanna go. Did have one cat who loved the car and wasn't a bear to take to the vets. He had to go periodically as he refused to let us trim his nails...as he aged into late teens, they needed trimming. I don't think any of ours would have done much beyond smelling the machine and hose, think they'd have freaked if mask exhaust hit them.

Hi All

I have a similar situation to Timbalionguy, except that I only have 2 cats to put into a large carrier when there is a bush fire alert.

I have found that when I grasp either of my cats at the scruff of the neck it stops struggling. Sometimes I have to keep on changing the position of the grasp until the cat recognizes the same grasp as her Mum used to use. I won't say it relaxes just like that, but if I hold it like that long enough it will. Then (say my eldest Dusty) goes into the carrier through the front door, which I then close. My other cat (Bonnie) will be in another room whilst this is going on. I then get Bonnie, grasp her neck, and let her quieten down.

Now I have to get Bonnie into the carrier. Without the co-operation of Dusty I could not do it, but she co-operates and I am able to slip Bonnie inside. My assumption is, and I could be wrong, is that they know something is going on, and they know I would not mess them about without a good reason.

Putting a still feral cat in the carrier usually takes a thick towel, thrown over the cat, then enclosed in the towel as it lessens its berserk behaviour, and then quickly slip it into the carrier, removing the towel. Wearing a fire-fighter's suit can be helpful for this, but the towel usually works.

For myself, I do not believe cats are selfish, they are just being cats, which means they know they are our equals. So I reckon that many cats, not all, will respond to acceptance as equals. Which means that I have rights as well, and there are limits to what is acceptable.

They say that next year will be worst bush-fire season ever, last year I kept them in on days when the fires were too close. Lets hope we can get this climate change stuff worked out before it is too late.

cheers

Mars

Edited Comment - some hours later -

Well, I have just told my cats about this post, and the co-operation and equality that I talked about, and they looked at me in astonishment. Evidently I take myself far too seriously. They do not mind me pretending that they co-operate, and that I am their equal, as long as I really know that the household is run for their benefit, and any thought of equality is just laughable. They reckon I have a long way on to go on cpap therapy before my brain catches up with reality. So there we are - and I thought we were doing so well.

I wouldn't worry to much about cats and your CPAP. When I first started CPAP the cats were frightened by the noisy machine whistling and blowing train horn sounding air..my kats stopped sleeping with me. When I started APAP in December, the machine is quiet and did not disturb my cats sleep nor bother them. Occassionally, I'll wake up to Blue Angel peering into my face, rubbing her chin on the mast or sniffing my mask....or quietly lying on me hoping I'll soon wake up and pet her.

Kats do better with carriers when they are a normal part of their lives. I leave mine out for sleeping or to make cat condo's within the house. Then when it time to move across the country or go to the vet, carriers are just another place to sleep. Below are pictures of the kats cross country move.

http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af11 ... 2bb750.pbw



Bath time is equally fun...today Sami and Blue Angel got a bath.......in the tub with a towel to stand on with shower hose to wet, shampoo, conditioner and rinse......sink covered by cutting board becomes groomer table for drying the fun with the hairdryer......after that we all had a nap!!!!

elg5cats

As I mentioned, if you put the cat into the carrier bottom end first, it's much easier (on both of you).

Julie wrote:As I mentioned, if you put the cat into the carrier bottom end first, it's much easier (on both of you).

ah, but Julie, if the carrier is a part of normal routine, the strife of entry can be minimized to near nothing....now closing the door might be a little more!!!!

I once lured a feral cat into a carrier using food as a lure.

I staked the carrier in place facing away from me, tied a long string to the door, and waited across the street. (Cars just drove over the string.)

Cat entered, I pulled, and that was it. The cat was more than a bit upset.

I have three cats and they dont mess with it and that is a big surprise. One of my cats the more outgoing one did once smack it and that was it. At first my cats were afraid of the mask but now they look at me and cuddle up and go back to sleep.

I tried putting food in the carrier with a cat I used to have named CC. It worked.....once.

We used to have a lion named Jambo who was both extremely lazy and extremely intelligent. This cat would hang out in a common 'exercise run' (exercise, yeah right!) we have at the zoo. He knew that at least once a day he would have to go back into his home enclosure. He always thought it was a trick to get him back in so others could use 'his personal (non) exercise run'. (Actually, the run is 'owned' by our big male lion Kenya, who as a courtesy lets the other cats use it.) So he was not really happy about relinquishing the run.

In any case, we tried all sorts of tricks to get Jambo to come back in. Most tricks worked only once, or if you were lucky, twice. I had really good luck getting him back in, but I absolutely have to 'shift' him in order to clean the other cats' enclosures, and had more opportunities than the other keepers to try things. Feeding him bits of meat along the fence would get him to move a few feet at a time, until he saw the pile of meat in his enclosure. Another bizarre thing that worked was a certain no-name brand of cheap canned dog food. Someone donated a few cases of it to the zoo, and we have never seen that brand again. The dog food itself didn't do much for him, but Jambo would do anything for the orange scum in the bottom of the can! Sadly, Jambo died young as lions go. He just did not have good genetics. But he was a good cat, and everyone loved him.

And Mars: cats are not our equals, they are our superiors. As cats see it, there are only two kinds of life in this world: cats and food. It is their choice to spare us the death we deserve;-)