What is one of the main challenges people face with their pets?
One of the things people really have a hard time with is how to get your pet to the vet and choosing the right carrier is optimum for this.
Dr. Linda Flieg DVM
Orchard Road Animal Hospital
Can you tell us about the Sleepy Pod?
The Sleepy Pod is a pretty amazing piece of equipment here. It opens from the top. You can see old Bert here is not stressed, I'm not reaching into his carrier to yank him out or anything, but he has a nice top hatch to do it. The other part about the Sleepy Pod that's pretty cool is that we can also go ahead and unzip it and this can be actually in our house all the time so that our cats have a little piece of home with them when they come to the vet. The lid comes completely off and this can actually be a cat bed for them. It has their smells in them. They're nice and comfortable. It's all nice and fur-lined. And then again, they have the familiar smells from home, and then when they get to the vet, we can just go ahead and open up from the top down, and here we are.
How does the size and nature of cats affect their interactions with humans?
Kitties are very small. They're both prey and predator. And so the very large humans look a little scary to these guys that aren't used to us.
How does the top-opening feature of the carriers help in handling the cats?
We can reach down into this carrier and then we just open it up from the top and then reach in and then out comes our kitties.
Can you suggest other affordable carriers?
Here is one with a top zipper. Again, really trying hard to go ahead and make it easy to get in so our cats are easy to get in so they're not so likely to go ahead and be scared to come on out. Cats with their natural curiosity, a lot of them will go ahead and pop their heads out.
What can be put inside the carriers to make the cats more comfortable?
There are all kinds of things that we can put inside of our carriers, like the feel-a-ways, sprays and something along those lines. Nothing beats the sense of home. So having the carrier out for a few days beforehand, if not all the time, is really helpful.
If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at (630) 451-8459, or you can email us at orah@orchardroadanimalhospital.com. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can. Don't forget to follow us on social media Facebook, Instagram