Gear

To Cat Stroller or Not to Stroller

black and white tuxedo kitten in stroller

Chanel has made it abundantly clear that she prefers to ride. She will walk with her harness and leash on, she just chooses not to walk. I have tried to carry her and that isn’t her thing either.

So what do you do? If we are in a store, this is fine as I can put her in the cart and she can look around or stand up and see what is going on around her. But she proved a couple of weeks ago that this isn’t always safe when she launched herself out of the cart at Petsmart going after a cricket on the floor. Thankfully ,I always have her leash in my hand and while she had enough slack not to hang herself, she couldn’t get very far once she got to the floor.

black and white tuxedo looks out of shopping cart at cat in adoption center

However, what about other events? I am planning to take her to the BlogPaws conference in Kansas City in April, and I am also hoping to get her to some outside events around town. Not to mention I would like to start checking out restaurants around town once the weather gets nice (if that ever happens in Ohio) to see if she is allowed on patios. If she won’t walk and won’t let me carry her (which honestly is fine – she gets heavy after a while), I need to find another option.

I actually took her to a local pet store and tried her out in a stroller they have set up. Figuring that she rides in carts, this shouldn’t be an issue. After a couple of minutes, I knew I was in big trouble….the princess has found her carriage.

black and white tuxedo kitten in stroller

I know that it would be much safer for her as well. The strollers I have researched all come with enclosed carrying spaces, so she would be secure. Most of them have space for me to throw her backpack. Heck, some even have cupholders. They collapse to fit in the car. All good things.

I have to be honest, I’m not sure I can do it. I don’t know if it is the word “stroller” that puts me off or just the image of me pushing around a kitten in a carriage that isn’t working for me.

I have thought about alternatives too. What about a wagon? That would be great as I could throw her backpack in there. But a wagon is behind me and I can’t keep track of her as easily plus she would have a greater ability to get out or have people or dogs get to her. I have searched the internet for cart type alternatives and haven’t found anything.

Basically, this comes down to my mental block about this whole thing. What about you? Do you have a stroller cat? Have you seen one around and what did you think? Would you do it?

11 Comments

  • I TOTALLY understand! I felt so ridiculous when we first got our cat stroller. And to be honest, I sometimes still do. At BlogPaws I feel fine because I’m surrounded by other crazy animal people, but out in regular public places, we always get weird looks, and I feel self-conscious. But I eventually get over it, because I can’t find a better alternative to transporting 3 cats at a time.

  • My human is pretty anti-stroller, and perhaps she is turned off for the same reasons you are! She says she’s managed to go this long without ever needing a stroller for kids, and darned if she’ll get one for us kitties.She’s lucky I like walking on my leash or curling up in my sling carrier.

  • HaHaMeow! Next Question… I have 4 strollers, and love them all! I love the odd looks I get, love when joggers run by and the cats meow at them, love the attention the cats get… Those of you who know me know I ‘decorate’ my strollers–all but the all-terrain one which I leave ‘rugged’ lol. I name them something (have never named my cars, haha) like Pink Catillac or Red Furrari or Blu Barracuda. It makes people smile, and well, those who put on a frowny face…they aren’t happy people anyway!

  • With a stroller, at least you know she wouldn’t be able to just jump out. If I had a stroller, I would pimp it out like Teri does. : )

  • I have thought of getting one to try to take some of my cats out. I will admit that I was afraid people would think I was wishing I had a real baby in it- I know I shouldn’t care.

  • If you think you get weird looks when you’re pushing a cat in a stroller, you should hear the remarks we got when we had my dog in our bike cart. Everyone seemed to think it was ridiculous but frankly, it made a lot more sense than a six mile walk each way to the dog park when I didn’t have a car.

    If Chanel loves a stroller, I’d say go for it and scoffers be damned. But if you aren’t a crazy extrovert who enjoys lots of questions, you might want to get some cards printed up with the blog address to hand out to strangers. 🙂

  • I love my stroller. There are 3 kitties in our house, but I’m the only one that’s stroller trained. The other two have no use for the stroller, so I’m the only one that gets to go places. Outside smells goods, and there are grasshoppers and all kinds of critters to watch that I can’t see from my windows. My stroller is my safe place from which to see the world.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.