Cat Carriers

Review by Eva:

This carrier looks and feels sturdy and well made. The fleece pad for the floor is soft and cozy looking. The strap is quite comfortable too. I have a medium to large size cat, approximately 11 pounds, and found this carrier much smaller in size than I expected and had to return it. If you have a small dog or small cat, this would be a very nice carrier. I’d suggest measuring your pet’s height and length to make sure they’d fit comfortably into it’s dimensions before you get this carrier.

Review by YetAnotherITGuy:

I ordered the “Large” to transport an adult cat to the vet and back. She is a typical 2.5 year old house cat and is barely able to fit in the large carrier comfortably (she has trouble turning around). For a 15 minute trip to the vet, it’s okay, but I wouldn’t want to subject her to much more than that.

As far as quality, it’s good, but lacks some as far as other soft sided carriers I’ve seen, design-wise. Like, being able to load the animal from the top of the carrier as well as either end (good way to avoid “splayed leg” syndrome on entry).

For the price, I think I could have gotten something better designed, but it’ll do.

Review by Ginny:

Brilliant Design, incorporating vintage (1950′s picnic hamper) look into modern product. Large and roomy — very big cat would be comfortable. Could put covered ice packs in for hot travel w/out leaking. Sturdy plastic will clean easily w/garden hose. Slits will allow animal to be private and look out but no one can look in. Easy to carry. The locks are inventive and appear to be strong. Small lidded compartment on top is convenient. Very attractive. Will store in car for travel like a beachbag which works better for us than the rectangular crates. It may be our best carrier ever.

Review by planettyoz:

i am owned by 12 (yes, twelve) rescued kitties. this is the best carrier i’ve found as it is easy to get them in and easy to clean. top loads are a must for cats—just not possible to shove them in sideways. i also have expensive sherpa carriers but they’re not as good b/c they have a zip top, which is hard to zip with a struggling cat, especially when you’re by yourself. also, my jezebel figured out how to open the zipper!! in addition, the sherpas are MUCH harder to clean. genevieve always vomits, poops, urinates or some combo every time, and the sherpas have nooks and crannies that i just can’t get clean, in addition to the mesh panels. some kitties are also able to tear the mesh panels. not a problem with this carrier—solid plastic with no corners where excrement can remain. the soft sided carriers are smaller and easier if you have a small car but i still prefer this one as it is solid and more sturdy. even my psycho kitty moses–just plop him in and slam the lid b4 he knows what has happened. my vet thought this carrier was awesome. and it reminds me of the wizard of oz—the basket miss gulch put toto in. my 13.5 lb thug bagheera fits in just fine but a 17 lb cat likely would be too big for this carrier

Review by C. Ludwig:

Forget about cats…this is the ideal “man bag” for a guy with a small dog!! My husband and I have his and her Chihuahuas, and he calls this his “man bag” for carrying Rio. It looks like a briefcase or computer laptop case and he has taken his dog everywhere in this bag. We travel all over the country with our dogs, and they go into restaurants, stores, etc., in these bags. (I use the pink/brown bag with my dog, when I want to match, or the dogs will be in the bag for awhile…they are really comfortable for them for long periods of time to be in, as they are roomy.

The mesh is finer, so a cat can’t get his claws into it to rip, plus there is a lot of storage in the side pockets. It’s big enough so our dogs can sit if they want, but they usually just curl up and go to sleep or chew on a rawhide while inside.

A truly great bag, for cats OR dogs. Has a shoulder strap as well as a handle (like a briefcase). Sits nicely on the floor without falling over. We just love ours and use them constantly.

Review by Stephen Sullivan:

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R30I9SPGCTJDLU The video shows our new little Havanese puppy (2.5 lbs at time of pick-up), Indy. To bring him home from Cleveland, he rode in a car with me to the airport, flew from Cleveland to Baltimore, and then drove another hour and a half home- all in this carrier. This carrier is ideal for in-cabin flying for small dogs/puppies.

This carrier was the perfect transportation companion for our puppy- one end unzips completely so you can easily place your dog inside the carrier. You can unzip the other end half-way, so you can easily pet and comfort your dog if he’s upset. On one side of the carrier is another zippered opening- Bergan calls it ‘PetConnect’- and it serves a similar role to the other, larger openings in helping you comforting your pet. All of these easy access points helped me to quickly comfort our little puppy throughout my travels home.

Knowing ahead of time that he was going to fly with me in the cabin, we searched the internet, and after extensive research for an airline-approved (that is, approved for in-cabin travel) carrier, we decided on this model from Bergan. There are countless options available, but for the money, there is no better value. The Sherpa models are FAR more expensive, but don’t provide you with appreciably more features for the extra money. This carrier is lightweight, easy to carry- even with a dog inside-and a great value for the or so that it’ll set you back. We HIGHLY recommend this carrier to anyone that travels with their pet! Great product!

Review by Y. Kojima:

I bought this for emergencies, like if there is a fire and I have to evacuate with my cats, so I wanted something small and light.- I have two cats, 8 lbs and 11 lbs. My 8 lbs cat fits very cozy in this one, the 11lbs one will probably not fit, even if it did, it will definitely look really uncomfortable so I wouldn’t even try.

I also own a sherpa carrier and a plastic carrier but figured I cannot carry two at the same time (’cause I’m small and it’s just too heavy, considering carrying 20lbs of my cats weight), so I got this bag to put my smaller cat in, and plan to use the sherpa for the bigger cat since I can put both over my shoulder and go (can’t do that with the plastic carrier!).

The bag comes in a flat box so I had to re-bend the wires on the sides and I stuffed it so it will get back to it’s original shape. So, it is definitely not as sturdy as the sherpa but it is super light and portable. I would say if you don’t mind a little bulk and weight, go with the sherpa bag, it’s a very nice bag. But, on the other hand you want a light weight small bag on the go, this is the bag for you!

Also, if your pet weighs about 10 lbs but is bigger than an average small animal, you should get a bigger one. My small 8 lb girl like I said, is real COZY in there and my 11 lb boy although he is NOT fat will not fit because he is longer, the few lbs really make a difference.

Review by Dave Faris:

First of all, you need about 8 arms to assemble this thing. Slots and pins, and knobs, as well as all the stars and planets need to be in alignment to get it to fit together.

Once you do get it together, you realize that crucial parts are a little too flimsy. If one of the small plastic latches on the front door should snap off (and with time and use, it’s going to, I just know it), the whole carrier will be rendered useless. The instructions suggest that you can open the two panels on the top to gain access to the inside, but closing them back up isn’t as simple as you’d hope, and if you’re moving your pet in a crisis moment (like the fire alarm is going off in your apartment building), I can see it being a cause for extreme frustration.

It does look very, very cool though. I especially like the plastic window on the front door.

Once you do get your pet inside, she’ll be very safe and secure. (They even provide a method to padlock the openings to prevent someone from letting your pet escape — or, I suppose, you can have your own little tiny maximum security prison cell.) Still, your pet really will be traveling in high style in this carrier, and when the thing costs three times what comparable pet carriers usually sell for, that’s probably a given.

Still, if the crucial parts were made of metal instead of plastic, and if it was engineered a little bit better, I’d gladly give this a better rating. I think it’s probably designed for short term use — a trip or two on an airplane maybe, but for the long haul, to transport your small pet back and forth to the vet, it’s probably just overkill. As it is, I think we were dazzled by the bells and whistles, and in the cold light of day, we’ve decided we’ll be sending this one back for a refund.

Review by N. Harris:

We bought this carrier because we have several semi-feral cats as well as inside cats. It seemed like a good way to get them into a carrier so that we could take them to the vet.

It is somewhat difficult to assemble but not that much harder than many other carriers. However, it’s flimsy. The door on ours broke after one use. We glued it back together but another corner broke off. And this was in normal use of taking our inside cats to the vet. The first time, I was putting a cat in the cage and the second time a vet tech broke a corner off. We never got to try it on our semi-ferals. I’ve used a lot of cat carriers. So has the vet tech. Neither of us have had this problem with other carriers.

Our cats do seem to like this carrier a lot but, unfortunately, this carrier would only be good if you are not using it to transport a pet or are very careful in transporting your pet. In either case, I’d store it extremely carefully when not in use. (I’d wrap the door in bubble wrap for storage or wrap the whole cage in bubble wrap if you don’t disassemble it.) Do NOT even think about using this for airline travel.

Review by Susan Jost:

This is a nice carrier, we bought it for our 8 lb Yorkie. I like the zipper to reach in and calm him down and it seems to be well made. The down side is the shoulder strap goes right where he looks out and he just fits, any larger dog would not.

Review by Jonathan Widmann:

I bought this for an airline trip with our 6 pound Chihuahua, Rudi. He fit the carrier pretty well, somewhat cramped though, but it does offer plenty of ventilation, and fairly easy access for getting the reluctant pooch in and out of the unit, and has a nicely padded faux sheepskin floor that’s removable and washable. The carrier has the right dimensions for under-seat stowage according to most airlines, and it did fit easily under the seat in front of me, even in coach class. However, being a ‘soft-sided’ design, the ‘frame’ seems a bit flimsy and doesn’t hold its shape but tends to collapse around the occupant, especially when it’s carried over the shoulder with the strap. The carrier has mesh expandable pockets and zippers that are useful for bringing a leash, food, water, etc. One of the mesh pockets on my unit popped a seam the first time out–a defective stitch. Overall, for the fair price and passable quality and quick shipping, I think it is a good buy, and will do the job for a few more trips.