“This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.”
Eventually there comes a time when you have to put your cat into a carrier and take them somewhere like the vet or maybe even a new home you recently moved into. However, does the placement of the carrier in your car actually matter?
The answer is that it depends on how much you prioritize safety. If you get into a car accident strapping them in a seat belt can potentially crush the carrier (if they are harder carriers).
The safest place to put them is on the floor of the car behind the passenger seat in this case. If you strap them into a seat belt for convenience sake they will probably be fine but its slightly riskier to do so. You can however keep an eye on them by doing this and it helps them to relax as a result. Each placement has their own trade offs.
Direction Of The Cat Carrier
I would not put the cat carrier in a place where the cat can see out the car windows because it might cause anxiety since they can interpret this as unfamiliar.
If you put them on the seats it would be best to do it in a way that doesn’t allow them to see outside. I would cover the cat carrier with some type of blanket/towel or bring down the privacy covers on your cat carrier if they have them. What they can’t see won’t scare them.
Best Pet Carrier For Car Travel
The positioning of the cat carrier is important when you are driving but the cat carrier itself is equally as important. You would think a harder carrier would be the best way to go because it comes off as more sturdy and therefore safer but actually its quite the opposite.
Out of all the cat carriers that CPS tested the safest carriers all happened to be soft carriers. One of these carriers was the “Petego Jet Set Pet Carrier with Forma Frame (click here for the amazon link)“.
If you want to see the other ones that they tested or want to read more about here testing you can go to my article here “The Three Safest Cat Carriers Around“.
How Long Can You Keep A Cat In A Carrier?
How long they can stay in the carrier is really dependent on your cats personality but I would not let them stay in a carrier for no more than six hours at a time especially if it is a smaller carrier that they can’t move around in. If you want to read more about this I have an article about that here “How Long Can A Cat Stay In A Carrier?“.
Conclusion
If you are not really safety conscious then the positioning doesn’t really matter too much especially if its just a one time thing. Sometimes its easier and more convenient to have a bigger cat carrier so you can put everything they need into it. However, if you want to minimize possible injury to your cat this is the way to go.
