I felt like I had to double up because she was already late on vaccines and it was very unlikely I'd have another opportunity soon to get her to the vet.

Knew we were moving months in advance so about six months before the move I was trying to get her comfortable going in the cage by giving her wet food in there. I thought after a couple months I would try shutting the door quietly and opening it right back up and then gradually get her used to the door being closed for longer durations, but the very first time she was very unhappy and the next couple months she basically said fuck you I'm eating the dry food in protest right in front of you when you're doing this. When she finally started going back in I felt like I can't play with getting her accustomed again, I've got to just do it on the day, and I was pretty confident that if I didn't get her vaccines then it would be a very long time.

[–] CEbbinghaus@lemmy.world 6 points 17 hours ago

We don't let our cats graze and instead have an automated feeder. Way easier to portion and they don't wake you up at 6 yelling for food.

The other benefit to this is that by pausing the food dispenser we can substitute one meal perfectly on time with something else. The cats have an excellent internal clock and will usually hang around when it's time for food. So if that food were to come in the form of wet food in a crate then it would probably be enough to make even the most hesitant cat take the risk.

And the other upside is that by keeping the food paused while the cat refuses to eat in the crate it will be forced to give in eventually. And cats given their food motivation will quickly learn that hey, the crate isn't that bad if I get food.

Its all about making sure to have the right incentives and taking it slow. Sticking a familiar scented item (usually a blanket the cat lies on) into the crate helps it feel less daunting. And from there it's just baby steps ensuring that at every point the food reward is connected with the crate.

This is also how one introduces two cats btw, lots of meals shared on either side of a door. The cats don't get fed unless they smell each other. And eventually they build the link between the yummy food and the other cat and stop hissing.