Oh, and one other thing: When I called to make her appointment, she
was in the room and I swear this cat knows when her time is coming
because she gets super wary when it's "the day".  So when I made her
appointment, the receptionist asked which cat, and I told her I
couldn't say her name.  LOL I had to spell it. I'm serious. This is
one stressful time for us.

I also had a feral cat like this. I would put the carrier (opened) in the
house so she could see it weeks in advance. When the day came (and I agree
with you that they sense it), I would put her in the carrrier whenever I
could catch her. She remained in there hours before her appointment. I was
able to handle my cat, at times, and this may be different from yours. I
would try to get her to associate a particular place (ie. the bathroom) with
food in advance. When she comes into the bathroom, give her a treat. You
must start this in advance, though, and not the day of the appointment.
Gail

snip

--------
The only way I am able to catch Amanda is to:
1.  Set up the carrier outside the room, days in advance, standing on end,
with its door open, so she won't get suspicious.
2.  Catch her unaware (like when she is eating) and throw a big towel over
her. Grab her. And pop her in the carrier, still covered in the towel. By
the time she figures out what happened, the carrier door is closed. I do
this at least an hour in advance of the appointment. Some friends of ours
with the same problem throw a pillow case over their cat.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.

Have you tried putting some treats *in* the carrier? -- possibly even use a
Hav-a-Hart trap for the purpose because that way you would not have to
remain nearby (and thus would not "forewarn" her to avoid it).

MaryL

Suddenly, without warning, Cheryl exclaimed (9/6/2007 10:27 AM):

I'm lucky.  Meep's usually still asleep when I get home from work, so I
just drag her from under the sheets and pop her into the box before
she's awake enough to protest :)

I'd leave the cage out full-time, and feed her favorite treats in it.
Get her used to it as just another piece of furniture, a safe place to
hang out.  Once she's comfortable going in it on her own, pop her in it
occasionally, but don't close the door.  Don't force her, and always
make sure there's treats in there before you try.

If you're lucky enough that she starts hanging out there, sometimes
close but don't latch the door, so she can get out.  Then, when she's
ready, latch the door for just a little while, then open it back up.

After that, you can try putting her in it and latching the door behind
her.  Try feeding her a treat, praise her bunches, then let her out.

For a cat that's as wary as Bonnie seems to be, this might take a while.

For today, there's two ways I found works best to get a reluctant cat in
a cage.

1.  Cage on end, dump the cat in headfirst.  Works best for me.
2.  Cage on the end of a table or something, so there's nothing for her
to stand on but open air.  Headfirst, she has nowhere else to go but in.

You'll probably have to wrap her in something, for your own safety, and
to help reduce the octopus-effect when trying to stuff her in.  They
seem to grow extra legs when you're trying to get them in a carrier,
don't they?

jmc