As you may recall, Mom the Pallas’ cat at the San Diego Zoo is prone to mood swings and holds a grudge when something doesn’t go her way (see blog, Slimmin’ Down for Summer). She has actually been doing very well the past several months. She’s shifting on and off exhibit well, her appetite is good, and there’s even been evidence of some interaction with her enrichment…not because I see it, but with what’s been left of it the next day! So I thought I’d take advantage of this time to try and work some crate training with her.

Usually shifting her into her holding pen is fairly easy. It’s then trying to get her into a crate that can be a challenge. We use a small, rectangular, hard plastic crate with sliding doors on either end. My goal was to place the crate inside the holding pen and directly in front of the door. This way, when she shifted inside she would have to pass through the crate to get to her food. I wasn’t exactly sure what she would think of this.

With great surprise, she hesitated only briefly and came in on the first day of trying this. By the second day, there was no hesitation at all and she was waiting by the door as soon as she saw me. For the next step, I put the one door back on the crate so that now, when she comes into holding, she is actually coming inside the crate. Of course, anytime she did so and didn’t run right out, she was reinforced with a treat. Again, she acclimated quickly and soon would come right in and sit while I fed her in the crate.

The final step is to actually be able to shut the other door while she’s inside. I figured I could probably do this once, but then I thought for sure she would remember that and not want to shift inside the next day. Fortunately, that was not the case. I have been able to successfully shut her in the crate several times now without receiving the cold shoulder treatment. I’ve even left her in the crate for short durations, like while I clean her exhibit.

While I can’t “crate” her every day, I can include this as an intermittent part of her routine. That way, the next time she needs to go to the hospital for vaccinations or there’s an emergency, the task will hopefully be less stressful on her and on us. And then afterward, maybe we can go back to our normal routine without having to rebuild the trust again. Of course, there’s no telling what will happen if it coincides with one of her stubborn streaks!

Kelly Murphy is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

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