FunnyFuzzy sent me a cat carrier for review. There are affiliate links in this article. All opinions are my own.
Those of you who have been around a long time will remember that I used to post about my two pugs all the time, and was a self-identified crazy pug lady. I still plan to get another pug someday! However, for the past year and a half my crazy-pet-lady energy has turned into being a crazy cat lady. Not in the sense of having a lot, but about being head over heels for the one that I have.
I’ve realized that I never really understood how social cats really can be. My cat Pepperoni isn’t a fan of cuddling, yet she has so many ways that she shows interest in us and affection for us. I used to think that there were basically aloof cats and affectionate cats and I’ve realized that was really false! She isn’t particularly physically affectionate but she definitely is a social cat. For example, she almost always greets us at the door after we’ve been away from home. She makes a certain chirp-like noise when we first get out of bed for the day, she brings us hairties that we shoot and she chases them, fetches it and brings it to us to fling again. If Ryan isn’t home and I shower and try to leave the door shut, she meows until I let her in the bathroom with me. She doesn’t like being on our laps or right up against us very often, but she is almost always in the same room as us and usually within arms reach. She likes to be in our bubble while having her own personal space bubble at the same time!
Anyway, I love my kitty – and she has shown clear interest in the outdoors. She loves watching birds at our bird feeder, and has occasionally tried getting outside. I know the statistics for the lifespan of cats that are indoor/outdoor cats rather than being kept inside, and I wasn’t wiling to risk that. We tried a harness and leash but struggled to find a harness that she wouldn’t twist her way out of. So, when I came across the idea of taking your cat for a walk in a carrier or stroller, I was immediately interested. I put it on my list of potential gift ideas for her for Christmas…and then Funny Fuzzy reached out to me about a gift guide partnership, and I asked if they’d be open to sending a cat carrier.
They sent me their Breathable Portable Folding Travel Designer Pet Carrier Backpack. This backpack is around the same size if not slightly smaller than a high schoolers backpack in terms of height and width. I am 5’1″ and it doesn’t feel bulky or uncomfortable for me to wear, which I like. Some other backpack style cat carriers look really large and like they might be a bit harder to carry.
The bag with the bottom and sides compressed.
The top half or so of the bag has a mesh lining with some boning to help hold the shape of the top of the bag. The bottom portion of the bag is stiff in the front, soft on the sides, and has a bottom piece that you can set in to help hold it in place. The sides also have firmer pieces that velcro into place to help hold the shape on the sides. Putting the floor into the backpack sort of reminds me of the storage cubes you can buy that have bottoms that help hold the entire cube into shape.
Inside of the bag there is a short lead with a clip on it, so if your pet wears a harness or collar you can clip them into the bag for added security.
When we first got the pet carrier backpack, I wasn’t sure if Pepperoni would like it at all. I knew she wanted to go outside, but I wasn’t sure if having to be in a backpack would sour the experience of being outside for her. She struggled a bit with letting us get her zipped into the bag, but once we were out on a walk she seemed really curious, looking around and turning around in the bag to see different angles.
Once we got home and let her back out of the bag, she meowed. She isn’t a big meow-er in general, and usually only meows for a few specific things, so we found this quite odd but chalked it up to coincidence. Until we tried more walks ,and found that she meowed after we got home each time! She also would nuzzle her head against our legs after we got back home each time. She’s always nuzzled our legs sometimes, but it’s usually been fairly random and we quickly realized she was doing this to both of us every time we got back from a walk. It really felt like she was expressing her happiness and appreciation for the experience!
After a couple weeks of regular walks, she started to occasionally try to et into the bag on her own if we left it sitting on the floor. This was particularly exciting because she still didn’t seem to love getting into the bag. She’d sometimes stiffen her legs and try to jump out before we got her zipped in. So, when she started to try getting into the bag on her own it felt like a sign that she was having positive associations with the bag despite the difficulty getting her in.
Just a few days ago, we finally figured out a better way to get her into the bag! We had been trying to put her legs in, and then lightly push her head down to zip her in. Ryan noticed one day that once her head was zipped into the bag, the rest of her body totally calmed down. So, he decided to try putting her into the bag head-first rather than feet first – and it made it effortless to get her zipped in! She goes in head first, flips around in place and by then we are zipped in and ready to go.
We’ve been saying “let’s go for a walk” before going for a walk with her, and now when we say that she jumps down from wherever she’s at and will head over to her bag. It seems really clear that she knows our routine and is enjoying it. It’s been such a fun way to bond with her! Plus, I think it makes the walk a tiny bit more of an exercise for me, as it’s like carrying a small weight while I walk.
If you have an indoor cat who is curious about the outside, I’d highly recommend checking out this carrier, or any of the other backpack style carriers from FunnyFuzzy. They have several varieties including some that are bigger if you have a little big larger cat. These would also work for small dogs.
While I have enjoyed gushing about our love of the Funny Fuzzy backpack style cat carrier, they’re somewhat of a bonus product for the brand. Funny Fuzzy is best known for their couch covers! I can see these being really popular with dog owners but cats can enjoy them as well. They have all sorts of styles, sizes and colors. They basically allow you to protect your furniture in general, or to designated a certain part of your couch or bed as a special spot for your pet to lay. Several of their protective covers have cushioned edges, and my pugs would have loved those as they always loved dog beds that had an edge for them to rest their chin on.
They also have some covers that are designed to make your pets not want to scratch the furniture, which is brilliant!
Funny Fuzzy also makes pet beds, pet toys and more. Be sure to check out their website to see their full selection.
Win it: Funny Fuzzy is offering a cream square plaid dog furniture cover to one lucky winner! They’ll be able to choose the size and color that will best suit their family’s needs. This giveaway is open to the US and will end 12/1/2024 at 11:59pm EST.
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Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
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