Feel free to ignore this but why is the burrito method bad? A lot of people at my animal hospital do it when a cat is upset and it always seemed like a good thing? I don't wanna hurt any cats so I'd appreciate the explanation, I tried looking it up but all I found was stuff abt how to do it
Again, no pressure to answer, I was just super surprised when I saw that in your latest post
burrito method is, in my opinion, okay for things that are absolutely necessary (vet checks, etc.) however, grooming AND vet care can be made a hell of a lot easier through co-op, which many people simply won't fucking do with their cats. people largely - LARGELY - steal autonomy from their cats and this is really prevalent with vet and grooming care for cats. i see vets who will take time with dogs, let them sniff and get comfortable, then immediately burrito a cat and give no time for it to warm up.
and i get it, cats can cause diseases, but.. it's literally flooding and shutting down an animal. that large amount of stress is NOT good. now, it is better to make sure your cat has their shots/vet care/etc. but like grooming? you know the cat is going to need to be groomed when it's a kitten (so obviously, adopted/bought as kitten cats, not adults but you can also train adult cats), and you can train it to be more accepting of those things without the need of flooding.
burrito method is literally teaching a cat that x is bad (going to the vet, groomer, getting in a carrier, etc) and has a large chance to make it worse.
this talks about using it as a bmod for cats, which is not the same, but has some good points related and burritoing is expressly mentioned:
During my early years in rescue, before I learned to set limits, there were times when I had kittens stashed in every available inch of my 8
now these ARE about socialization, again, (which imo burrito absolutely shouldn't be done, ever) but people are just.. not counter conditioning and teaching co-op to their cats for their cats CAN be groomed and vetted in methods that are not highly traumatic usually (i am not sure i agree with it is safe and humane, if the handler is skilled... no offense but most vet assistants and groomers are underpaid, rushed, and NOT skilled in applying it and most think it requires no skill whatsoever and thus, it is usually traumatic for the cat). because burritoing is SO widely accepted in the pet industry as the 'way' to deal with cats, many people just don't fucking care about teaching their pet better ways. however, co-op is very new in dogs and cats (like.. last decade it really picked up speed?) so there's hope it will be done more and we will see burritoing put to the dark ages.
basically, it's a complicated topic, but using burritoing as an 'out' as to why groomers should accept cats is ridiculous due to the problems it, too, brings and the fact it is still risky to the groomer... and it's hard as frick to groom a burritoed cat.
sorry i got rambley with this because it's a Hot Topic for me. i absolutely understand using less humane methods to Get The Job Done on necessary care. it sucks, but you have to do what you have to do. the problem is we SHOULD be looking for other methods, SHOULD be training our cats to not need these things for basic care, because we know damn well a cat is going to need grooming at some point, to go to a vet, get shots, etc. so why not make the experience pleasant and not traumatic for the cat?
it should not simply be accepting 'well you can just burrito the cat' as the goal. no. educate the owners to training their cats to accept care easier. promote co-op. tell people cats ARE trainable and can be taught to enjoy bathing and care without the use of a method that entirely removes autonomy from the animal.
