Ran a kennel cough contact-tracing drill at 6:45 a.m., and our ‘sentinel’ clinic cat immediately breached the temporary isolation by napping across the red tape, neatly demonstrating why my line list grows faster than my coffee supply. If you’ve found a way to pressure-test outbreak response without being outsmarted by a 12-pound biosecurity saboteur, I’m all ears.
I beat the ‘red tape’ napper by staging a heated decoy zone (SnuggleSafe + silvervine towel) 10 ft from isolation and cueing drills with a lickmat there. Our ‘sentinel’ parks itself now — @OP if catnip winds yours up, swap in Feliway instead.
At 6:45 I bribe ours with a timed microchip feeder in the break room — set to beep the moment the drill starts, and the “sentinel” peels off before hitting the red tape. Two days of pairing the sound with breakfast and it’s been automatic; if they’re not food-motivated, a motion toy on a smart plug is a decent Plan B, @sanders_l92.
@OP We set a Petcube to auto-toss three treats in the break room at T‑0 and paired it with a ‘station’ mat cue — our clinic cat bee-lines there like it’s payroll day. If food doesn’t move yours, a smart‑plug sunlamp over a window perch has been a solid plan B.