First things first, up the expected size when buying this, if you're going off dimensions. My 10 lb cat should easily fit within the dimensions of the small but, going off the large I bought, would likely have been extremely cramped within the medium [which was the one recommended for her weight category] (while the large did give her some room to stretch). Best I can figure, the dimensions provided in the listings are made by way of the containers being measured from the outside of the container, including strap ends. As far as the weight recommendations, those also seem dubious, as the large (and its somewhat low quality flooring) buckles enough under her weight that the bottom needs to constantly be supported and, even then, she's still slamming into the sides uncomfortably as we move, given the carrier's lack of stiffness. I've found that sticking a cat bed inside helps both stability and in comfort, so I do recommend that. Further issues with the flooring are that the velcro panels are off-center, which is especially an issue as both the flooring and the padding rely on it to stay down. Or, put another way, good luck on the padding (which is woefully, tragically thin to begin with) actually staying attached. Again, I recommend using a cat bed in place of the included padding. The clip for attaching a collar within the carrier is heavy-weight, while its attached leash is overly short. This means you gotta clip it to itself, to keep it from heavily smacking your cat in the face, or use it to keep your cat tightly locked in place. With neither of those being ideal, this element is the most criticizable with the carrier's current design. The mesh is a slightly sticky kind of plastic, that feels as though it'd be weak to melting or tearing, compared to a more traditional mesh plastic. That said, after a dozen uses, I haven't seen any hint of tearing, or even stretching, so this doesn't appear to be an actual issue. The carrier is stiff enough to maintain general form- it won't buckle, so long as you have the flooring in place, and it'l mostly maintain its rectangular shape while carrying it. That said, it could definitely do with a bit more stiffness- as I noted before, it easily warps in places while carrying it, leading to extreme discomfort and instability for any included cat and, even with a cat bed inside, still has some "squishing" on the sides and top. This again emphasizing that a larger-than-recommended carrier is ideal, so as to give your cat protection against being tapped on by the container. All criticisms said, the container is still one of the best soft mesh containers I've seen and, even more notable, and despite all the traumatizing instances of being carried around in it, my little fluffball rather loves sleeping in the carrier at home. It's definitely got a design that cats find appealing, especially if you leave the top flap slightly unzipped, allowing them more options in how to get in and out. All things considered, I'd say that each tier of the carrier is inflated in price by about 30%, relative to the quality of design and materials provided. In fairness, this may still be less than other soft mesh carriers I've seen, which are all but useless and made of clearly inferior materials and still insist on $30 price tags. Rather, the Amazon carrier is one of the better soft mesh carriers I've seen- and that despite its obvious corner-cutting, certain haphazardly implemented elements, and dubious recommendations on associable size and weight. All in all, this is a carrier that could use some improvements but, in the meantime, works rather well. if you don't have time or energy to hunt down something a bit more refined (and again, most soft mesh carriers you'll find will likely be worse quality than these), then this is a fairly reliable one. Moreover, if you can get it on sale, you'll get pricing suitable for making up for the slight quality issues. In the end, it's not a carrier I regret buying, as it handles what it needs to well enough, and its issues can mostly be resolved just by adding a cat bed, strapping down the attached leash to the side of the carrier, and adding an additional (better quality) leash to it. And, moreover, it's a carrier that has held up over repeatedly being walked places. If you're not doing any long-distance travelling, and just need something to get your cat to the car and back, then this should be fairly ideal. Besides, by this point, it might be worth its cost just off of how much my girl has been enjoying using it for naps. ^.^
