Travelling with cats

[ange84]

I have a new job so in the next 4-6 weeks hubby and I will be packing up our lives and moving back closer to my hometown, approximately 1300kms from where we currently live. We have two cats we need to transport, our five year old cat is fine, he has done a 9-10 hour trip in the car before we just stop regularly to let him out on his lead for a walk around and toilet break. The almost one year old on the other hand cried the entire way to the cattery which was just around the corner when hubby and I went away a couple of months back. We have a minimum of a 13 hour drive, longer with frequent stops for the cats, so whats the best way to deal with it? Flying won't really help the situation as that would still require at least an hour in the car( I don't believe the town we are moving to has an airport and if it does it would just be small planes) as well as the flight which would freak him out as well. Any suggestions from those who have transported pets before?

[Mosherette]

In my experience, my cats have yowled the roof off the car for the first hour or so...and then gone to sleep. I've never had to transport mine quite as far as that, but we make regular 125-mile trips to my mother's home and any initial noise wears off after an hour and they lapse into either a very pointed silence or just doze off.

[kitap]

When I moved down here to Arizona we travelled with my kitty. I made sure he had a humongous carrier that I could stick a small makeshift litter box into.

I fed him his favorite treat every time I fed him (turkey baby food puree) to make sure he would eat.

We stopped about every 2 hours at rest stops so I could take him out and cuddle him and coo over him. His attitude was "I want back in my carrier now, lady."

I also put the carrier out a week or so early to let him sniff it and explore it.

And, of course, air conditioning helps immensely.

[ange84]

Originally Posted by kitap

And, of course, air conditioning helps immensely.

I agree seeing as a week or two ago it was already creeping towards 40 degrees, though it has cooled down a lot.
The cats were curious when I assembled their new carriers and would happily go in, but once in the car and buckled in Olo starts the crying. When we took Pibs the last time we had his kitty cat crack (his favourite treats by Whiskas) to feed to him and scattered in his carrier and we stopped at each town, which are 1.5 to 2 hours between them anyway for the first 900kms. I might try some of the fancy single portioned cat foods though and see if they help otherwise it will be a super long trip and since hubby doesn't drive I drive the entire way, 13 hours of driving and a crying cat will drive me nuts as well as having to unpack at the other end.

[kitap]

Originally Posted by ange84

I agree seeing as a week or two ago it was already creeping towards 40 degrees, though it has cooled down a lot.
The cats were curious when I assembled their new carriers and would happily go in, but once in the car and buckled in Olo starts the crying. When we took Pibs the last time we had his kitty cat crack (his favourite treats by Whiskas) to feed to him and scattered in his carrier and we stopped at each town, which are 1.5 to 2 hours between them anyway for the first 900kms. I might try some of the fancy single portioned cat foods though and see if they help otherwise it will be a super long trip and since hubby doesn't drive I drive the entire way, 13 hours of driving and a crying cat will drive me nuts as well as having to unpack at the other end.

Is it possible to let the cats travel together? My cats get along well and can comfort each other, which cuts down on the crying when they go to the vet's.

[ange84]

It would probably be very uncomfortable over a long distance as they are both good sized cats. We have them with the doors facing each other when they went to the cattery, but it didn't seem to be much comfort, maybe if we put the doors up against each other it would work a bit better

[snapdragonfly]

I don't know if vets are as hard to get drugs out of as doctors are these days, but when I was a girl and we relocated, once we had to have the vet give us a mild tranquie for one of our cats. We had a 3 day drive - mom gave it to him and he just napped most of the way, he was fine when we got to our new home.

[Beachlife!]

I recently had to travel 11 hours in a car with a kitten. In her case, we found that she was perfectly happy once we let her out of her carrier. She spent much of the trip on the dashboard. Some cats do better in the carrier while others need to be let out. There are a few that are just miserable regardless and for those sedation is the best option.

[Ariadne]

A few years ago we moved our two cats from Colorado to Iowa, which was a 12-13 hour journey. Mr. Ariadne and I each drove our own car, and I took the cats. Emilio gets incredibly stressed out, so the vet recommended a tranquilizer. He pretty much slept the whole way. Puff is very vocal and cried for the first hour or so, then fell asleep. Every time I said her name to check on her, she would wake up and start meowing again. Whenever we stopped I let Puff roam around the car a bit. Neither of them used the litterbox and I don't think they ate or drank anything the whole time. They were fine, though. Just make sure to shade the carriers from sun so they don't get uncomfortably hot.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

I moved a cat in a carrier and a 75 lb collie in the backseat of a tiny honda civic from florida to colorado, and all went well.

I got a big enough carrier to put a box with litter in, and made sure that thing stayed clean. Kitty actually did a very good job, and she was a very neurotic kitty.

I'd get some rescue remedy for the one kitty and dose her with it on a regular basis. Make sure they have water available on a regular basis. they likely won't eat anything, but they'll recover just fine.

Just be sure that everyone is secured before you open any car doors. Be very vigilent about this. A dog escaping from a car when traveling is one thing. A cat is another.

[Ariadne]

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

Just be sure that everyone is secured before you open any car doors. Be very vigilent about this. A dog escaping from a car when traveling is one thing. A cat is another.

Excellent point. I wrote our temporary contact information on the cats' tags with Sharpie just in case of escape, and made sure to update Puff's microchip. I even made sure the car doors were locked when I let the kitties out to stretch, just in case Mr. Ariadne tried to open the door from the outside to get something.

[AnglRdr]

Originally Posted by Beachlife!

I recently had to travel 11 hours in a car with a kitten. In her case, we found that she was perfectly happy once we let her out of her carrier.

FWIW, I would never ever ever recommend traveling with a cat outside of a carrier.

[LizzyBean]

My ex and I moved from CA to MI with three cats in two cars. It was about 2000 miles and 3 and 1/2 days.

The cats stayed in their carriers and we offered food, water and liter, but we found that they didn't want any of it while moving. So be prepared for either a long break at least once a day (an hour) or waiting until you get to your night stop for them to do anything.

Put them in harnesses if you can. Clicking a leash onto that will help, even with the carrier, so they don't go bolting if they get out of the carrier.

Talk to your vet about sedatives before you leave, if you think the cats may need it. Motion sickness pills too.

And buy some ear plugs.

[Sue Bee]

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

I'd get some rescue remedy for the one kitty and dose her with it on a regular basis. Make sure they have water available on a regular basis. they likely won't eat anything, but they'll recover just fine.

That's it. If you can get your hands on Rescue Remedy, do so, and use it in the weeks coming up to your move, and on. It is amazing how well this stuff works. A few drops in their water, or food, and much calmer kitty.

[Beejtronic]

I second trying to use some sort of sedative. We drugged our cat up when we sent him on the plane, and he seemed to be fine.

I also second not letting the cat roam the car during the drive, especially if you don't know how he will act. I've heard stories of cats getting under brakes, which can end very, very badly.

[Beachlife!]

Originally Posted by Beejtronic

I second trying to use some sort of sedative. We drugged our cat up when we sent him on the plane, and he seemed to be fine.

I also second not letting the cat roam the car during the drive, especially if you don't know how he will act. I've heard stories of cats getting under brakes, which can end very, very badly.

Well sure it depends on the cat. If the cat is going to freak out when let loose in the car, there's no point. Some cats calm right down and make the entire trip more pleasant for cats and people.

I have a lot of cats and they all pretty much tip their cards to how they will react in the first 60 seconds. A harness could also be used to make sure the cat's kept in check.

That all said, I wouldn't recomend attempting it unless there is at least one adult passenger in the car.

[FrogFeathers]

Our first cat, Cagney, was very road-weary... In her first year of life she moved from North Carolina to Alaska, then to South Carolina (by plane, of course), and then by car to Kansas. From there to Wisconsin for a few visits, then to Georgia and finally back to Wisconsin (all in a car).

We just put her in her carrier and there she stayed till we stopped to let her out.

But, no matter what you do- be it sedated or not- take along enough of the water you use at home now. We would bottle up our own tap water to give to the animals on trips. That way they'd drink familiar water and not get any tummy upsets.

[Xia]

I would recommend buying a large sized carrier, so the cat has room to stand up and walk around in the carrier as well as use a litterbox.
With my cats they much prefer to be outside the carrier. I have one carrier with a zip-off top which can be seat-belted in to the seat so I can remove the top easily if they want to look around. It also has a place to attach a seatbelt harness (yes I have seatbelts for my cats when they are not in the carrier.)
One of my cats will complain bitterly unless you let him out of the carrier, but if you do he will just curl up on the seat and go to sleep.

[ange84]

Originally Posted by Beachlife!

I recently had to travel 11 hours in a car with a kitten. In her case, we found that she was perfectly happy once we let her out of her carrier. She spent much of the trip on the dashboard. Some cats do better in the carrier while others need to be let out. There are a few that are just miserable regardless and for those sedation is the best option.

We can not transport an unrestrained animal in the car here as there are fairly high penalties for doing so and it is also unsafe for pets and drivers.

When we stop the cats are not let out of their carrier without their lead on as we don't want run aways or them to get hurt as there are a lot of roadtrains going past. I'll try the rescue remedy and a workmate is taking her kitten to the vet soon so I might see if I can get her to find out if it is even possible to get a sedative. The first hour of the trip is always the hardest as we leave really early, especially this time as we need to do the trip in one day because of the cats, and around dawn is the worst time for kangaroos on the road and cattle and it is a bad road that we will be on so a crying cat is the last thing we need to distract me.

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by ange84

around dawn is the worst time for kangaroos on the road and cattle and it is a bad road that we will be on so a crying cat is the last thing we need to distract me.

I would love to hear that on a traffic report as long as it's not around here!
Dawn"...and on the Inner Loop of the Beltway, there are 5 kangaroos..."Storm