Question:
Hi, I was planning on driving out to see my parents for march break and bring my cat Fenway with me. Problem is, the drive is 22 hours! Any tips on safe and healthy car travelling? Should I stop every two hours, and so on. Thanks
Answer:
How does your cat typically do on car rides? My cat does poorly on them and had no interest in food, water, or toilet when I was traveling with him. You might just want to stop when you need to and then offer food and water to him then. Get yourself a halter and leash (cats get out of collars far too easily to trust them) for when you want to take your cat out to use the toilet. Otherwise, I'd keep him in a carrier. It's just safer that way. Good luck!
Answer:
When I had to drive back and forth from Chicago , IL to Columbus, ohio I let my cat roam usually she sat on my lap or the passenger seat. It was a 5 hour trip and she didn't use the toilet a single time when I stopped and let her out.
but yah definately a harness. I kept a litter box in my trunk too and put it out even though she never used it at the rest stops
Thanks Icklemiss21!
Answer:
Don't.......
if at all possible, don't......
Then depends on how she travels. Tabitha or Chrissy would have needed tranquilizers. With Marli, we would probably need tranquilizers as she hates the carrier so we would have to let her walk free. She drives us crazy just on a trip to the vet as she will not find a spot and settle. On the other hand, she will eat while riding and will use the litter box, even while the car is moving.
Answer:
I travelled from Los Angeles to Portland with a cat once. It wasn't that bad actually.
Here is some advice I have for you. To keep her stress free, spray some Feliway in her carrier. If you can't get Feliway, try using some lavendar oil dilluted in water. Spray it on a blanket in her carrier.
Something I find really helpful when travelling with a cat is freezing water bottles before the trip, then as they melt along the way you can give her fresh cold water. She will appreciate it.
Hope that helped!!!
<3
Roze
*meow*
Answer:
Please be very careful of what type of harness you buy. I once bought one of figure 8 type harnesses to take my Mimi to the vet. She squirmed out of it in 2 seconds! She started to take off running & only by luck was I able to grab her by the end of her tail! Frightening because I was 5 miles from home & she would have been lost forever.
Try the harness at home first.
judy
Answer:
Thanks for all the advice. I do have a cat harness that I tie him up in the yard with. I am very worried he will become dehydrated, or won't go to the bathroom because he will be so stressed. I will definately take all of your suggestions!
Answer:
I travel every year from Michigan to Florida and back. It's a two day trip (11 hours each day) I have two cats and a dog. We all do fine. I have purchased a large wire crate with plenty of room for both cats to comfortably lie down in and still have room for a litter box in the crate. For water I use a hanging water bottle like the ones used for hamsters. The food bowl is an old butter tub that I clip to the side of the crate with a pinch type clothes pin. Both cats wear harnesses (and yes be careful which one you buy) When we stop for potty breaks for us and the dog we let the cats out to stretch in shifts on a leash. Usually they are very afraid and want to go back in the crate after a few minutes. I'm sure they would be happier if we didn't take them along but I'm not going to leave them in someone elses care for six months. I try to desensitize them by taking several short trips with them (30 minutes or so) a week before we are scheduled to do the long drive. They cry for about 15 minutes then settle down and sleep until the car stops.
Answer:
Make sure you have your cats chipped and also having an ID tag with phone numbers you can be reached at even while traveling. God forbid they would escape ~ even at your parents~ but just to be safe.
Put a cat carrier out before you leave so they get familar with it and maybe even feed them in it. Put a piece of clothing with your scent on in the carrier while traveling. I know that conforts them. I would have a cat box out for them at all times. You could pull over and clean it if they use it!
Judy you sound like you have the routine down for all of them!
Good luck on your trip. Report to us how it went!
~Merry~
Answer:
My wife and I moved from Washington, DC to Vancouver, British Columbia last year - we had to drive literally across the continent with our cat Laszlo. Laszlo hates riding in the car and we were looking at two weeks on the road. (Thank god we didn't have Leela the Bengal then or I don't know what we'd have done...)
The first thing we did was get him a soft-sided carrier, so he wouldn't have to ride in a hard plastic box. We got him a Sherpa Bag, which is meant for airlines, but it worked well. It had to be a lot more comfortable.
Our vet also gave us tranquilizer pills for him, but we were leery of using them. We hoped we wouldn't have to and, for the first couple days, he was quite a trouper. Then I guess he just ran out of emotional reserves. He started getting really ticked off (this is usually an amazingly mellow cat) and we had to drug him. (He was trying to scratch through the mesh screening on the Sherpa Bag, and we couldn't let him do that or we were in big trouble.)
We were still a little over cautious with the pills. He never just zonked out, and we could see him fighting the effects. "No, damn it, I'm ANGRY!" Generally, once the car had been in motion for a couple hours, he'd give up and go to sleep, but he was wailing for a while there. As for logistics, he wasn't much trouble. He's pretty good about holding his business until a proper litter box presents itself, so we didn't have to put him on a leash and walk him at rest areas - probably couldn't have done that anyway. We just took a small litter box with us. We'd plotted a course across the country with bed and breakfasts and places that would let us bring him in. We were also making a vacation of it, so we'd be on the road for a couple days and then we'd stay somewhere a couple days, which seemed to help him get over it. We eventually made it and he's no worse for the experience.
Good luck with yours.
John
Join the ongoing adventures of Leela and Laszlo at Living with Bengals.
Answer:
BCExpat wrote: We were still a little over cautious with the pills. He never just zonked out, and we could see him fighting the effects. "No, damn it, I'm ANGRY!" Generally, once the car had been in motion for a couple hours, he'd give up and go to sleep, but he was wailing for a while there. As for logistics, he wasn't much trouble. He's pretty good about holding his business until a proper litter box presents itself, so we didn't have to put him on a leash and walk him at rest areas - probably couldn't have done that anyway. We just took a small litter box with us. We'd plotted a course across the country with bed and breakfasts and places that would let us bring him in. We were also making a vacation of it, so we'd be on the road for a couple days and then we'd stay somewhere a couple days, which seemed to help him get over it. We eventually made it and he's no worse for the experience.
I drove from Washington State to Ohio with my cat. On the morning of the third day he got so angry that he poo'd on my traveling companion and then peed on me. I've never seen him that angry before or since. It's kind of funny now. I had to change my pants in the middle of a ritzy chicago suburb at 4:30 a.m. Luckily, I was wearing camo undies.
Answer:
Quote: I drove from Washington State to Ohio with my cat. On the morning of the third day he got so angry that he poo'd on my traveling companion and then peed on me.
Whoa! Is that him in your profile image? Yeah, he looks a cat you definitely want to stay on the good side of.
But there's no way we would have been able to let Laszlo not be in a carrier while the car was moving. He'd freak and climb all over us. We'd have wrapped the car around a telephone pole before we got 20 miles.
John
Join the ongoing adventures of Leela and Laszlo at Living with Bengals.
Answer:
BCExpat wrote: Whoa! Is that him in your profile image? Yeah, he looks a cat you definitely want to stay on the good side of.
Don't let him fool ya. He's the biggest sweetheart you'll meet. I'll be home in the next half hour and he'll run to the door to greet me and beg to be picked up so he can try to shove his muzzle up my nostril.
We had Sabby on a leash and halter throughout the trip. He spent most of his time underneath the passenger seat. We should've known something was up when he started crawling on us. Hence, the recommendation for the carrier.
Answer:
Depends on a cat.
Marsh's trip home from a breeder was 3.5 hours. Breeder gave him BeneBac to ease the ride home and he slept all the way here.
For vet rides, anywhere from 10 to 20min, he really loves the car and tries to look everywhere
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