Since there seem to be lots of cat lovers in the group, I'm looking for advice on traveling with a cat. Is the only safe way to do this with the cat crated? I can do that, but hate the thought of listening to him complain for 5 hours. Anyone got any hints?
My wife had bought a pet "seat" for in the car. It looks like a open plastic box with a padded insert. A seat belt goes through holes in the "box" to secure it to the car. Attached to the box are a strap across the top with a strap to the back. There is a snap where the straps meet and a harness for a small pet that. Put your cat in the harness and connect the harness to the snap. We put the seat in the middle of the back seat (We have no need for a baby seat.) and my wife would sit next to it to keep the cat company. However, the cat was happier in Kathy's lap. We do have the cat on a leash so she cannot get into the front.
Though I have yet to travel with our cat, my in-laws brought theirs with them the last time they visited. They have a car with a pass-thru to the trunk, where they had the litter box. The cat was allowed to wonder as he saw fit. My mother-in-law said that he cried for a while when they started out. She is normally very good with calming all kinds of animals, but he just wouldn't stop crying. She said that out of frustration she took the water mister and sprayed at him. Nothing serious, just mainly in his direction. She said that he immediately stopped and after that he was his normal self, walking and climbing around. On the trip home, he was good from the very beginning. As I said, I have yet to travel with a cat. But if/when I do, I'm planning on packing a water mister.
When we moved down here (about a 15 hour drive) we brought our cat with us and let her loose in the car. It did see she was a bit meowy and restless for the first hour or so, but later she settled down and would go to someone's lap and go to sleep.
When I moved from the UK To South Germany, I gave the cat a 1/2 dose of a pet sedative (tested first at home a week before on the vets advise) and she slept for the complete 1200Km trip + boat crossing. I had to leave her at a friends for a couple of days as I was staying in a hotel, and the friend told me tha cat woke up about 2am and decided it was no longer time to sleep and woke the friend up, and insisted she was played with. Our freind had to take the day off work as she couldnt sleep! She still looks after our cat when we go away.
If you know that the cat is not happy travelling, I think Victor's suggestion of visiting the vet is the best idea. I've never gone further than the vet with Noel, in his Sherpa soft carrier. He doesn't like the trip though. Samantha has only gone the 1/2 mile from the HS to our house. She is pretty nervous so I suspect I'll have 2 yowling cats when it is time for the annual vet trip next month. My prior cat LOVED riding in a car. I guess it wasn't the safest thing in hindsight, but she would lie on the back package shelf (sedan) and be happy for however long. She looked forward to rides in the car, new scenery, as she was a house-bound cat. She also liked to go sailing, but HATED the trip in the dinghy to the mooring. Too close to the water I suspect. She would sleep below while we sailed, and wander the deck when anchored. The lifeline netting I put up for her proved useful when we had kids, no extra safety precautions necessary!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bruceha_2000\";p=\"51512)</div> Angel seems to know how long it takes to drive to the vet. When we get her into the car she'll tremble all over. If the ride goes past 15 minutes she'll settle down nice and calm for the rest of the trip.
In the 2 years we've had him, Noel hasn't gone in the car other than to the vet. He's a pretty smart cat but I don't know if he would be able to learn that difference. Sounds like Angel is a sharp one. Powder (prior cat) DID recognize when we got near the vet. That 'happy to be in the car' mood changed right quick! Back to the thread, when I flew Powder out from CA, it was in an underseat pet carrier and she WAS sedated. Even as mellow as she was, I (unlike the parents of some children ;-) ) didn't want to take a chance on her getting agitated and crying for hours.
Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll take the sedative route. Since I'll be driving alone there's no one to keep him from underfoot.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(joanclare\";p=\"51389)</div> I had an 18 year old cat, who hated to ride in the car.. Sherry and I were moving from Reno Nevada to Denver Colorado.. not your easy trip around the block... Sherry took the cat (Boo) to the vet for a check up.. she told him we were moving and weren't looking to two days of howling cat on the trip.. plus we were taking two trucks.. Sherry driving the Dakota with the extra cab and I was driving the '51 Ford... The vet said that if a cat can see out of the car/truck he will travel well.. we built up the area in the extra cab behind the front seat.. made a bed and put the litter box there... got a couple of kids gates to separate the front from the back... put Boo in and while we finished loading, trapping, and hooking up trailers.. Boo watched out the windows.. armed with walkie talkies we took off.. I checked with Sherry as we started to merge onto I-80.. she said everything was ok.. and we were off...I let her pass me and take the lead.. Boo watched me as she passed and looked out the back window until we stopped for lunch.. he enjoyed the motels we stopped in... he traveled so well that we built a permanent shelf and cage for him... took from Denver to Las Vegas and to Sherrys daugher's wedding in Wyoming... the latter he was unimpressed with as he had to stay in the truck... Let the cat see out and he/she WILL travel Bob Andersen
Also be sure when you travel that the cat has an empty stomach but access to water. You might also want to bring paper towels or other cleanup supplies-- I had my new Prius for a week and had to drive two kittens 1000 miles in crates, and of course they vomited all over. Thankfully I had a jug of water, towels, and cleaning spray to clean everything up.
Many many years ago, I had to take my cat to the vet for something. In those days I thought it was cute the way he would sit on my shoulder as I drove. It was a 20-minute drive, as I lived out in the country in those days. On this occasion I was nearly back home on the gravel road, when he decided to get under the pedals. I tried to grab him, but could not reach him. I could not step on either the brake or the clutch without crushing him. I ended up going off the road and into the ditch. I consider myself extremely lucky that this happened on the gravel road with no traffic and nobody was hurt. Do not under any circumstances allow an animal to ride loose in the car. No matter how "intelligent" you think the animal is, he does not understand the workings of a car, or the absolute necessity for you to be able to work the pedals.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(\"daniel\";p=\"52205)</div> I have found that if the cat canget to the steering wheel, they want to drive. Bob Andersen
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BobA\";p=\"52225)</div> By any chance, is your cat named "Toonces"? Seriously though, I've heard stories of families who lost their beloved pets at rest stops when their pet bolted out of an open car door and ran away. Make sure your cat is in his crate, or otherwise restrained before you open the door. Don't just hold him and hope he doesn't try to escape.
Toonces was the "cat that could drive" on Saturday Night Live [Broken External Image]:http://www.mavericktimes.com/toonces2.jpg
We have moved several times with cats. We always put them in their carriers. We tried sedatives with the first two and it didn't make any difference. Two of the moves required an overnight stay on the road. The current cat seems to settle down fairly quickly but after every stop it is like a new trip so that he has to get used to it again. Of course travelling with a cat meant that we couldn't go into a restaurant to eat since we were moving in the summer and I wouldn't leave an animal in the car while we ate. Hopefully your cat likes the car.
I took Noel and Samantha to the vet for their annual checkup yesterday. They each have thie own Sherpa soft carrier. It is only a 10 minute trip, but one unhappy cat makes 10 minutes very unenjoyable, I was expecting the worst with two! Samantha only put out a couple of soft meows on the way there, nothing on the way back. Noel never made a sound. He meowed the whole way there and back this time last year in the Odyssey. I don't know if it is the sound of the car, the ride, the fact that they could see each other through the mesh of their carriers or something else. Samantha usually hisses and growls any time she can see Noel. I noted Bob's comment about the cats being happy if they could see out so I put them in the back. Last year Noel's carrier was on the floor of the mid row seats between the kids. I don't think they could see out the rear but they might have been able to see a little out the hatch window. If it was that one thing that made the difference, THANKS BOB!
