Any advice would be greatly appreciatedI am traveling 30 hours in the car with a cat any advice?
Here is what this months issue of cat fancy suggest:
1. Acclimate: get your cat use to drives by taking your cat on
sporadic short drives for a few days leading up to the big
travel day
2. Make sure your pet carrier will not slide around in your car
3. cats can go 12-16 hours with out having to use the
bathroom, you can try the Pop-Up Paw-t- its a disposable
pop up cardboard litter box that comes with dispoasble
litter,scoop and track mat. they cost about $7
www.creativepetsolutions.com
4. bring cleaning supplies and extra bedding incase things
get messy
5. and of course bring food and fresh water
6. to lessen kittys stress you could try music, lots of kitty friendly toys
good luckI am traveling 30 hours in the car with a cat any advice?
2 kennels make it easy to keep one clean without worry of escape. Water is the most important thing when transporting a warm blooded animal-it must be available at all times. Your cat can be quickly trained to a rabbit water bottle. Plenty of towels is wise. Pay attention to your cats vocalizations-when he/she howls nonstop-you must stop and walk it(on a rabbit harness w/leash). A good rabbit harness can be left in place during the trip. Leash/unleash the cat in the kennel only! If she/he gets away-stay where you are and call her name continually. It will do one of two things-either come back to you or honker down for you to come to it.Carry a strong flashlight-just in case.
Make the kennel nice and homey (towels, blanket) get a small litter box and put it on the floor of the back seat of the car and every two hours or so, stop the car, go in the back seat, make sure all doors are locked and let him out for a strech in the car and if he needs to use the litter box. If he doesn't, after five minutes or so, put him back in and keep driving. You might want to stop and paly a little with him so he isn't TOO bored..
I'm not really sure if you should leave the food in the kennel with the water.. I guess you can but it might fall on him because of the road and that would be really stressful.
Some one said tranquilize him.. DONT do that, many health problems might occur especially with the heart...
Have fun on your trip.
be sure when traveling with your cat to have the carrier covered with a sheet or something 'as they don;t stress so much ' when their carrier is covered,,,be sure to have water and food in the back seat so kitty can eat and drink' and have a little litter in the box; so kitty can go pee or poo also,,, be sure kitty don;t get out ;as they will run off espesally when being stressed,.m good luck on your travels,.
Make sure you pet taxi has a seat belt holder for it. Take breaks every one in a while to assure you cat you are there. It will be very scared if it hasn't rode in a car before.
Go to your vet and ask for some tranqulizers for the kitty. He might not be so stressed out this way. Put some towels in his kennel, and make sure he has food and water, and if the kennel is big enough, put a little makeshift ';potty'; in there as well, and empty it at every stop you make. Have fun and good luck!
do you know if your cat can take the long trip? I mean it okay in traveling. It may need some sort of sedative which will help with the ride as well as car sickness.
Never let it roam in the car, it may get stuck under the seat and you might have to remove the seat to get it out, there are sharp objects under the seat sometimes and pulling it out can cause harm.
Also, it can get under the break pedal or your feet and cause an accident. Letting it on the seat if someone else is in the car might be okay so it can see the sights and stretch its legs. But don't try this on your own, trying to keep a cat in place and driving especially on the expressway is only an accident waiting to happen.
now as far as what you will need.
definately a litter box, litter and scooper (bags as well).
food and food bowls unless it can eat out of the can.
water dish and a large (milk gallon) container of water you can refill
cat toys and you need a carrier probably with a nice little plush cushion to lay on in the carrier.
When you stop to stretch your legs, let kitty do the same, maybe a leash and harness would be good that way you can take it out of the car and you won't worry about it getting loose on the expressway or at an oasis or rest stop.
good luck, I have never done this. I have two dogs and three cats so if I ever move its gonna be pretty ruff (if you know what I mean)
This time of year PLEASE take the heat VERY seriously. Take NO chances. You'd be surprised how many people lose their pets by a ';5 minute pottybreak'; when they neglect to roll down windows.
Make sure your car has 2 shades, one for front windowsheild, and one for back. Use both when stopping for ANY length of time
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS roll down the window as far as you feel is safe ANYTIME you stop. Even if you are 110% sure it's going to be 1 minute. Doesn't matter. Things happen, and it takes 4 min or less (LITERALLY) for the car to heat up enough to kill the cat, if windows aren't down.
Eat breakfasts early in the morning, while it's still cool. Still take all precautions (windows down, shades up) when leaving the cat in the car. For lunches, get fast food, and take it to a rest stop with picknic tables. Take the cat carrier out of the car with you to the picnic table while you enjoy your lunch! Eat supper after dark (still roll windows down, cuz the air can still be real warm, but nothing like when the sun's out.)
Pick 3 or 4 cities where you might stay the night, depending on what kind of time you make. THat's for each night you're staying ';on the road.'; For each city, do some calling ahead to find out what hotels are pet-friendly. Get phone numbers, addresses, so you'll be all set. OF course you don't have to book!! IT's fustrating to find a hotel at 11 p.m, and have to try 2 or 3 before you find one that's okay with pets.
Take trash bags, paper towells, and baby wipes or antebacterial wipes. That way if kitty pees, poops, or pukes, you can stop at the nearest pet stop, neatly clean it up, and dump it w/o having to smell it for hours.
Take NO chances with letting your cat out of the carrier. Unless you're securely in a hotel room, or cleaning out the carrier (with you inside the car, windows up, doors shut for the time it takes you to clean the carrier) the cat should NEVER be out of it's carrier. We made the mistake of letting our cat roam the car while we drove. He stepped on the button, rolling down the windows while mom was doing 70 on a freeway. He was level with the window opening, and inches away. IF I hadn't acted fast, there could've been a heart breaking disaster.
Bathroom: If you want to harness train your cat, you can walk it in the pet section of the rest stops, and maybe it will go. But probably it will be too stressed from the traveling and won't (My experience) accept possibly when it's in the comfort and security of a hotel room with you all night. That's probably the only time it will be relaxed enough to want to eat or use the facilities. Keep a small litterbox in the trunk, and sand for the hotel room. IF you want, you can stop periodically, crack the windows (just a little, not enough for the cat to squese through, and DON'T leave kitty) and put the litterbox in the back seat of the car and see if it will use it. You can dispose of clumps and dumps at the rest area or gas station you've stopped at. I still reccomend having the cat harnessed during this time, just in case.
Optional: Round up as many soft but old clothes of yours that you don't mind throwing away. Put one piece at a time in the cat carrier. Your smell will comfort it. If it gets soiled, you can toss it.
Put the carrier where the cat can see you through the front ';gate'; and where you can stick your fingers though the front gate if kitty cries. This will also comfort it.
If you want, your vet can give you sedatives for the kitty.
That's the basics.
leave the cat at home and have someone check on it
I drove from DC to Miami with two older cats...make sure you have a big enough carrier for kitty to move around it so she doesn't feel cramped during the drive. And put a soft towel or blanket in there -something with your smell - so she can curl up and sleep. You might even want to talk to your vet about sedation options since it's a long trip...I've never done it but people do it with dogs all the time if they don't travel well. Might be worth looking into.
My experience is because cats are territorial, they don't do well on road trips. When they're out of their territory, around unfamiliar sounds, sights and smells, they don't feel safe enough to eat, drink, or use the bathroom. I stopped several times, took them over to grassy areas so they could go potty, but they were so nervous they just wouldn't. Even though I wanted to drive straight through, I ended up having to get a room for the night in a place that was ok with pets. I set up their food and their litter (separate areas, of course) in the room, and after about a half-hour of sniffing around, they finally used the box. I don't know HOW they held it more than 12 hours, but I think it stressed me out more than them, worrying about it.
I bought one of those little disposable recycled paper litter trays and put some litter (the same kind I use at home, so they're familiar with it) in it. You can keep the tray on the floor of the car/truck if you think the cat will use it there, but it's unlikely. When you get into the hotel room, it's all ready to go.
I know lots of people want to save money and drive straight through, but trust me - even if you have another driver and are switching off, the one who is sleeping does not get good rest in a moving vehicle, and the cat is not going to feel secure enough to take care of her biological needs during this time. I would plan a few days for this trip, and call ahead and book your hotel rooms so you know you have a place to take kitty at night.
To be honest, when we got tired, we couldn't find a hotel that had rooms available that allowed pets...I ended up sneaking them in the side door! I know, that's not nice, but you do what you have to do for your kitties! (Just beware of security cameras!).
Good luck.
A year ago I moved 1200 miles with my 2 cats. Being cooped in a kennel would have driven them nuts so you need to know your cat's personality. My boys do very well with their harness %26amp; leash locked into seatbelt (in the backseat) so they have limited mobility in the car. That allowed them to look out windows or just lay on the seat.
I couldn't have made the move without Bach's Resue Remedy (you'll find it a natural/whole foods store) and catnip (mellows my boys, thankfully). Tranquilizers were not an option because I was told I would have to give them a pill every 2 hrs.
I had a disposable litter pan in the car, but they didn't use it. Too stressed I think. They also didn't eat or drink much.
Absolutely positively do NOT let your cat loose in the car without some type of restriction. I guarentee he will want to be under your feet, literally, and that is not safe.
We played music and talked for 1200 miles and they got out of the car to move a bit at rest stops. Even though they could move around in the car, they enjoyed getting into the grass.
He'll be OK once you get to where you are going and he gets acclimated to the new surroundings.
Good luck!
Get cage like yoour average kennel filled with towels for him to lay in. Also put a small litter box in their. Dont put food or water just feed them once a day with dry or wet with water. they most liekly will not eat since he will be a lil stressed out. I moved from cali to GA with my two cats.
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