I could never in a million years give my animals away.

I think how people deal with their pets is an EXtremely personal decision.

As mentioned, the cat that moved cross country with me was perfectly fine with it. Didn't mind the car. Got a kick out of sneaking into no-pets hotel rooms. But she was a special cat in that way. Very mellow.

Flip side, one of my present cats is adopted from a home that had just one too many dogs and cats. It was done with love on both sides.

GoTravel, I understand YOU could never give away your pets but that sentiment comes across as judgemental and not in anyway helpful for the unusual situation this poster finds herself in.

I have never given a cat away before, but in this case it may be the kindest thing to do. We live in the woods now, and unfortunately people are always dropping off unwanted pets on our street. This is how we acquired both of our cats, not because we chose them, but because we felt sorry for them and did not want them to starve! I can hardly catch our "feral" cat to take her to the vet unless she is deathly ill, so I probably can't catch her to put her in carrier, and driving for two days with her would be a nightmare for both her and us! I was able to catch her to get her spayed before she had kittens. I have friends with farms who would take her to live with their other barn cats which would suit her much better than moving to live in a small city with us.

Our other kitty, who arrived with five beautiful kittens, was obviously a tame house cat that somebody got tired of and dropped off. She will be much easier to move and not as totally freaked out as the other cat would be.

This is where people never give good thought to the responsibility of taking on the care of a pet.
Even when you feed wild animals, you change their habits. They begin to depend on that food being there. That is why it is best sometimes, not to feed them.
This "feral" cat was lucky someone fed it and took some sort of care of it. But now what ? It is older, more dependent on the food .. I doubt it will be able to understand the concept of new owners, different 'farm'..being "feral" and all.

I agree with GoTravel..and it does sound judgemental, but then, when one posts a question to a large group of strangers who all have different feelings and thoughts on these matters, that is what you will get..

It is because I HAVE given thought to the responsibility of taking care of a starving "feral" or abandoned kitten that I plan to make arrangements to make sure the cat (only two years old) will continue to be taken care of even if I can't do it myself. Fortunately several neighbors who feed the kitty when we are out of town are also interested in its welfare.

I am happy to live in an area where people do take an interest in rescuing abandoned pets.

kaleyna: my advice is to drive with the cats, even after the experience from hell i had! My ex-boyfriend and I rented a Penske truck, towed my car on a trailer, and kept the cats, un-crated!, with us in the cabin of the truck. The bigger (of course) of the two cats cried incessantly unless the passenger was holding her (she weighed over 15 pounds). This meant no sleep for the passenger. My ex-boyfriend gave up on staying awake to drive, so I wound up driving straight through the night, stopping for coffee and then restroom stops every half hour! At one point the next day, the crying cat escaped through the small hatch door into the back of the truck. I wouldn't drive again until we lured her back out of the furniture jungle, as I was afraid something would shift and she'd get smushed.

The reason I'm telling you this is that I would do it all over again rather than fly the cats. I have heard horror stories and I know there was a 20/20 (or some show like that) episode devoted to the mis-treatment of animals in cargo.

As for your safety, I understand you're concern, considering your experiences. I drove from eastern Pennsylvania to Las Vegas, although my friend was following in a separate car. Here are my suggestions if you decide to drive:

Buy a can of mace/pepper spray/bear spray. Keep it on you at all times, when stopping for food, gas, etc. Join AAA if you're not already a member - it's only $30-40 for an annual membership, and it's worth it. Stay at hotels with interior hallways (no motels) - Courtyard by Marriotts are usually a good value for price. Have the number of the hotel handy and call ahead and ask if someone could escort you from car to hotel - I don't know why they wouldn't do that for you. Gas up in well-lit, populated areas. And don't travel after dark.

I think the mace/pepper spray is key in safety - I keep mine on my nightstand. I figure it's the easiest, quickest, and most effective method of defense in a sudden situation, because it buys you time to react.

I don't know how cat carriers move when you need to stop fast, but I do know how large bird cages move re the same.

You need to get some good bungee cords to keep them in place. I'll never forget the time I had a solid and heavy bird cage that had never budged an inch on numerous trips before come through the passenger side of the front seat at some speed. Our poor cockatiel was shaken up by it, but uninjured. Can't say the same for my head.

Don't assume the carriers are too heavy to move with speed.