morristhecat

When will you humans learn that your only use to us is to feed us and pet us when we so desire. We sure as hell don't want to be stuck with you on some stupid vacation. Leave us at home with arrangements for someone to come by and feed us and clean our litterbox and we will be very happy cats. Stay gone as long as you like. purrrrrr

HRH SBP

the first time I took the family kitty to the vet, many years ago, I just threw her in the car with me. needless to say she was not amused.

had she ONLY climbed on my shoulder/head, it would not have been as bad. but, she ran around and around and around inside the car. finally decided to settle RIGHT underneath the brake pedal. this is not a good spot for cats.

that was a nightmare trip - funny, but a nightmare. and did she YOWL.

never did that again..

HRH

KathyH

To the person who microchips your cat, that is very good, but they should also have collars and tags. Not all shelters have scanners to read chips and even if the do, in a lot of places, cats are hardly ever scanned for chips. Dogs yes, but cats no.
KathyH

alex

Kathy,

Yes, I completely agree. My cats have collars and tags too. The boy cat came microchipped by the rescue group so I decided to have the girl done too in case she ever got her collar off. You can never be too careful and I would be heartbroken if anything happened to either of them!

Carrie

Glad I found this thread as I had planned on contacting my vet but its great to hear what other people do. My cat has no problem traveling short distances, he never yowls but curls up and goes to sleep in his carrier. I have traveled up to 4 hour this way with no problems. Next month however I am moving from Chicago to Charlotte, NC and will be driving my car out there over the course of 2 maybe 3 days. What do I do with the cat? How do I feed him? How does he go to the bathroom? I was thinking about packing a small litter box and a leash and getting out at rest stops and letting him out of his carrier and on a leash to go to the litter box. Should I just travel without him in the carrier in the car and set up a litter box in the backseat? I have never let him out of the carrier in the car before. Also I think he would be tentative to use the litter box in the car or even eat. What do I do?

alex

Carrie,

I buy one of those disposable litterboxes for the car - you can usually get them at Jewel or Dominick's or one of the pet stores. This will sound totally gross but my cat gets so excited about riding in the car (see my above post) that she immediately jumps into the litterbox and pees. I have also made the mistake of leaving the food bag in the car (instead of in the trunk of the car) while we are driving and she has basically dug a hole in the bag and helped herself. That being said, every cat is different and it might be wise to ask your vet for some tips. Also search the net for sites like Animal Planet and Petco that have articles on this topic. I just quickly checked petco.com and they have an article on handling a road trip with your cat. Good luck!

cg

Carrie - we had exactly the same concerns when we moved cross-country with our cats. I worried about it for weeks ahead of time - especially the litter box thing. What we ended up doing, on recommendation from our vet, was keeping the backseat totally free of anything except a comfy blanket and a carrier. We left the door of the carrier open while driving so they could wander in and out, and then usually locked them up before opening the doors so they wouldn't escape (they never really tried).

As for the litter box, we have a pass-through that we left open so they could wander in and out of the trunk, where we kept the litte box. They didn't ever use it in the car (only at night after we were well settled at our hotel), but one of them decided that it was a nice cozy place to sleep! A little gross, but we made sure to keep it nice and clean.

We also kept food and water in dishes on the floor, but they pretty much ignored them. As for letting them roam loose in the car, I had my mom with me, and she kept them from climbing all over me while I was driving (and they sure tried). I wouldn't want to have them loose if I was driving by myself.

Definitely discuss it with your vet - ours made us feel much better. They may also give you a certificate of health, which was important for us coming into California (not sure if it's important when crossing into other states). Good luck!

zzzzzz

be careful, a friend's at jumped out of her car in New Orleans & was never heard from again

c

My grandmother and grandfather drove from Arizona to NC with her Siamese cat.Every so often they would stop and she would take the cat out on a leash and the cat would go to the bathroom on the side of the road! I have never seen a cat like that since.Too bad that damn cat hated everybody

a

Although the cats mentioned here were well behaved, I've experienced cats that meowed constantly during a flight. Nowhere near as bad as a wailing baby or kid though.

meowin

meow, be nice to me i'm cute and purr to you, meow meow meow

ronald

Leave the xxxxx cat home - just because you want to travel does not mean the cat wants to. Set some mice loose in the house before you go to keep it occupied.

Carrie

Thanks alex and cg for the info. I will check with my vet as well. Only problem now is that change makes my cat nervous and when he gets nervous he sheds. He may be bald by the time I arrive and get moved inot the new apartment in NC!!!!!!!

KathyH

If you plan to put you cat on a leash and collar, I'd suggest rather than just a collar you use what is called a figure eight harness. Cats can slip out of collars pretty easily if they want. A harness is a little safer. Also let him get used to it and the leash at home first.
Kathy

CF

To "c"...don't be too hard on the poor Siamese cat. We had one and it loved everyone in the family, but if someone came into the house it turned into an attack cat! It even bit people that came to the house frequently! I think it's part of the breed.

alex

Both of my cats are siamese. They have never attacked anyone. The boy just runs and hides.

sandy

I know my cats wouldn't travel well, but I did read a really good book a few months ago, "The Cat Who Covered the World" by Christopher Wren. It's written by NY Times journalist who traveled the world and lived abroad (Russia, Italy, Egypt and other places, I think) with his family...and cat. There are lots of anecdotes about stodgy foreign diplomats crumbling and cooing when they met the kitty.

cricket

Be careful in hotels. We went to Savannah (very nice, new, clean looking hotel)and our cat got his paw stuck on a sticky mouse trap. They were four others all over in the room-easily acessible by animals or CHILDREN. He didn't get hurt, just a sticky paw, but he will not stay with us in a hotel.

E.

Carrie-- For what it's worth, our cats HATE leaving their carriers during a road trip. I've tried the harness thing, and they were just terrified, forget about using the litter box or eating or drinking. I hope your cat is more mellow, but if s/he's not, think about this: s/he probably sleeps all day at home, and I know my cats don't eat or drink much at all during the day, nor do they really use the litter box. So keeping them in their carriers all day in the car isn't as cruel as it sounds, as long as you keep your driving day to 8 hours or less and offer food, etc. in the hotel at night.

Catlover

I have never travelled with my cat (just putting her in her carrier is a trying experience), but my sister flew my cat from New Jersey to Omaha, NE to bring her to live with me. She had to pay $80 for the cat and check with the airline directly, because they only allow 1 pet p/plane. She also had to provide documentation from a vet proving that the cat passed a recent physical.

The whole experience was very upsetting for my cat, but worth it. Now she has a great home and a happy life.