CF

I think if I stayed in a hotel/motel with my cats I'd worry about someone (mainly housekeeping)leaving the door open and them getting out. We travel with ours in an RV, they have all the comforts of home,plus a/c and heat as the case may be if we go sightseeing. The one hates to ride and and other doesn't care, but both love it when we get where we're going. They act like they own the place. We are gone for long stretches and they are much happier with us than being at home being fed by friends.

catty

Please keep the kitty and it's urine-stained crate at home please. I'm trying to enjoy my honey roasted peanuts.

No Cats Please

I think it really nice for the people who want to take there beloved pets on board with them, but have no consideration for others. Did any of you stop and think that there are people, such as myself with allergies to these fuzzy pets? I was on a flight and not informed there was a little kitty on board with me. One hour into the flight my throat started closing up and I had to be shot up with epinephrine. So do us all a favor and leave the kitties home with the folks.

alex

It is extremely presumptous to think that pet owners have no considerations for those with allergies. I have allergies - I am allergic to dogs. I have 3 very good friends who are deathly allergic to cats and I am extremely sensitive to this issue. I have never taken my cats on a plane (one of my cats was brought to me on a plane by the foster mom). I would not subject them to the trauma of flying. I leave them with a family member or at the vet where they are well-cared for.

Moreover, airlines usually have regulations (such as someone mentioned above - only one pet allowed on board at a time) about animals in the cabin. If you have allergies, you should take the responsibility of making sure you have appropriate medications with you and are not seated near someone with a pet. Even my most allergic friends can stand to be in my house with TWO cats running freely for at least an hour or two without taking medication.

Furthermore, if you had bothered to read this thread, you would see that almost every post deals with CAR travel. Don't worry, none of us are going to invite you along in the car. This subject has already been debated to death on other posts and boards and you are just trying to cause trouble. This is the same debate over the travel with children. I say you travel at your own risk and YOU should be responsible for making sure you are comfortable (e.g., if you don't like the sound of children, bring ear plugs).

no name

Well, if the kitties don't get you on the plane, the I guess the honey roasted peanuts will.

CF

You are lucky if you have a place to board your animals. In our area a vet won't board a cat unless it requires medication on a daily basis and they CHARGE a ton. The kennels that we have looked at weren't fit to put animals in.

xx

Isn't the reason for having a cat that they are pretty independent? We leave ours in the hands of friends who visit everyday to pick up newspaper, mail and to feed and water the cats. The cats hardly notice we're gone and pretend we aren't there when we get back. They get the back yard to themselves because the dog is out on the farm while we are away. I can not imagine traveling with a cat. Worse than taking a toddler.

alex

XX,

Yeah, it depends on how long we will be gone. If we are going to be gone for more than a long weekend (3 - 4 days), we take them over to my mother-in-law's (I think more for her than for the cats - she loves them). My father-in-law works at O'Hare which is only 10 minutes from our house so he will stop in and check on them otherwise or we have our neighbor stop over. I have not boarded them in about 4 years.

NicePet

"Only" cats might get a little lonesome after a few days, more than one cat is great,they keep each other company.

We can't all manage to have someone babysit our pets while we are away,so it is nice to see that there are so many people that put a lot of thought and concern into how those pets are taken care of-or how they manage to travel with those pets.

xx

We live in an area that has some open space and a paved road behind and below our house. This seems to invite people to "drop off" their extra cats. Consequently we have always had at least two cats usually three. In 16 years we have taken in 4 different cats and found homes for another 4. Our cats are of the "tamed" feral vareiety. They really would love to be only cats but we've never been able to accomodate them. The cats we've had don't seem to care much about being left alone as long as the food bowl is never left empty long!

Now the dog, she's a different story!

kate

LOL~Yes the dog is definitely another story, I write, as mine sits here with his head on my lap, hoping I will notice him and go outside for walk.

alex

My girl cat gets mad when she is left alone. We got the boy cat to keep her company but she seems to think she is too good for his company (I guess this is why they tell you to get both cats at the same time). She has "ways" of letting us know that she is mad we left her. Plus, she is very sneaky and one time we came back from a 3 day weekend and she had snuck into my closet while I was packing and spent the entire weekend in there (luckily she did not go to the bathroom at all but did manage to destroy a good portion of my wardrobe - somehow she knew which were my favorite things). The boy cat doesn't seem to care where we are as long as he has food. When we come home, he gives us this look like "Oh, you two are back."

x

alex, it's even more pesumptious for pet owners to think they can take an animal into an enclosed environment with total disregard for their fellow passengers! My father is so allergic to cats that he has reacted to outside cats that HAD roamed the exterior hallways to my sister's apartment. If you take your pet on an airplane, be prepared to put it in the baggage compartment.

fightLike

x
I think that some of the responsibility when a person is THAT allergic to animals should be taken by the person with the allergies.If you sneeze,keel over,etc. from cat hair,you are the one that should make sure you are in a hairless environment.
This conversation has been more general than that.
So let's keep it light,ok?

B

Of course, the greatest pleasure was heading to the beach in 100+ weather, no A/C onboard, naturally, with two very pissed off cats, howling all the way from Philly to Rehobeth beach. Jeeez, we ran out of beer before Dover, our only relief, as false one but we were desperate of course. So much so, we were about to lock the cats in the trunk when we notice no trunk. Hate those hatch backs. Next time we looked around, they were lying in the little box, moaning. Litter stuck to perspiring fur. Gosh, we could just imagine what the next fur ball upchucks would be like. So, we stopped for a bag of ice and fed them cubes for the next 75 miles. They settled down, we got some more brews, and finally rolled in to the beach house about 6 p.m., and mercifully a thunderstorm to cool things down. The cats were by then merrily hunting down moles, and we knew what that meant .. upset stomachs, but that was later.

alex

I quite clearly said that I do NOT take my cats on airplanes, in the cabin or otherwise. I would drive before I ever put my cats in the baggage hold of a plane. If an airline allows pets in the cabin with certain restrictions, a pet owner has every right to believe they can take their pet on under those restrictions. Have you ever heard of the "eggshell plaintiff"? You cannot expect the world to cater to someone who is ultrasensitive.

B

Jeeeez, you mean the airlines would put those beasts in their cargo hold? Do I earn FF miles for them? Hey, last time for me and the cats in an old pea green Vega. I can have a cool one up top while they're cooling it in a container. Coooleo.

CF

Cats are very independent and two are company for each other but when we leave ours they are lonely and when we get home they are very glad to see us. We go away almost every weekend and we do leave them home then with extra food and plenty of water, but when we go for 4 or more days they are going along.

Wrong

Alex -

I wouldn't be so snide about the "eggshell plaintiff" issue. While you've heard of it, you have it backwards. The eggshell plaintiff rule is that you take the plaintiff as they are - if they happen to sustain particular injures because they are more ultrasensitive than the average person, they WILL NOT be precluded from being entitled to damages for those injuries.

alex

Wrong,

Oops, looks like you are right - I looked it up. It's been a long time since law school and personal injury is not my field of practice (now I am having bar exam nightmares). I'll admit when I make a mistake. I wasn't being snide, certainly not intentionally. And I did say that I do not impose my cats on other people. I understand that people have allergies or just don't like pets.

The post was about traveling with cats and one of my cats enjoys car travel which I related. Then, of course, someone has to jump in about how people should not be allowed to have cats in planes. My point was that as long as the airlines allow it, people with sensitivities should be prepared for it. If they truly want to change this policy, they should direct their efforts toward the airlines themselves, rather than attacking pet owners who are only doing what they are permitted to do. That's it.