[Trish Crocker]

I'm sure this has been asked before but how do you travel with cats??
We have two that will be moving down there with us, my husband said it would be no problem, but I can't envision 21 hours on the road with two cats in carriers. Do you put their litter box on the floor of the car? We will probably be bringing both cars so it's not practical to fly down..leave the cats, then fly back only to drive the other car down. Since I know there are cats in the Villages, someone must have dealt with this. Thanks for any input

Trish

[chuckinca]

We travel from Norcal to TV and back with our three cats. They meow a bit when we start out but settle down in a half hour or so.

We have a pickup with a camper shell and pass thru windows and put their litter box, food and water in the very back of the truck bed. The truck bed is usually pretty full going each way. Also, we pull a travel trailer and they spend the nights in it with us. We are on the road for around two weeks each way because we stop at our daughter's home in the Denver burbs for 4 to 6 days (they stay in the PU bed because her cat isn't very friendly) and also stop for more than one night nearly every other night.

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Hi, Trish. We moved from Ohio so it was a 2 day trip. I went to either Meijer or Walmart and was lucky to find a large squarish container with hinged lid in the office supply dept. It is about 3" deep, just deep enough for some litter. I had the hard plastic cat carrier but thought the cat would feel claustrophobic so I bought one of the newer mesh type (I think it was for small dogs). Our sedan was stuffed so I put the carrier on top of 2 pillows in the middle of the back seat so she could see me as we have bucket seats. In the motel I just brought in the plastic container & opened the lid and voila! She didn't eat but that is to be expected. We stayed at a motel the 2nd night & moved in our house on the 3rd day. I don't think she would have done well without the tranquilizers. I think I gave her 2 for the full day of travel and 1 each night. Good luck!

[graciegirl]

We have two cats too. You are allowed to have two cats in TV. Our two cats names are Mikey, Harry and Hershey.

When we were snowbirding which only ended a week ago and we are now frogs..... Spell that FROGS.... When we were traveling with these guys, first we had two of those nylon mesh collapsible cages and we put two in one and one in the other and they howled and yelled and threw up and had ...oh never mind. They did what cats do when they are mad and scared and awfully discouraged with you. They shed awfully too when they are that upset, wear the color of your kitties.

Then...we bought halters and leashes for them and put them all in one cage. When we were out on the road we let them out in the van and they immediatly found a lap....driver had NO cat for safety. (There are three of us, me, Sweetie and our dear daughter, Helene.) They settled down pretty much. One would tuck himself next to Helene's feet. When we stopped for breaks we would shove them back in the cage. We had litter in back of van, too with lotsa other stuff, but they used it. Carry a few rags for any upset stomach activity. Never used medication. We always drove all the way through..14-15 hours from Cincinnati.

The trip last week was smooth..as it was our final one of course. Not a peep, no sick stomach, just veteran travelers.

When we let them out the first time in our new home in Hadley three years ago, they hid under beds for three days. Last week, they strolled around this rental like they had picked it out. Cats are just so interesting, annoying, loveable and...just plain silly at times. They know who owns who.

Good luck Trish. Can't wait to mee you!

[ajbrown]

The feline motel


At some rest area on Route 81? One cat must be hiding



We have arrived. Everyone wants out. "Yo kitty kat, you know you are standing in the toilet right?

[laryb]

We bought two cages like AJ for our cat Oliver. Assembled one and left one end off, then placed his litter box in it. then assembled the other one and left the end without the door off. Put them both in the backseat and wire tied them together. Added Oliver, food and water, and 20+hours later we were home. He would meow every couple of hours, and all we did would acknowledge him and put our fingers through the cage, and he was quiet for a couple more hours. The cages fit perfectly from door to door in our Accord.

[ladydoc]

We just arrived with our cat, Tombstone (we got him at the humane society and they named him that because he was rescued from a tree in the cemetary..he was about 8 weeks old). He is a big boy...16 pounds. We were sure he would be a horror on the road, and were prepared to give him diazepam that the vet gave us. We put him in his kennel, the one he sleeps in at home. It is a medium size dog kennel and we have a little litter box in the back and he has his little toy lambie. I did not want to medicate him unless necessary, so we crossed our fingers and put the kennel in the van. He did not make one sound the whole trip. He was a perfect little gentleman the entire trip.. of 1800 miles. He ate fine, slept fine, used the box fine. Surprised the heck out of us. However, since we have been here he has turned into a dog. He sits on a chair at the table and annoys us both until we give him a piece of whatever we are eating. He NEVER did this before.
Anyway, getting back to your question..it seems like all of the kitties behave differently. You might want to ask the vet for a mild sedative if you think he will be really agitated during the trip or make a lot of noise. In any case, have a great trip and remember this too shall pass. This will seem an easy task compared to the agony of unpacking.
Being here is worth all the problems it has been getting here, so enjoy and focus on how things will be when you are settled.

[jblum315]

By all means get a sedative from your vet. You may not need it, but it's good to have if kitty is unhappy. Have traveled with cats and mostly they settle down but there was one that yelled nonstop for 8 hours.

[cherylncliff]

In Jan we traveled from MI with our four cats (2 sets of siblings) and then back again in March (2 long days each way). We have two hard shell cat carriers that we use to get the cats into and out of our Grand Caravan. Once the doors and windows are shut, we let them roam the van (all seats are stowed). We have a plastic pan for litter and have their cat beds. We got sedatives from our vet (just in case) but after the first hour or two they settled down pretty well and we did not need them. We did spend some time prior to the trip taking them out for 30-40 minute rides. We stayed at a LaQuinta Inn since they allow pets at no extra charge or deposit, have a nice breakfast and have clean rooms. We are now moving to TV to be FROG's (the MI house sold in 6 weeks!) and will be doing the trip once more in just 2 weeks.

[Barefoot]

Our 18 year old Himalyan cat handles the 26 hour trip with ease, twice a year, as long as we let her roam free and don't cage her. She lies down with our two dogs and sleeps. We always make sure she is secured with a halter and leash before opening the car door. Cats are fast and sneaky.

By the way, please .... make sure when you're travelling that your pets have collars or halters with ID tags and telephone numbers. We equip our pets with a rabies tag from the Vet with the Vet's number. We also put a tag on each pet reading "Reward $500" with our telephone number.

[GOJODO]

We have traveled with our 2 cats and dog in our rv all across the country. We kept them in a cage with water and food and would stop every 2 hours and let them out for a potty break and a walk. Never had any problems. The cats would sleep most of the time and our dog would look out the window. All was well. I will say in preparation for travel we would take the cats out for a few short trips so they would get accustomed to the cage and motion of the truck.

[runnermi]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

We have two cats too. You are allowed to have two cats in TV. Our two cats names are Mikey, Harry and Hershey.

Gracie,

Every time you say that, you absolutely crack me up.

I was pretty worried about the 2 animal restriction as I currently have three. What worries me more is my 85 year old mother has 3 also and guess where they will come to live if anything happens to mom? I have a 13 year old and she has one that has to be 15 so depending on what happens with Winnie and Keeda, I could move down to the Villages with between 4 to 6 cats.

Do I want 6 cats? Nope, but I am not going to throw anyone out of the Inn either. I do worry about how to move the cats in a car for between 18 and 20 hours. I would definitely have to stop for one night. I don't need to worry about right now, but always enjoy reading this topic.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by runnermi

Gracie,

I was pretty worried about the 2 animal restriction as I currently have three. What worries me more is my 85 year old mother has 3 also and guess where they will come to live if anything happens to mom? I have a 13 year old and she has one that has to be 15 so depending on what happens with Winnie and Keeda, I could move down to the Villages with between 4 to 6 cats.

I don't think you need to worry at all. I know many residents with four cats. Since indoor cats are invisible, I think the "Don't ask, don't tell" rule applies to cats. I was told by a Sales Rep that the restriction of number of pets was simply to ensure that resdients aren't breeding pets. As if!

[franHI]

we moved here in April from CT (4 nights in motels) with a cat, a dog, husband etc & a full car. The cat was great (for one who never liked being in a crate - I would let him out into his litter box once during the day - but he just stayed in his crate - he loved the motels - they seemed to have great windows for him to look out of. The dog on the other hand was a pain in the neck (he would howl when I left the motel room) - I did get a calming spray that I sprayed in the cat's crate (don't know if it helped or not).

Good luck - they will know that you have bought them a very new house for them & should settle in fine.

[jblum315]

True. Cats love to be moved to a new house. All that exploring to do!