Cat question for those who have gone before

[kwtoman]

My wife is being transferred to Orlando within the month. that's the good news.
The bad news is, we have three cats that, eventually, will be moving with us(when I move) from Cleveland to our house there. Any advice on how to smoothly transport 3 adult cats (one senior cat at 12 years) from here to there?

[Barefoot]

My wife is being transferred to Orlando within the month. that's the good news.
The bad news is, we have three cats that, eventually, will be moving with us(when I move) from Cleveland to our house there. Any advice on how to smoothly transport 3 adult cats (one senior cat at 12 years) from here to there?

There have been previous threads with a lot of good advice about transporting cats.
You may want to check the Pet Forum.

It sounds as if you're going to be living full time in The Villages.
Welcome to the good life!

[redwitch]

You'll find it's easier than you thought. The first half day can be miserable if you have a cat that hates cars (I did have to use a tranquilizer on one the first day but not after that), but they all settle down and become quite comfie. Many have their cats in a crate with water and a litter box. My cats did not tolerate a crate and I let them run loose on their harnesses with food, water and litter box on the floor (and praying they would use the box close to a rest area -- the smell could be miserable if you had a travel a bit lol). It made it interesting when trying to open a door (have to make sure you know exactly where the kitties are) but was doable and we traveled from California to here. Did have to sneak one of the cats into hotel rooms since most only allowed two pets but that wasn't too difficult -- two in one carrier, the other in my arms. Clerks never got beyond the cutie pie in my arms to notice the carrier had two kitties.

[Golfer49]

We moved to the villages in February with 2 -17 year old cat brothers. The vet said that we should not use tranquilizers.. I purchased a pet playpen on ebay and a cat carrier. The playpen was 48 inches around. We placed it in the back of my Kia along with the cat carrier at one opening. It just fit. We put a litter box and food in the playpen. The trip went without a single meow. They stayed in the cat carrier for the most part the whole trip (11 hours). When we stopped they would come forward for the usual petting. On the road, back in the carrier. We were amazed at how well this worked. The playpen is now on our lanai and "The Boys" will sleep in there during warm days.

[Mamaderby]

We just moved our 11 year old HarleyCat from Medina last summer. I think I was more stressed out than he was. We used a medium sized dog crate so he had some room. Got one of those disposable litter boxes and a water dish. And lots of good old "kitty crack ". (Catnip) Kept the crate covered on three sides most of the time. We went straight through. 16 hours. He was fine. Only used the box once. Cried for the first 45 minutes and then was fine. I had the crate positioned so I could scratch his head. We did NOT let him out of the crate.

[kwtoman]

Mama, Thanks... That's what we are looking at too.. Straight through so we don't take the chance of losing them. My problem - the car is a ford focus. But it is sounding more and more feasible to get a cargo van so we can pack and drive them in comfort. another thought was transferring one by air (the older one) and then driving the 2 younger. (brother and sister).

[Sable99]

I have traveled extensively with four cats – only two cats at a time. They have all been great travelers. I have a small litter box that I leave out on the floor and covered containers for both food and water that I get out when we stop. I also have a 30 inch cage that I leave open and they can come and go as they want. A lot of times they just nap in the cage.

Unfortunately, we rent when we come to TV now and most rentals do not take cats. So, that limits my time in TV until I can move to TV full-time.

[Kimandhim19981@gmail.com]

We travel from UK to US every 6 months with kitty via BA the cabin staff all seem to know there is a cargo kitty and keep an eye on her. The only bad point is the cargo depot at MCO does not have a dedicated pet centre like Gatwick, so she is still in her travel crate and they had not replenished her water bowl, and to top it off they said oh you have come to pick your dog up!! Not as bad as the first time we were there they had lost a coffin with a body in it poor funeral guy was not happy.

[redwitch]

Personally, I wouldn't fly with a cat. I think they're actually more comfortable in a car once they get used to the motion and figure out it isn't a trip to the vet. If you have room for a large crate, go for it.

[Barefoot]

Personally, I wouldn't fly with a cat. I think they're actually more comfortable in a car once they get used to the motion and figure out it isn't a trip to the vet. If you have room for a large crate, go for it.

I agree with Redwitch, I wouldn't fly a cat.
I've heard some real horror stories from people who work for Airlines
about things that have happened to pets in cargo.

When traveling with pets, please make sure they all have collars with ID tags.
If I had a tag without a cell phone number, I would tape the cell phone number to the animal's collar.

[GolfGirl122]

I drove here from Chicago with my two cats, a dog, and golf clubs of course, in a Mini Cooper. Everyone was crated, slightly larger crates for comfort, water for everyone and luckily the cats didn't eat too much while on the road - two days. Microtel accepts three animals and are very nice to deal with. As you can imagine, the animals had more luggage than I did, but we got here and the cats and dog love their new home! Did I mention that they now have spray catnip, just kept that handy and never needed the children's Benadryl everyone told me to use - no way. My "problem traveler" cat was no problem at all. As others have noted, you will probably be more stressed then they are. Get here safely and welcome to TV!

[big guy]

We have traveled with cats but not often with the same cat....they each have their own idiosynchrosies. The most hair raising incident was when we let one cat out of his carrier. He went exploring and stepped on the window button. At 70 mph the window went down and there he was, in the window. I grabbed him and we engaged the child locks on the windows. Whew!....tragedy averted!

[Robb55x]

We moved from Ohio with three cats. Before we left I went to the Vet and got them some 'tranquilizer pills'. The pills are good for 8 hours and I only ended up giving them one each. None of them liked car rides to the Vet let alone a 12 + hour trip. My husband rigged a 'kitty condo' constructed of a large animal cage and a kitty litter box connected to the back end of it. After the initial medicine (and following sleeping), the cats did not meow but stayed nicely in their condo for the entire drive. I feed them and gave them water both morning and evening. It worked out quite well for cats who do not like car rides. Hope this helps.

[Mamaderby]

...... And get a small harness instead of a collar.

[Carl in Tampa]

Get a cardboard box.............................

:1rotfl:




.
I figured you had enough good, serious advice by now.

[uprivergirl]

I was wondering if anyone had traveled with a cat from Ca. and got my answer from Redwitch. We take our cat camping with all the time and it not a fun trip but he does settle down. We have never done a trip as far as TV though so it should be interesting. Thanks for all the good tips.

[Bonanza]

We have done a fair amount of moving with kitties and our last move was 2,500 miles. In the car, we never let them out of their cat carrier for safety reasons -- theirs and ours.

We never tranqualize them -- ever!

We use bedpads (actually, the chair size which we cut in half) in the bottom of each carrier in the event they do one of the three Ps -- poop, pee or puke. We also have disinfectant wipes to clean up any residual mess and plastic bags for trash.

When we stop overnight, we take their food and litter box into the motel and bring a dustpan and brush to clean up any litter on the floor.

I must say that although they don't like the ordeal, they seem to do bettr than my husband and I.

Oh, yes . . . We also take a spritz bottle which we fill with water in case they hide under the bed and we can't get them out!

Have a safe trip!

[NoMoSno]

Motorhome...:thumbup:

[Fanman]

We travel back and forth to New England and this is what works for us. We put our two Ragdolls in a dog cage and cover the top and sides with towels. We leave the side facing us open. The cats lie there quiet as can be the whole 1300 miles. Our male who doesn't like being caged would cry on any trip until we learned this secret.

[lovinganimals]

I came down from CT with 5 cats, 3 of which were senior. I recommend no tranquilizers. One of the cats had an accident because of it. This is what my vet recommended and it worked great. Keep them all in carriers. No food or water in the morning. If they don't eat or drink, they don't need a litterbox. She said they are not like dogs who have to go throughout the day and they didn't need to. We traveled 12-14 hours at a time. We did stop at night and stayed at a pet friendly hotel. I had disposable litter boxes and filled them only slightly, gave them food and water until the morning and let them out in the room during the night. In the am I put them back in their carriers, threw out the boxes, packed up food and we were ready to go. They cried for the first couple hours and then went to sleep. Whatever you do, just do not have them loose in the car or hotel room when you open the door. In the hotel, shut them in the bathroom if you need to open the door. They are tricky. Good luck

[scarflady]

I have found, after about 4 trips back and forth from Pa to the Villages, the less I fuss over my 2 cats the better. At first, I used to worry about them, but found out that putting them in the cage with their favorite bed and covering the cage with a blanket so they were warm (cats love to be warm) and they could not see what was going on around them. they would sleep the whole 7 to 9 hours (depending on how long we would drive), with little or no fuss. Gave them NO tranquilizers, No food, No water, No litter box. The first time we made the trip we lost much time offering them water, food and a litter box, neither of which they wanted any part of. Now instead of wasting 1/2 hr to 45 minutes offering these things, we just let them sleep and everyone is happy, them and us. When we get to the motel, they are happy to get out of the cage. After checking out their new motel room, they go to the litter box, eat their dinner and have plenty of water to drink. The only down side to this is...after sleeping all day, they tend to stay up and run around the motel room most of the night. My final thought is the less you fuss over them the better off they are. Just my opinion. Hopes this may help someone who is uncomfortable about traveling with cats.