Cat question for those who have gone before
 

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!

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.

Cat travel
 

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

Cat Trip
 

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.

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

meow
 

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





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