We are going to be moving from Washington State to Indiana in September with 3 cats in the car. We are going to be putting all three in a large wire dog crate. Does anyone have any tips on driving that far with three cats. We will be taking turns driving so we will not be stopping at hotels along the way.
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Moving from Washington to Indiana in a car...
- Thread starter oogieone
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Give them there own crates... medium cat so a small box can be in there if a box cant be secured elsewhere ... I have done multi state moves with Kandie four times ...
I don't have any tips, just want to wish you luck!
I agree with giving them their own crates, if they get stressed out they may fight. Give them something soft to lay on of course and maybe a toy or two to keep them occupied. Take water from home, something they're used to, so that a change in water doesn't cause them to have an upset stomach.
I'd use separate carriers. And fill up at least 3-4 gallons of water from home to use over the next few days. When you make pit stops (or stopping to eat) then let the cats out to stretch and lock all doors. Park in the shade and put the windows down no more then 1 inch. If you can't find a shady spot, then you'll have to do with carry out/drive thru and have one person sit in the car with the windows open more.
From what I've read, most cats won't use the litter unless the vehicle is stopped, so I'd recommend regular stops for that reason. That would give them a chance to focus less on the movement of the vehicle and more on what they need.
Good luck!
Good luck!
I don't have anything to add but good luck! And welcome to the hoosier state!
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Thanks for all of your help! I wanted to use the large dog crate because my kitties get kind of nervouse if they can't see out of the box...but I didn't think about them fighting. Maybe I can bring a carrier for each just in case someone gets out of hand. I am planning on putting harnesses on them so I can just leach them and then move them out of the crates etc if needed and I am planning on stopping every 3 hours or so to see if they need to use the litter. Has anyone used a large rodent water bottle for cats. will they drink out of it?
There are several threads about car travelling long distances. But to recap - I did a two day journey with 5 cats last summer. I started with them in two crates and one carrier (Dushka tends to get aggressive so I put her on her own). But she cried and so I soon put her in a crate too. They were all fine, with a few provisos:
They wouldn't eat, drink or use the pans on the move, so I stopped every couple of hours to let them get comfy. To prevent dehydration, I made sure every cat got a syringe full of water at each stop, whether they drank or not. To prevent mess, I used only dry food on the journey.
Safety - I travelled every cat in a lead and harness, and got hold of the leads before opening any doors. I never opened the car door and the cages at the same time and transferred them to soft carriers (less room in the car!) for the hotel. But you don't have that problem.
I put towels in the cages in case of accidents (and there were one or two). Take plenty of babywipes, spare towels or puppy pads with you.
After a bit of crying at the beginning, they were so interested in what was going on that there were no real aggression problems. But I took a Feliway spray and used it if I thought anything was building up. I put some favourite toys in the cages to distract them, too.
One cat seemed to feel carsick and lay in a corner much of the time. I paid especial attention to keeping him hydrated.
They were fine at the end of the journey and settled in well to their new home. Good luck. Here are a couple of pix of mine on the jouney.
They wouldn't eat, drink or use the pans on the move, so I stopped every couple of hours to let them get comfy. To prevent dehydration, I made sure every cat got a syringe full of water at each stop, whether they drank or not. To prevent mess, I used only dry food on the journey.
Safety - I travelled every cat in a lead and harness, and got hold of the leads before opening any doors. I never opened the car door and the cages at the same time and transferred them to soft carriers (less room in the car!) for the hotel. But you don't have that problem.
I put towels in the cages in case of accidents (and there were one or two). Take plenty of babywipes, spare towels or puppy pads with you.
After a bit of crying at the beginning, they were so interested in what was going on that there were no real aggression problems. But I took a Feliway spray and used it if I thought anything was building up. I put some favourite toys in the cages to distract them, too.
One cat seemed to feel carsick and lay in a corner much of the time. I paid especial attention to keeping him hydrated.
They were fine at the end of the journey and settled in well to their new home. Good luck. Here are a couple of pix of mine on the jouney.
Do you actually keep a litterpan in the crate with them at all times? My plan with my one kitty (when I ever do it) is to get a large enough crate for his bed and a small litter box. Then I will not take him out of the crate all day while driving until the hotel room. Transfer him to his carrier to get into the room.
I know many, many people say no sedatives, but a friend of mine's sister says she can calculate how much Benadryl (based on body weight) and it just makes them relaxed and sleepy. Anyone have an opinion on Benadryl?
I know many, many people say no sedatives, but a friend of mine's sister says she can calculate how much Benadryl (based on body weight) and it just makes them relaxed and sleepy. Anyone have an opinion on Benadryl?
Not benedryl but if you cats stress easily the vet can give you a sedative for them.
All I can say is that I started with litterpans in the crates but they did not use them and they took up a lot of room, so I ended up giving them the trays when we stopped and everyone seemed happy with that, though there were a couple of peeing accidents.
Hi! Hubby and I recently relocated from Alabama to Washington State with our two cats. This is what we did. At first, I tried "crating" them in the car, and I'm talking about one of those really big pop up cubes, big enough to comfortably hold a big german shepherd type dog, but my older kitty couldn't stand it, he howled and howled till we let him out.
So, that being said, we simply let them lose with us in the car. My younger kitty stayed mostly curled up in my arms all day. The older, well, he enjoyed roaming around the car and even sometimes wanted to help dear husband to drive
.
I kept their litter box, covered with a big garbage bag, on the back seat and each time we stopped, I simply took the garbage bag off and they used. After they used, I would shake their food dish and they would eat. I gave them no water to drink during the day. It went very very smoothly, much better than I had thought.
We stayed at Best Westerns, Comfort Inn's, and I think a Day's Inn. In any case, we were upfront about having the kitties with us and there were no problems. Most places charged a small pet fee of $10 - $20. One place charged us a $100, but refunded us in the morning after seeing there were no damages.
Whatever you do, don't try to "sneak" them in. If you do, and get caught, the hotel could hit you with a $100 fee. That's what we were told. One hotel we stayed at, actually had a no pet policy, but we lucked out. The receptionist happened to be outside having a smoke and she spied me and the two kitties in the car. Having pets herself, she took pity on us and let us have a room for the night.
One more tip, so you don't have to load and unload the car each night and morning, make sure to pack an overnight bag with what you will need over the next couple of days and have a bag with your cat food etc. handy so you don't have to carry a lot.
Also pack with you, paper towel, always comes in handy, small garbage bags to dispose of kitty waste neatly, some Nature's Miracle stain & odor remover, Just in case
and just leave the room as clean as possible so that us folk that travel with our pets don't get a bad rep!
Hope this helps!
So, that being said, we simply let them lose with us in the car. My younger kitty stayed mostly curled up in my arms all day. The older, well, he enjoyed roaming around the car and even sometimes wanted to help dear husband to drive
I kept their litter box, covered with a big garbage bag, on the back seat and each time we stopped, I simply took the garbage bag off and they used. After they used, I would shake their food dish and they would eat. I gave them no water to drink during the day. It went very very smoothly, much better than I had thought.
We stayed at Best Westerns, Comfort Inn's, and I think a Day's Inn. In any case, we were upfront about having the kitties with us and there were no problems. Most places charged a small pet fee of $10 - $20. One place charged us a $100, but refunded us in the morning after seeing there were no damages.
Whatever you do, don't try to "sneak" them in. If you do, and get caught, the hotel could hit you with a $100 fee. That's what we were told. One hotel we stayed at, actually had a no pet policy, but we lucked out. The receptionist happened to be outside having a smoke and she spied me and the two kitties in the car. Having pets herself, she took pity on us and let us have a room for the night.
One more tip, so you don't have to load and unload the car each night and morning, make sure to pack an overnight bag with what you will need over the next couple of days and have a bag with your cat food etc. handy so you don't have to carry a lot.
Also pack with you, paper towel, always comes in handy, small garbage bags to dispose of kitty waste neatly, some Nature's Miracle stain & odor remover, Just in case
Hope this helps!
That sounds dangerous. Letting your cats loose in the car while driving could cause an accident. I'm glad it didn't happen to you though.Originally Posted by Shanynne
So, that being said, we simply let them lose with us in the car. My younger kitty stayed mostly curled up in my arms all day. The older, well, he enjoyed roaming around the car and even sometimes wanted to help dear husband to drive.
It can be... especially if your alone. I used to let Frankie ride lose to the vet until one time she managed to get stuck under the passenger seat. Now it's always in a carrier.
We really had no choice, the minute I tried crating them, my older kitty would literally scream until we let him out.
As far as an accident is concerned, crated animals are just as susceptible to suffering injury if the crate gets thrown around, or they could end up trapped and die, so either way there is always a risk. I just put all in God Hand's.
Oh absolutely! If you're driving alone, then definitely in the carrier they go. There is really no choice. But there is a difference between taking them for a short trip to the vet and a 5 day drive.
My older kitty is terribly claustrophobic, he goes nuts if he is in a carrier for more than 20 minutes. He screams and thrashes about, pounding himself against the carrier trying to get out. We could not fly with them because of that. We were extremely worried and rightly so, that he would die during the course of the 9 hour flight from being confined.
