Anyone frequently travel with their cat?

Hi,

First of, I'm new here! I am thinking about possibly adopting a cat.

Does anyone here regularly travel with their cat?

I would love a cat, but the only thing is, I travel pretty frequently. I'd say about 10 times a year.. from about 2 or 3 day trips to week long trips. I am college student (don't get the wrong idea.. I am very reasonable and live offcampus , so this is the reason why. I have two dogs, but they are great with driving (they actually really enjoy it).

Is it possible to "make" a cat enjoy traveling as dogs often do?

Feel free to be honest.. I'd love a cat, but obviously I'd rather do the best thing for the kitten as well as for me.

Thanks in advance!

Hi and welcome to TCS! I am going to move this to Care and Grooming.

Originally Posted by BubblPopElectrc

Hi,

First of, I'm new here! I am thinking about possibly adopting a cat.

Does anyone here regularly travel with their cat?

I would love a cat, but the only thing is, I travel pretty frequently. I'd say about 10 times a year.. from about 2 or 3 day trips to week long trips. I am college student (don't get the wrong idea.. I am very reasonable and live offcampus , so this is the reason why. I have two dogs, but they are great with driving (they actually really enjoy it).

Is it possible to "make" a cat enjoy traveling as dogs often do?

Feel free to be honest.. I'd love a cat, but obviously I'd rather do the best thing for the kitten as well as for me.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Oh sure it is! Now are you going to be going by car or by air?

Either way the best thing to do is start getting he or she used to the idea as soon as you get them home. Take them in trips in your car, and do lots of positive reinforcement making it fun for them.

Sorry for posting it in the wrong section!

I'll always be traveling by car.

First off, welcome to TCS!

Originally Posted by lookingglass

Oh sure it is! Now are you going to be going by car or by air?

Either way the best thing to do is start getting he or she used to the idea as soon as you get them home. Take them in trips in your car, and do lots of positive reinforcement making it fun for them.

Click to expand...

That's all there is to it. If you need any help, just ask. Everyone on here are always happy to help out in any way they can.

It is absolutely possible to have a kitty who doesn't mind traveling! This is one thing that I have always experienced with my kitties! The trick is to travel with them as a kitten often enough for it to be something they are familiar with. If you can take your kitten with a friend driving and hold him/her, also let him/her get use to a carrier and not have it be a negative thing. I have received much grief for this from people, but when I would travel with my cat, I would let her out of the carrier in the car, she was very accustom to travel and did not run around or go under my feet, she would just lay in my lap or on the passengers seat, just as a dog would. Pandi was even terrified of outside, but in the car she was fine. Maia is very much the same way, doesn't even think about running outside, hates the carrier but will go in it, and just sits on my lap purring in a car, I think she gets a little car sick though .......

If you start them young and take them for short trips and its not always to the vets, then most will adjust. My frequently travelled cats were show cats - so they went to shows about once a month. Loved the travelling and staying at hotel.

My first cat, Mitten was terrified of car riding (think he was abused or something), but I conditioned him to travelling as an adult by taking him in the car for trips around the block - gradually expanding the time he was in the car. He was an unusual cat as he got to travel a lot OUT of the carrier (not recommended) and would lay on the back seat like a dog would.

You could train the kitten to leash/harness like the dogs would be or would you be just taking the cat?

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

I'd like to take him/her occasionally.. if it didn't work out, I'd just hirer a pet sitter to come over.. no biggie.

I travel a lot..and am gone a week at a time. I have two cats but I leave them at home and my inlaws check on them and play with them 2-3 times day.

It works out great..they just feed the cats 2 times a day at the normal time I would and play with them a lot and keep the litter box clean the same as I would. I do feel guility about leaving them but my inlaws are big cat lovers!

I've never tried to travel with the cats but most hotels don't take pets so not everywhere we go would have a place for them. I feel better knowing they are in their own enviroment ..but I'm sure if you got your kitten started young he may love it. I'm training one of my cats with a harness now and he loves walking with it!