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How do you travel with your cat?

post #1 of 13
5/11/10 at 6:00pm
Thread Starter 
Does your cat fine sitting at the back of the car? What do you do to prevent anxiety?
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post #2 of 13
5/12/10 at 3:08am
The only traveling I do with my cat is to the vets. It is a short trip, so anxiety is short lived.

I would never transport a cat not in a carrier. Too many times, you hear of lost animals due to an accident and the animal escapes.
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post #3 of 13
5/12/10 at 4:51am
Mine are in the backseat in their carriers, too. It's not even safe to have a cat in the front passenger seat if there's a passenger side air bag. They come out at high speeds that are pretty much deadly to anything small (babies, children, dogs, and cats) - So just like with a baby or child, it's the back seat for them.
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post #4 of 13
5/12/10 at 5:04am
My cats travel to and from the vet in a carrier that is placed on the floor of the backseat. I put a folded blanket down first, to help cut down on the vibrations they feel.

After viewing some videos of how easily a carrier strapped into the backseat can come apart in an accident, I read that the floor of the back seat, aside from being fastened in the TRUNK which I would never do, is the safest place for the carrier.
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post #5 of 13
5/13/10 at 8:18am
Buddy only goes to the vet (he boards there too on occasion) and always in a carrier. We use a Sherpa carrier that was formerly used by one of my dogs now at the Bridge. He is not wild about it, , but it is certainly secure. I usually have someone sit in the back with him to keep him company.
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post #6 of 13
5/13/10 at 11:36am
I have large carriers that will hold two cats. I've found that they travel much better when they're buddied up rather than each in a separate carrier. I do have to be careful which two go together. They travel only strapped into the back seat that way, never in the front where the airbags are.

For longer trips, especially if I'm going to a show where I have to stay in a hotel, I have wire dog crates. I have a hatchback and can lay the back seats flat to make a large storage space. There's room for two crates with three cats in each. There are metal loops in the floor of the storage area so I can run tie-downs through the bars of the cages and secure them. I can also take the crates into the hotel room if needed.
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post #7 of 13
5/13/10 at 12:41pm
I show cats and they are always in a carrier in the back seat when riding. Never loose. The only time that is allowed is when we stop for dinner/lunch on the road and we will let them out to roam in the car while we are eating.

Here's a true story to make you stop and think about letting the cat ride loose in the car:

Friend of mine (A) took Friend B to the vet's office with the cat. Friend B insisted her cat didn't need a carrier as he always rode in the car on her lap. Against better judgement Friend A said ok as the vet's office was not far.

They were at a stop light and a fire truck came down the street, horns blaring, lights flashing. The cat panicked and leaped forward right into the windshield. They rushed to the vet's office 2 blocks away, but the cat had brain damage and they had to put him down. Had the cat been in a carrier in the back seat, he would have survived! Take it for what its worth to you and your cat.
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post #8 of 13
5/13/10 at 2:11pm
I show my cats and they stay in in the the carriers also.
Here is another true story that happened here.
This lady was driving in the roundabout and her cat was not in a carrier.
Something scared him and she hit another car and the cat went flying and got hurt and was rushed to the vet.
It mad the paper here and was all over the news.
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post #9 of 13
5/13/10 at 2:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45 View Post
I show cats and they are always in a carrier in the back seat when riding. Never loose. The only time that is allowed is when we stop for dinner/lunch on the road and we will let them out to roam in the car while we are eating.

Here's a true story to make you stop and think about letting the cat ride loose in the car:

Friend of mine (A) took Friend B to the vet's office with the cat. Friend B insisted her cat didn't need a carrier as he always rode in the car on her lap. Against better judgement Friend A said ok as the vet's office was not far.

They were at a stop light and a fire truck came down the street, horns blaring, lights flashing. The cat panicked and leaped forward right into the windshield. They rushed to the vet's office 2 blocks away, but the cat had brain damage and they had to put him down. Had the cat been in a carrier in the back seat, he would have survived! Take it for what its worth to you and your cat.
Wow, I am shocked that you leave the cats alone, loose in the car. Anything could happen, including a cat escaping when you open the door. The car being hit by another car. The car being broken into. That's just taking unnecessary chances, in my opinion.Yikes.
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post #10 of 13
5/14/10 at 9:42am
Not to mention that a car can heat up quickly to dangerous levels on a sunny day=greenhouse effect.

My cats travel in carriers. The only place I ever take them these days is the vet, however...They hate it XD and they hate it whether they're in separate or the same carriers. but what're you gonna do?
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post #11 of 13
5/18/10 at 7:41am
I never put my cats in the car loose. They are always in the carrier on the back seat. Several years ago, a lady turned across two lanes of traffic in front of me. The only thing I could do was hit her. It totalled my car and injured my knees. The reason she did that, she had two huge dogs sitting in the seat with her. Not only is it dangerous for the animals, it is too distracting for the driver.
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post #12 of 13
5/18/10 at 8:24am
My cats are in a carrier or a seatbelt/harness depending on the cat and the situation. The only time they are "loose" in the car is wearing a harness with me holding the leash. Most of my cats either like car rides or don't mind it much so anxiety isn't a problem. Roxy doesn't like it much but she only goes to the vet nowadays so it's not far.
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post #13 of 13
5/19/10 at 10:34pm
cats are always in carrier. Ferals go to the clinic in the 36 in dog crate I trap them in I have only held baby kittens on their first trip home if im caught with no cage. Or when I used to be caught with no cage I should say...I always keep one in the car now
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