Relocating with cats and kittens

Hello, i was wondering if anyone could offer some advice. I am new to this site so apologies if i have posted this thread in the wrong topic or area of the forum. Basically, my female cat is pregnant, i think. She is showing all the signs of being pregnant. Which is fine, we chose not to get her spayed as we wanted her to have kittens at some point. If she is pregnant the kittens will be due around 17 November.

The problem is we will be moving house, it will be an 8 hour car journey and a 3 hour ferry crossing. This wouldn't have been a problem before as we were going to be moving middle of next year sometime and we would have had time for the kittens to be rehomed, although we probably would have kept one or two anyway. But circumstances have changed and we are now moving the week before christmas, the kittens will only be 4 weeks old. We can't rehome the kittens because they will be too young and am worried about how they will cope with such a long car/ferry journey.

I was going to fit out the boot of my car (its not that big) so that the cats (we have 2) can have a little bit of space, just a little bit more than they would if they were shut up in a box. Also making sure that they can't jump through to the rear seats but making sure there is room for a bed, litter tray and food. It is a long journey and i want to try and make it as less stressful as i can for them, but im not sure the best way to do it. Should i keep my other cat seperate from the mummy cat and the kittens, should i try and get them rehomed at 4 weeks, what if we do take one should i keep the mum and the kitten together.

And then what about when we get to the new house. We wont be moving into our own house straight away, we will be staying with my parents for a couple of months until our house is ready. I have two children as well (4 and 6 years) and we will have to share a bedroom which isn't ideal. Should i keep our 2 cats and the kittens in our room with us or let them roam the house.

Lots of questions, i am sorry. I want to put the cats/kittens under as little stress as possible. Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

I would definatley keep the other cat away from the mom/kittens-in high stress you never know and being a mom she may have alot less patience. I WOULD NOT rehome them unless you could have a friend/family watch the mom and litter. Is there anyway you could have the mom to be go now to your parents? I would leave the mom and litter in the room-maybe get a cage setup for when you need them to be contained(kids going to sleep)

With young kids in house be prepared if anything goes wrong and you need to help deliver/emergency c section. Have babysitters numbers as last thing kids would need to see is a something go wrong or mom starts eating a dead/dying kitten.

You may also want to see the rates for euthanizing cats/kittens in your area before you rehome any to a "just let her have one litter" homes or after she delivers to educate yourself on the overpopulation issues.

I was given a 2 week old found baby not long ago and alot goes into them even at that age. If you have to hand raise a litter(I found some dumped years ago) Even more time and MONEY(kitten milk is VERY pricey)

Be prepared, have numbers for the vet(S) have some bottle, syringes, milk replacer, heating pad, safe place for the first borns waiting for mom to deliver. And PLENTY of papertowels! also read up in case you need to break sacs(cat I took in already pregnant had a kitten previously and her 2nd litter still had no idea.
Good luck

The kittens should handle the move fairly well. At about 4 weeks, they're young enough to where they don't leave their mother for too long, and they'll probably just sleep the entire time. If you decide to rehome them, you'll probably want to do that while living with your parents, since that will be the ideal rehoming age (pretty much anything after 8 weeks, but before they get totally rambunctious and make trouble, which usually happened from 3 - 6 months). If you do rehome during this time, the kittens roaming around the house issue won't matter too much. I would let the mother roam, since that is a very long time to be confined to one room as an adult cat.

You should wait to see if your other cat is friendly towards the kittens and see if the mother lets it near the kittens. If so, keeping them all together in one space for the journey shouldn't be a big deal. If there are any tensions at all though, i would recommend a different space for the other cat.

I do hope that you will spay mom after this litter. And that any kitten you keep will be spayed/neutered by 3-4 months old. Mom should be spayed when the kits are 8 weeks old.

1. Do NOT let anyone ride loose in the car. They must be in a carrier at all times.

2. Let mom and babies ride in the same carrier - so this must be a larger size to accomodate everyone. Mom will still nurse the kittens. You can let mom out (not the kittens) in the car when you stop to eat - then feed her and give water.

3. The other cat has to ride in a separate carrier.

4. When staying with your parents mom and kittens will need to stay in the room with you - the other cat can be kept outside the room. Do this for at least 2 weeks. Then supervise the kittens running around, but don't let them run around if you are not there to watch.

5. They will nurse up to 8 weeks old, you have to have them 100% reliable with the litter pan (which won't happen till 10-12 weeks old) and you will need to wean them to canned food at about 5-6 weeks old. Keep mom and the kittens for at least 12 weeks so they will better adjust to a new home. Any sooner and you risk the kittens to have physical and social problems. Since the move will cause stress to everyone, its best to keep the kittens longer and work on socializing them before they leave.

6. Do not let mom outside at any time until she is spayed.

While during the journey. You will make extra big room in the car - good!.
Have a dog cage for them there! And them inside this dog cage.

Avoid loose cats in the car as said above. If they are outside the cage or carrier, have them on a leash.

And also, have their collars with your name and mobile number on... IF.

Train all this before if they are not used to ride a car or have leashes on....

You can have some Feliway with you in the car.
How is it, Feliway diffusers, I presume it really uses low voltage, so you can use it in the car-electrical adapter??
If not, have the Feliway spray at least.

Good luck!

Please, do not try to move the cats and kittens in the boot/trunk of your car. There is a very real danger of the cats dying from the car exhaust in the boot/trunk. The cats and kittens need to be in their own carriers inside the passenger area of the car.

Have a safe trip and good luck in your new home.