cat had kittens in car... help

Hi! So our momma cat had 6 beautiful healthy kittens in our car. We are in the process of moving & were getting dinner... we let her lay in our seat at these times & she had her kittens in the floorboard... can i move her & them into a box? Also we HAVE to drive to San Diego Monday or Tuesday as we have a job starting there... its a 2000 mile drive... she is a relaxed car cat but will the kittens notice?

The dire need has no law, so do what you must do.   Good luck!

Move them into the movable nest so she sees you moving them and where.  Prepare the nest, let if possible her see what it is.  Have this nest as near her place where they are, and move them one at a time, quick but carefully, so they dont protest, into the new nest.  she will follow the last, or you take her over there, as the last one.   Essentielly the same procedure when you change their bedding, which you will do several times a week.  Or weighting them kittens, which is wise to do.

It is smart of you to have them in your car. Im sure the home is like a thunderstorm have gone there, you packing in for full, cleaning out etc.  No longer her usual milieu.  So the bathroom or the car may be the lest bad place.

Transport of cats best in a small doge cage, but I suppose a cardboard box will do if you dont have dog cage or dont have place for it.  Do have have mom on a leash.(if you do have other cats than these newborn kittens, have them on leash too)  If something happens you do have controll on her, no risk of her jumping out and getting lost midways of the long journey.  Or at very least a "necklage" with your name and cell phone number on.

Kittens dont have much choice.  I would suspect they dont notice much, busy with being with  mom, sleeping and nursing.

Just drive carefully. No sudden brakeing in, no hard tight changing of the course...

Good luck on the long journey and good luck on your new jobs!

She nurses & cleans them but likes to get out of the box & leave them alone so she can cuddle our other cats.... is it normal for her to leave the box & return only to nurse and groom them? I thought she wasn't supposed to leave them the first few days... she also drags the bedding out so she can count them better.

  Some cat mothers are more attentive than others.   It is more normal that they do not leave the kittens much at all in the first few days.   but some moms are less interested in staying with the kittens all the time.   It certainly may be a sign that motherhood is really not her strongest talent,  but fortunately she at least does do the basics!   and hopefully will continue that.  

You could just keep her in a room with the kittens.     but if she wants attention  try to spend time with her  yourself.    Then let her out a few times a day to run around for a bit. 

But either way,  I would at least make sure the nest is kept warm enough.    Kittens under a few weeks old cannot maintain their body heat if they don't have a heat source --  so  if they don't have their mother lying with them most of the time ,  and the room temperature isn't  just naturally around 85 F. ,  then you will need to put a pet heating pad  ( which is a low heat;  or else a regular human heating pad but turned on low )  and wrap it in a covering that makes sure that the surface of it is not too hot.    and put that  in part of the nest,  leaving room that they can crawl away from it if they get too warm. 

Or else you can fill plastic bottles with hot water, wrap them in something like  baby fleeces,  and put those in the nest around the edge.   if you do that you will have to keep re-filling the bottles.  

You  want to make it so the temperature in the nest is around 85  F.    --  but  I don't mean the entire room has to be that warm.   just immediately around the kittens.  

For the driving tip,  Stefan has given some very  good tips.    

 I already talked about making sure kittens are warm enough.  Now I'm going to say make sure they dont'  get TOO warm.    You will need to be very careful not to leave the cat and kittens in a hot car.    A car can heat up to a dangerous temp.  very soon.   A baby or pet could overheat  / dehydrate quickly.   and with animals as small as neonatal kittens,  that can be VERY quickly.    So on this long drive  in August ,  you can't leave the cats and kittens unattended  in the  car even for 5 minutes without air conditioning.   someone would need to stay and keep the AC on but not blowing directly on them.   but making sure it doesn't get too hot in the part of the vehicle where they are.   Also  you need to block direct sunlight   --  both because of the heat and because of their eyes.   Even though their eyes are still closed, they could be damaged by direct sunlight. 

Good luck!