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- Sep 27, 2014
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Hi everyone,
I am in need of some advice. 3 months ago I took in a feral cat that I had fed for several months outside prior to taking him to be neutered, vaccinated etc. (we named him Cash)
He is a sweet boy (the black cat in my profile picture) but he won't let me or my husband touch him yet. We can now sit right next to him while he lays in his bed, and he comes within arms length of us to eat his meals and treats which is great progress from where we started. If a sound he is unfamiliar with scares him, he calms down when we go into "his room" and tell him everything is ok and just sit with him. We could tell because he will lay down and go back to sleep which is what he does most of the day...sleeps
My husband and myself own a business and must go away for two months. We are new to the town we live in and don't have family here. We do have some acquaintances, but none that we feel very comfortable with yet.
I feel we need to take Cash with us on our trip (it's about a 13 hour car ride) as I want to make sure he is in the best care possible and I do feel he is most comfortable around us.
I know cats don't travel well, but again, we don't have any options as family and friends are too far away.
I did contact a local pet sitting company but the cost is outrageous ($25 per 30 minute visit)
And they mainly take care of dogs so they said they would come in to basically feed Cash and clean his liter if need be. $25 just once per day would be ok if our trip was a few days or a week long but for two months, that's just not in our budget plus I don't feel like he would be getting much tlc.
We are thinking of buying a very large cage (one that would fit a bed, food, water and liter) and traveling with him. We have a truck so an extra large cage would work well (especially with the back seats down)
I spoke with our vet (we also have a small dog which Cash seems to like although I have not let them get to close yet, and she travels in the front seat with us)
And he said he would give us an oral medication to calm him for the trip. And although I hate to give him any medication, if it would make it easier for him I am all for it.
If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it. I don't want to damage the progress we have made with Cash but I just don't see any other option. I know leaving him home with a trusting person would be the ideal situation but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be an option. I also want to mention we will be staying in a private house for the 2 months, not a hotel room.
I also considered flying (which would only be about a 2 hour flight) but I would never be able to take him out of the crate going past security which is a possibility) I called JetBlue and they said due to higher security they couldn't guarantee that I could keep him in the cage through security. Plus, even though I can board with him and leave him under the seat, what if he had an accident, I couldn't open the cage to clean it up...I would have a flight with some angry passengers! )
If you have traveled with a feral or just a very scared cat and have some tips/advice that would be great.
Thanks for your help!!
I am in need of some advice. 3 months ago I took in a feral cat that I had fed for several months outside prior to taking him to be neutered, vaccinated etc. (we named him Cash)
He is a sweet boy (the black cat in my profile picture) but he won't let me or my husband touch him yet. We can now sit right next to him while he lays in his bed, and he comes within arms length of us to eat his meals and treats which is great progress from where we started. If a sound he is unfamiliar with scares him, he calms down when we go into "his room" and tell him everything is ok and just sit with him. We could tell because he will lay down and go back to sleep which is what he does most of the day...sleeps
My husband and myself own a business and must go away for two months. We are new to the town we live in and don't have family here. We do have some acquaintances, but none that we feel very comfortable with yet.
I feel we need to take Cash with us on our trip (it's about a 13 hour car ride) as I want to make sure he is in the best care possible and I do feel he is most comfortable around us.
I know cats don't travel well, but again, we don't have any options as family and friends are too far away.
I did contact a local pet sitting company but the cost is outrageous ($25 per 30 minute visit)
And they mainly take care of dogs so they said they would come in to basically feed Cash and clean his liter if need be. $25 just once per day would be ok if our trip was a few days or a week long but for two months, that's just not in our budget plus I don't feel like he would be getting much tlc.
We are thinking of buying a very large cage (one that would fit a bed, food, water and liter) and traveling with him. We have a truck so an extra large cage would work well (especially with the back seats down)
I spoke with our vet (we also have a small dog which Cash seems to like although I have not let them get to close yet, and she travels in the front seat with us)
And he said he would give us an oral medication to calm him for the trip. And although I hate to give him any medication, if it would make it easier for him I am all for it.
If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it. I don't want to damage the progress we have made with Cash but I just don't see any other option. I know leaving him home with a trusting person would be the ideal situation but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be an option. I also want to mention we will be staying in a private house for the 2 months, not a hotel room.
I also considered flying (which would only be about a 2 hour flight) but I would never be able to take him out of the crate going past security which is a possibility) I called JetBlue and they said due to higher security they couldn't guarantee that I could keep him in the cage through security. Plus, even though I can board with him and leave him under the seat, what if he had an accident, I couldn't open the cage to clean it up...I would have a flight with some angry passengers! )
If you have traveled with a feral or just a very scared cat and have some tips/advice that would be great.
Thanks for your help!!