Cross country relocation

I'm hoping this will be the right forum for this, but...

Anyone with any experience or advice on how best to get (2) house cats through an approx. 2500 mile relocation?

What about helping them adapt/recover once situated?

Thanks,
Bill

Are you moving by car or plane? Are your cats used to traveling in a car? If not, then I suggest you try shipping them by plane (much faster) and having someone pick them up and hold them for you till you get there (if you are travelling by car).

If they are used to car rides, then you can pack them up and travel that way - just stop frequently and let them out of the carriers to stretch inside the car. When you stop over nite, then feed them. They will sleep most of the time in the car during travelling.

Do not traqualize them for riding - cats react very different to meds and its not advisable.

As far as them adjusting to the new place, put them in one room with litter box and food for a few days, then gradually let them out to explore. I assume your cats are indoors cats and you won't let them outside to roam.

Thanks for your advice.

We hadn't quite decided how to make the move. Some part of it will most likely involve driving, but Mrs. and I have deep concerns over flying them. Even a straight-through flight would be 6-7 hours vs. 4-5 days of driving.

No, the only time they get in the car is to go to the vet.

It's been 10 years since I did this, but when I moved from East Coast to West, and my cats as well as the contents of my house (!!), we rented a van and set up an exercise pen (the kind you may have seen that comes with two shelves, stands about 4 feet tall, when not in use it the walls fold down and can be detached from the base), with a litter pan and water/food bowls. Mistake on the water and food - didn't get used when moving and they simply knocked them, but the litterboxes were used.

I had toys, a regular carrier also available in case someone seemed too freaked out by "seeing/hearing" too much, I could just pop them in there for a bit.

For the hotel's at night, had toys, treats, food - always check bathroom's for any under the sink openings, and check under the bed to see if they can possibly get up under into the box springs or not.

If a van is out of the question, but you have room to use a dog size crate, that allows them to have a bed/towel, some toys and to stretch out - also consider having a sheet to cover over (a for too much sunshine and b as I swear like birds, it can calm them if they can't see what is happening).

My guys handled it all very very well. In their new home, we just let them explore - made sure they knew where litter box and food/water was...but I agree that just one room might be the best way to get them to settle down and settle in.

Good luck..nothing like packing "picnic lunch" for cats on a cross country trip

ps I also brought water from home so no one would get the trots during travel - brought a couple of gallon containers of water.

I just moved from northern Colorado to San Diego. Drove. Two kittens, two people, compact car stuffed with my things. It was only half your trip distance, but I don't see how a second day would be any different than the first.

I did it all in one day (a 23 hour day, actually), and we were all fine. My boy, Rowan, is fine in cars (as long as he's not stuffed in a crate), and Bella got comforting from my passenger the whole way, so she was pretty ok, too. I kept them in their carriers as infrequently as possible. Rowan went most of the way in his litterbox, Bella hung out in front with my passenger and I, or napped in Rowan's carrier. I had their harnesses on, so they could be easily grabbed and held onto if they were doing anything that distracted me from driving (i.e. Bella crawling under the clutch or onto the dash in front of me). Rowan chucked his off somewhere around LA, but he wasn't being obnoxious, so I didn't bother putting it back on. Bella definitely preferred to sit near my feet, and I think that putting a sheet over the carriers would have given her a safer spot to chill out. Or maybe she just wanted to cuddle with me.

I posted more/different information a few posts back, as well as some pics that my passenger took.