Relocating Four Cats!!

My wife and I are relocating to FL from VA and we have four cats. We will be driving with the moving truck in a Chrysler Sebring and the cats are going to be in the car. This will be a l o n g trip. How do we handle feeding/bio breaks or should be fly them down? Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!!

I would get a couple big crates, as big as you can fit, big enough for a litterbox. I could go back and forth on whether or not you should feed them on the trip or not. It all depends on when you go and how long it takes and if you make any stops along the way.

If your cats get along well with each other you can do 2 to a crate which I highly recommend so they can be close to a familar thing and use each other for support basically.

I think flying woulod be way too stressful.

Absolutely definitely get them some harnesses (the kind that ties not only around the neck, but behind the back legs) and get them used to wearing them for very short, but lengthening times inside the house, minus the leash part, long before you leave. That way when you travel, they can be wearing them the whole time, and when you need to get them outside for any reason, first clip on the leashes inside the car, and you won't lose any of them to traffic, scary dogs, high trees, or whatever. Do ask your vet for suggestions also, there are various things he can give you with light sedative effects, so they don't all start yowling in the car from the start, hopefully! And do stop as often as you can. That all being said, I flew 4 cats over 2,000 mi. a few yrs ago with no ill effects, though a couple (can't actually how many or if all) had the sedatives before leaving.

First off, welcome to Florida! You're just in time for hurricane season!

Make sure your little darlings have had their flea medicine before you leave, the fleas down here are Evil! I have 2 kitties that are strictly indoor cats and I still have to keep the fleas under control. I can't stress prevention enough!

I've never travelled that far with the cats, I admire your courage ;-)

safe journey

I drove across the country with a cat in a car. She was well behaved so we let her run around the back seat. Here maybe some helpful hints.

During the day the cats will be too stressed to use the litterbox, so you may just offer them the litterbox at night.

If they are fractious or stressed out easily, ask your veterinarian for some acepromazine. A low dose of this will make them more calm.

Best Wishes

You can't say specifically that those 4 cats won't use the box all day, every cat is different, and 4 cats loose in a car for any length of time is suicidal (even if the car's not moving :-)!