Hi y'all:
I haven't posted in a while, but have gotten great feedback here whenever I needed it. The latest dilemma:
We have two cats, George and Zatar, both 8 y/o, male and female, neutered and spayed. They're indoor, New York City cates and their experience traveling is limited to short car trips across town. They aren't crazy about such trips, but are calmer on the trip back from the vet (20 minutes) than going to.
In mid-july we're moving cross-country, to the Bay Area. We're trying to decide between driving with them and flying. The great place we get cat food and such has a very knowledgable fellow who said driving is the only way because they get used to the car and it's much less traumatic generally. The vet, however, said that the shorter duration of airplane travel makes it better, especially if sedation is used. He gave us a prescription for acepromazine.
We would NOT consider cargo-hold travel (of course), but are concerned about noise and other stimuli, confining them to under-seat carriers the whole time - George is a big 16 pounder - and taking them out of the carriers during check-in. They're not used to lease/harness.
But five or so days of unhappy car travel is also daunting, with litterbox, carsickness and hotel issues.
I'm sure that I'm not the first to have asked about this, but I know that no one ever asked about MY cats...
Wisdom, etc., solicited.
Thanks,
Craig
I haven't posted in a while, but have gotten great feedback here whenever I needed it. The latest dilemma:
We have two cats, George and Zatar, both 8 y/o, male and female, neutered and spayed. They're indoor, New York City cates and their experience traveling is limited to short car trips across town. They aren't crazy about such trips, but are calmer on the trip back from the vet (20 minutes) than going to.
In mid-july we're moving cross-country, to the Bay Area. We're trying to decide between driving with them and flying. The great place we get cat food and such has a very knowledgable fellow who said driving is the only way because they get used to the car and it's much less traumatic generally. The vet, however, said that the shorter duration of airplane travel makes it better, especially if sedation is used. He gave us a prescription for acepromazine.
We would NOT consider cargo-hold travel (of course), but are concerned about noise and other stimuli, confining them to under-seat carriers the whole time - George is a big 16 pounder - and taking them out of the carriers during check-in. They're not used to lease/harness.
But five or so days of unhappy car travel is also daunting, with litterbox, carsickness and hotel issues.
I'm sure that I'm not the first to have asked about this, but I know that no one ever asked about MY cats...
Wisdom, etc., solicited.
Thanks,
Craig
