Harness & Toes.

[suri]

So really I have 3 qeustions. Ill put this all in one post!

First is.. I'm moving next week and it will be a very long drive about 2-3days.
I'll be taking my kitty Mialo of course. He has been on trips before about
a 4 hour drive.. and also a couple trips to the vets. But that's about it.
We will stop each night and stay at hotel.. but before that I'm not sure what to do. I was thinking maybe stop every now and then..take Mialo out. Let him use a litter box??? I really don't know.

Here's where my other question comes in. Ill need a harness for him.
Will this one work? http://www.petco.com/product/106257/...20Leash-106257

He's never been on one before.. I'm gonna go buy
one tomorrow.. and get him use to it for about week.

And the last question.. Its just a random one.

Mialo has big long toes! not like..abnormal or anything they
are just big. Is that common it cats?

 

[jisincla]

How does Mialo do with the 4 hour drive? Does he travel calmly or does he get agitated?

I travel back and forth between my home and my mother's, some 420 miles away, several times a year. That's at least a 7-hour drive if everything goes smoothly. When things don't go smoothly, as in major traffic and construction delays, it's been known to take up to 18 hours.

I usually put my cats in carriers for the trip, and if there are no undue delays, they're fine just staying in the carriers for the 7-8 hour drive. If it ends up being longer than that, I try offering them water at a rest stop, though they're usually too stressed to drink. If it gets longer than about 12 hours, I feed them small amounts of food. That can be tricky. Most of my cats are good travelers, but I have one who invariably gets carsick even on short drives to the vet. If, once she's vomited and gotten it over with, I stop and clean out her carrier, she usually doesn't vomit again. But if I feed her, then she very well might. If you already have planned overnight stops, I don't think Mialo should need to be fed in the car. Wait until you get to the hotel. And in the mornings, feed him as early as you can, so he has as much time as possible to digest before you get on the road again.

Once I tried putting several cats together in a big dog crate, with a litter box and a supposedly nontippable water bowl. Result: MESS!

On the other hand, using a carrier that's big enough to accommodate the cat plus a small litter box (try a disposable aluminum foil baking tray of the right size to fit in your carrier), and NOT putting any water in the carrier, can make the cat more comfortable and make your cleanup job easier upon arrival.

I think Mialo should be fine if, each time you stop to eat, drink, or use a restroom, you offer Mialo access to water and a litter box. If I'm going to buy gas, then go inside the convenience store and use the restroom and maybe buy a snack, I put down water for the animals first. That way they have the maximum amount of time in a parked, non-moving vehicle to calm down, decide if they're thirsty, have a drink, and go potty before I'm finished with my business and ready to start driving again.

I don't know about specific brands of harnesses. I have a bunch of different ones that I've accumulated over the years. If it says it won't put pressure on the cat's neck, that's a good thing. Just make sure it's secure. A breakaway collar is safer for a cat who's going to be left unattended while wearing it, because if the cat is already running loose anyway, it's better for the cat to lose the collar and continue running loose than to be caught by the collar and strangle. But if the cat is not going to be unattended, you're going to be with him all the time he's wearing the harness, then getting caught is not an issue. If the cat snags his harness on something, you'll be there to notice and unsnag him before he strangles. So in that case it's more important that it *not* break, because if the cat gets stuck you'll be there to unstick him, but if he breaks free of the harness, he could run off and be killed. I'd go with a harness rather than a collar, and make sure that if the cat does something suicidal like jump out an open car window while you're standing outside pumping gas, he'll just hang awkwardly by his armpits until you retrieve him, instead of either slipping out of a non-secure harness and taking off running for parts unknown, or breaking his neck on a collar. (Yes, I've had a harnessed cat hang herself out the car window at a gas station. She was indignant but uninjured.)

Good luck with your move!

 

[jisincla]

Oh, one important thing I failed to mention in my reply about traveling with cats: If you're going to leave the cat in a parked car while you're not right there (as in standing right next to the car pumping gas), be VERY careful about the risk of overheating! I have a remote starter on my vehicle, so I can use that to start the engine, and thus have the air conditioner running while I'm away, and take the key with me so no one can drive off with my vehicle. If you have a remote starter, this is a good safety precaution to take if you have to leave animals in the vehicle while you go inside somewhere to eat, shop, use a restroom, or whatever. Just be aware that the engine doesn't keep running indefinitely (or until the gas is used up) the way it would if you left the key in it. It will only run for about 10 or 20 minutes, and then turn off. If your errand is going to take longer than that, you should go out to the parking lot and restart it when it turns off.

If you don't have a remote starter, then you need to be even more careful to avoid leaving animals in a hot car. Before I got my remote starter, when I was traveling with animals and didn't have any alternative to leaving them alone in the car, I used to leave a key in the ignition so the engine and air conditioner would stay on. I had a second key that I would take with me so I could lock the doors and still get back inside when I returned.

Obviously that introduces a risk of theft. I didn't worry overly much about that, because besides the cats, I also had two or more medium to large size dogs with me on those trips. I didn't think it was likely a car thief would want to break in and steal a car that had multiple canine guards sitting inside. Even so, I was careful to park as close as possible to the building I was going into, and right in front of a window, so I could keep an eye on the car from inside.

 

[suri]

He's good on the trips to the vets..he just meows a lot.

Thank you so much for the advice! It really helped.
Ill be with him 24/7 through the whole trip..which is about
20 hours long.

. I wont be the one driving so that's
a plus. I'm still a bit nervous..but we'll see how things go
Ill follow everything you said.