Help please - have to transport my babies 2200 miles in car

[hersheys mom]

I am moving to Washington from San Diego. I will be driving there. I have already obtained a cargo net to velcro between the front and back of the car so the cats (2) cannot interfere with my driving. I plan on having a litter box on the floor for them, and kibble and water on the other side of the floor. They have been with me for 3 years. Constant readers may remember me from my experience with TSA terrifying my newly adopted feral Burmese (Hershey Rose, now 3 yrs) for 45 minutes at the Denver Airport. She is now a lap cat, sleeps with me, is a precious angel but terrified of every other human on the planet. The other is a Torte, Minja, 5 yrs old and a bit more adoptable to strange situations. I have been taking her on a leash (she hates it) in the car on short runs to Pet-smart to try and get her used to riding in the car. Non-stop screaming but not much more. Trying to get Hershey Rose into a harness is a 3 hour affair . I am severely (ER run) allergic to her saliva so I have to be very careful handling her. Anyway, I plan to put them in harnesses for the trip so I can leash them when I have to take them from the car to the hotel room (the trip will take 2-3 days). Has anyone else done this? I have some questions:

I do not plan on leashing them in the car. If they get caught up in the leash they could strangle while I am driving.

I notice they will not eat in a vehicle, not even treats, not even when the car is stopped.

I plan to spray Feliway on the seats, does anyone have a better idea?

I do not want them terrified in any way.

Any advice would be helpful.

 

[luna tuna]

My cat won't eat, drink, or use the litterbox in the car either. I had to take her on an 8 hour car ride, and she wasn't happy but she was okay.
I put her in a carrier that buckled into the seat. I think that's a much safer way to drive with your cats, especially since Minja hates being on a leash and Hershey Rose is difficult to get in a harness. I wouldn't give them food either; they may get too stressed and throw up.

I stopped every few hours to let my cat roam, with a litterbox on the floor and some water out. I have a soft-sided carrier and I gave her a few of her favorite toys and a calming collar. Feliway is a good idea too, but I wouldn't leave them to roam all over the car.

 

[ruaryx]

Personally, I would feel better having my cats in a large cage.  Even though you have a net, I wouldn't want the cats to be able to roam the car.  I've heard of people using big dogs cages for this.  You can lay down absorbent puppy pads to make possible accidents easier to clean up.  You don't need to leave food or water for the cats because they'll probably be too stressed to eat/ drink anyways.  Make plenty of rest stops instead and offer them food/ water/ litter box at this time.  I also wouldn't put the cats on a harness while in the car (can be uncomfortable) or to go to the hotel.  What if they get spooked and run away?  Cats can usually squirm out of a harness if they tried hard enough (mine has more than once). Instead, put them in carriers to transport them to the hotel.  Never open the car doors while the cats are loose in the car.  This is how people lose their precious pets! (On that note, I would make sure to get my cats microchipped and have them wear collars with your info on it, just in case!)

Make sure the hotel is pet friendly.  Research this ahead of time so that you know where you can stop each night.  There may be fees.  Make sure you leave the Do Not Disturb sign up so that the maids don't come in to clean and your cats accidentally escape!  (Maybe even leave a note at the front or at the door).  At night in the hotel room is when you're cats will eat and use the litter box most.  Make sure you block off any places that they can hide where you can't reach them.  

As for calming agents, you can try herbal remedies (Bach's Rescue Remedy) or Composure. 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...ix=composure+cats,aps,154&tag=&tag=thecatsite

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...,k:rescue+remedy+for+cats&tag=&tag=thecatsite

Good luck.  For most cats, they might cry at first but will eventually quiet down and go to sleep.  

 

[hersheys mom]

Thank you for your response. I do have a big problem with Hershey Rose. I had to board both of them for 6 days at my vets when I picked out my house in WA. I had them in separate enclosures, but right next to each other. They cannot be put in the same carrier/enclosure. HR is terrified of every human on the planet but me, so when the girls came to visit her, pet her or play with her she reacted like any terrified cat would. They thought if they put her carrier in the enclosure with her it would calm her. Minja is more easy going, and loves to be played with so she was no problem. When I picked them up, there was only one carrier. Putting HR's carrier in her enclosure backfired - she tore it to shreds. She still has PTSD from the airport incident, and enclosing her in anything does not calm her down, it frightens her even more. That was why I wanted to let them be free, harnessed with a long lead secured by the seat belt so they could not jump out when I opened the car door. I will use Feliway throughout the entire trip. I really like your suggestion but I hesitate to try and put her in a carrier, which is a 3 hour project in itself. Also, since the trip will be 2-3 days and I will have very little supplies with me, if they step in poop in the carrier, cleaning them will be a problem. They are terrified of water, and one scratch from HR will send me to the ER. Any other suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[hersheys mom]

Personally, I would feel better having my cats in a large cage.  Even though you have a net, I wouldn't want the cats to be able to roam the car.  I've heard of people using big dogs cages for this.  You can lay down absorbent puppy pads to make possible accidents easier to clean up.  You don't need to leave food or water for the cats because they'll probably be too stressed to eat/ drink anyways.  Make plenty of rest stops instead and offer them food/ water/ litter box at this time.  I also wouldn't put the cats on a harness while in the car (can be uncomfortable) or to go to the hotel.  What if they get spooked and run away?  Cats can usually squirm out of a harness if they tried hard enough (mine has more than once). Instead, put them in carriers to transport them to the hotel.  Never open the car doors while the cats are loose in the car.  This is how people lose their precious pets! (On that note, I would make sure to get my cats microchipped and have them wear collars with your info on it, just in case!)

I cannot put both cats in the same carrier. HR will tear up a pet pad in a nanosecond (see reply above about her tearing her carrier to shreds). If I make a rest stop, how can I offer them food or litter box without harnessing them in the car after taking them out of a carrier?. Neither walks on a lead. I thought securing them with a long lead attached to their harness would prevent them from escaping the car when I opened the door. I am really up a creek trying to find a solution as what would work for Minja would not for HR. I have checked out pet friendly hotels, and both cats are microchipped to my San Diego address. Right before I leave I will change the info to the Washington address and use my cell phone number as I won't be in WA for several days. If one of them got away, I would not leave the area until I found her. A friend suggested a GPS chip for their harness, but I don't have a smart phone to track it. I love my babies but sometimes things like this can make me crazy.

 

[luna tuna]

When I had Luna in the car with me, I had her litterbox on the floor and when I stopped, I would set out water, let her out of her carrier, and got out of the car quickly. Then again, she's old and not very fast.
When I got back to the car, I would look in to find out where she was (backseat, front, left right) and get in the door farthest from where she was. Then I'd put her back in the carrier. Obviously that'd be harder with two cats. Still, having them harnessed wouldn't be as safe for them. Earlier in the thread you said you wouldn't want them on a lead in the car in case they got tangled, which is a concern, but if you had to slam on the breaks, a lead wouldn't prevent them from flying forward and possibly being injured. Carriers or a dog crate would be much safer.
Also, make sure they have visible ID tags, just in case.

 

[mani]

We have a couple of articles that may be helpful..

 [article="29652"]Traveling With Cats​[/article]  

 [article="30165"]36 Awesome Tips For Road Tripping With Your Cat​[/article]  

And here's a recent thread..

 [thread="314497"]A Long Car Travel With A Cat Almost Cross Country​[/thread]  

 

[jessanthony]

Hi,

I recently travelled from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Vancouver, BC, Canada with my then 6 month old kitten in the car with me. It was definitely best to keep her in a cage for the car ride. At first she was a bit concerned, but then spent most of the trip sleeping. I left her harness on her and at rest stops would stop, open the cage, take her out, attach her leash, and then take her out for small walks (even though she HATED the leash). We were driving for 12-14 hours every day and she never used the litter box during our travels, even when we took it out at rest stops. We put a little food and water in the cage with her. For the first couple days she didn't eat or drink while on the road, but after that she got used to it and would eat a little here and there, drink at rest stops, etc. At night, when we got to the hotels, we had a tupperware container for her litter. Just take off the lid, sit it in the bathroom, and she will eventually use it. We also made sure to put her favourite toy in her cage with her, which she played with a little bit during the car ride. If my cat (Corinne) would get restless in the car, I would just open the cage door and reach my hand in to comfort her. Overall, it went way more smoothly than I expected. (: Especially considering she had little to no experience in the car before the long journey.

 

[hersheys mom]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I have been turning this over and over in my head, and came to the same conclusion as you mention, except for the carriers. So many people have said carriers are safer than letting them free roam (even harnessed to the seat belts) that I am rethinking that part. Minja is not a concern as she is more adaptable than HR. Minja's only concern in life is where she can get more food. She has a food obsession to the point that she does not realize that she has eaten her meal two minutes after consuming it. She is out looking for HR's food as soon as she finishes hers and then starts begging me for more. Physically there is nothing wrong with her, it's a mental thing. However, is not fed at 7, 12 and 5 she will start to freak that she won't get fed at all, so I have to time rest stops around meal times. HR has PTSD thanks to the Denver airport TSA folk, and freaks out in a carrier. So while putting one in a carrier and leaving the litter box in the car and feeding them outside the car (they have never been "walked" before so I better get busy) will work for Minja, I am still unsure about HR. I am thinking I may have to get a destruction-proof carrier for her and keep it covered while we are driving. I will have to do several test runs as getting HR into the carrier once I let her out is a MAJOR problem. Thank you for you help, I like your ideas and will probably use them as we are in for a really long trip and I would like all three of us to keep our sanity!

 

[hersheys mom]

Thank you so much.

 

[catsknowme]

  I know that this is late, but....how did the move go???  I hope that all went well! Quite a long drive, from San Diego to WA - I did the drive earlier this year, but my trip was 400 miles shorter than from S.D. 

I am sure that there are others here who'd like to know what you did & how the kitties, esp. Hershey Rose, handled it.  

 

[hersheys mom]

Hi everyone. I am SO sorry I did not catch all of you up on the journey, but when we got here I discovered the house had been broken into and was thrashed. The girls and I had an air matress, an electric blanket, their litter boxes, their beds (though they slept with me), their food bowls and their food. Took 4 weeks to make the house livable.  Then the furniture arrived, in pieces, and most of my stuff missing. Currently have the insurance company trying to make heads or tails out of the falsified inventory taken in San Diego (many of my items were simply not listed, and I was charged $600 for packing 95 boxes when in fact they packed 4), but that is a whole other issue.

The girls each had a 2' x 18" camper type carrier which took up the entire back seat. While we took constant breaks, neither would come out of their carrier to use the littler box or eat or drink. Surprisingly, they did not cry much in the car. Getting all their stuff out of the car and into the hotel rooms was a joy. At least 5 trips every night. They had a choice of sleeping in their campers or in the bed with me. Nope. Not good enough. These two fight a lot (not seriously, just a paw slap), but they sure know how to get along when they want to get into trouble. It took Hershey Rose two minutes to figure out how to rip the fabric off the bottom of the bed and climb in the box spring, and about one minute to teach Minja how to do it. With the exception of the last hotel stay, the rooms I had in the hotels had 2 beds. Not only did I have to hide the torn fabric in my computer case, (movers took my suitcase and put it on the truck by mistake. Said they would bring it back before I had to vacate the SD house the day after they took it but they never showed so I had no clothes except those I was wearing), but I had to turn both beds upside down to get the little buggers out and put them in their carriers! After Hershey Rose nearly strangled herself twice trying to get out of her collar and then her harness, I gave up on that. So we traveled up the California coast, which is a site I will never forget, me talking to them all the time, stopped for food (they did not want KFC, chicken MacNuggetts, or their regular food, so kibble it was for the trip. Although they had pet pads in their carriers, they held their business until they got the litter box in the hotel. They would not go when we did rest stops. So I cut the driving hours down and took 5 days to get here instead of 3. Once in the house, they slowly explored the rooms. My handyman, who I hired in December when I still lived in San Diego, to fix the front stairs, met me there. Hershey Rose is terrified of people but the poor thing had no where to hide and quickly jumped under the electric blanket. Minja explored the house while Allan and I made a shopping list of stuff to replace immediately - toilets, shower doors, shower heads, etc. so I could live in the house. After coming back from Home Depot, I could not find the cats anywhere. The house is empty, how do you lose 2 cats? Oh yeah, Minja the trouble maker! I soon discovered them in the upper kitchen cabinets. Minja learned how to open ever drawer and door in the empty house and taught Hershey Rose how to do it too. Well, at least I knew where they were. That is, until I opened the front door that night and Minja ran out. She had been in the Washington house for 5 hours and took off. I never though I would see her again. I don't think I cried that long and that hard for a long time. Shortly after midnight, I heard a familiar meow at the back door. There she was. I held her and hugged her and kissed her (she hates all that stuff but I didn't care). Been here 6 months and she has not run off since.  Soon they got used to being in the cabinets all the time while Allan and I worked to put the house back together. After what was left of my furniture arrived, Allan helped rebuild what he could. He was here almost every day for 2 months. Then he would be here several times a week for the next month. Last month I was at the store and came home to find Allan sitting on the couch with this big grin on his face. I asked what he was grinning about. He was up to something, I just knew it. He told me he took a selfie because he knew I wouldn't believe what happened when I was at the store. He was right. I would not have believed it. After nearly 4 years of being terrified of people, there, in the selfie, was Hershey Rose, sitting next to Allan on the couch. She now slowly approaches him when he come over and sits near him. She has accepted a second human into her world. I was thrilled. Minja loves everybody because she thinks they may have food for her. She has a food fetish. But Rose was so terrified of people since TSA drove her over the edge the day I adopted her I never thought I would see the day she would accept anyone beside me.

So today, they are thoroughly adapted to the new house, and while the kitchen cabinets are now full of pots, pans and dishes and no longer a hiding place, they are finding new places to hide out but are more fascinated sitting on the hassocks I made for them in front of the cathedral windows looking out to the world, watching the squirrels and birds. Next Spring I should be done with the inside of the house and will be starting the garden in front of the windows for them. I plan on a fountain and rock garden (I am fatally allergic to bees and had all the flowering stuff removed). I do have one non-flowering tree by one window, I will put in another by the other window, and put my bee-proof hummingbird feeders in them. The girls miss their hummers. Had them in the trees in SD. The flowers will be from Michael's, so no bee problems. Did that trick in SD. Had the nicest flower garden and it never needed watering! 

Thanks to all of you who responded to my request for help on this. I have two very happy ladies who have a much larger house to play in, and an 8' cat tree to enjoy.

 

[Primula]

Wow, you are one tough cookie to survive some very bad luck. I admire your resilience in the face of adversity. Hope things are easier now.

 

[Lyzzie]

That was quite a trip! I loved that HR accepted a new human in her life, makes me all warm and fuzzy inside

And yes, you are one tough cookie! Congrats on the move and everything else!

I'm off to try and find HR's thread about the whole airport mess...