Traveling with cats - - Help?

[Gin]

The kids don't travel by car very often. Usually, it's just occasional trips to and from the vet. But sometimes an emergency will arise (surgery for me, new kitchen floor installed, etc.) and it becomes necessary to load up all three cats for a 3-hour car trip to Grandma's house.

They DO NOT enjoy this and cry pitifully through the whole thing, although they're fine once the car stops moving. The cats are confined to the back seat, where they have their beds, a litter box, and drinking water.

Does anyone have any suggestions for making the trip easier on all of us? I would really appreciate any ideas.

(I saw the pictures of Peanut and Cracker Jack enjoying their camper, with the leather sofa and Corian countertops. I drive a Toyota Echo, which is a great little vehicle, but, as my nephew says, is "only half a car".

Thank you!

[Randy_K]

It's part a personality issue and an experience issue. My sister makes a 100 mile/160 km trip on a regular basis. Her cat cried and carried on the first two times but finally learned that it was no big deal. Her cat is a little high-strung so it took him a while. to completely settle in but now he's OK with the trip.

Another friend had her cat with her in the car from when he was a kitten and he genuinely enjoyed riding in the car - any car. One time in my car while we were waiting at a traffic light he started hissing while looking out the side window. There was a dog in an adjacent car.

[catmandu]

I WISH,THAT I COULD HELP,BUT MY CATS HATE TRAVELLING,OF ANY KIND.
JJJ3,THE LAST TRIPS,TO THE VETS,HAS POOED ALL OVER HIMSELF,AND THE CARRIER,AND ONCE I START,TO BRING THE CARRIERS OUT,MY CATS BECOME INVISIBLE!!

[NoahsMommy]

Are they in a carrier when you transport them? I know cats prefer to have a dark hiding spot when scared, maybe if you put them in a carrier, with a towel to cover it?

That's what I do with my furballs. While they hate the car too, it eases them a bit.

I also play classical music...it calms.

[Sonia59]

It is highly cat dependant, and also depends if they are used or not. But I would also suggest to have them in their carrier box. Cats prefer having a closed environnement, where they feel safer and can eventually hide.

Peppito is a great traveller. When I drive to my parents (700 km) or on holiday to the mountains or south of France(700 to 1000 km), he is always with us, and is used to a one-day travel by car. He meows a bit when the car starts, but then he is perfectly quiet. Now and then we open his carrier to let him "explore" around and after a few minutes he returns alone in the box, and stays in it even when the box is open. The car is the only place where Peppito gets into the carrier on his own decision!

He usually refuses to drink during the travel, but he loudly asks for pieces of our sandwiches to share!

Some cats are sick in cars, like humans, and this is why they cry all the time. Some medicine can also help if it is the case.

[CalliesMom]

We keep our kitties in a carrier when we travel. When we moved here from AL a few weeks ago, Callie cried for about the first 30 mins. and during the last hour and a half (an 8 hr. drive turned into an 11 hr. drive due to problems with the moving truck). Usually they will settle right in after a time and fall asleep.

[rkidsrcats]

We would recommend cat carriers too. We moved 5 cats and a golden retriever from Connecticut to Seattle Washington. 5 days on the road - everybody had a nice safe cat carrier space and I covered them with a sheet to prevent them from seeing scarey trucks and cars out the windows. Kept the AC on and air flowing so nobody got hot and everybody had water to drink. Not one cat got sick or had an accident in a carrier and they were confined for at least 6 hours a day. Couple of them complained for a while when we started out in the mornings, but then just slept all day after that.
Of course they went a little crazy in the hotel.....but that was just to get the ya-yas out.

[Edwina's Secretary]

To prepare for our drive from Chicago to LA I would take Edwina on short car trips so she begin to associate the car with something other than the vet. I also had them in the harnesses the whole trip....in case I needed to catch them (or drag them out from something...)

Eddie rode in his cage but with the door open and his head hanging out... Edwina sat on her car seat....looking out the window or sleeping. Occasionally she would sit in my lap.

They had food water and litter box but waited until we were in the hotel at night.

Here's the album of their trip.... Road Trip

[orangemm]

We traveled with our guys for over a year, every weekend. It was a 3 hour trip each way and they were wonderful travelers!

We had a van, so we bought a collapsible cage so they could stay together. The hard part was finding them when they knew it was time. Finally got that down to a fine science. They only cried when we picked them up and took them outdoors to load them. Once they were in the cage, they were fine, usually went right to sleep.

But they were so relieved to get out of it at the end. Archy would run right to the litterbox and Binky would S-T-R-E-T-C-H for a few minutes then drink a ton of water.

[Gin]

Thanks for the ideas! Placing a kitty carrier or cardboard box in the back seat as an emergency refuge is a good suggestion. I have often noticed that Missy will cower on the car floor, as if seeking a hiding place.

[Kfamr]

I personally would never travel with a cat without a carrier of some sort. I've heard too many horror stories of cats freaking out and running under the gas pedal or brake pedal.