Cat travel

Hi

Sorry if this question has been posted before...

We are moving from the UK to France with our 2 cats. It is not
straight forward to fly the cats as there are no direct flights and I
don't like the idea of them going as cargo.
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.

Any advice is most welcome to make their journey as comfortable as
possible - and also to get them used to the new place.
Thank you on their behalf.

Claire

"Froog" wrote in message
om...
Hi

Sorry if this question has been posted before...

We are moving from the UK to France with our 2 cats. It is not
straight forward to fly the cats as there are no direct flights and I
don't like the idea of them going as cargo.
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.

Any advice is most welcome to make their journey as comfortable as
possible - and also to get them used to the new place.
Thank you on their behalf.

Claire

I would be very concerned about placing a cat in the trunk of a car. If the
trunk is closed, there is the possibility of suffocation or carbon monoxide
poisoning. Even if the trunk were open and the carrier secured within the
trunk, you would not be able to see it to monitor the situation. I had
friends who had a large carrier built that would fit within the back seat of
the car. However, a 10-hour trip really isn't all that long. I think your
better option would be to use two standard carriers in the car. Spray the
inside of the carriers with Feliway (a behavior modification spray that can
reduce stress) about 20 minutes before you place the cat in the carriers.
Your "anxious" cat is likely to cry for about 45 minutes and then will
probably settle down. If there is room in the car, place a small litter box
on the floor of the back seat and stop a couple of times (with doors and
windows tightly closed) to let the cats out, one at a time. Also have a
bowl of water and a little food available. However, I suspect that they
will not drink, eat, or use the litter box until you arrive at your
destination.

Good luck with your trip ... and don't worry too much. I have traveled many
times with cats in my cat, and all settled into their new "quarters" without
any problems.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"Froog" wrote in message
om...
Hi

Sorry if this question has been posted before...

We are moving from the UK to France with our 2 cats. It is not
straight forward to fly the cats as there are no direct flights and I
don't like the idea of them going as cargo.
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.

Any advice is most welcome to make their journey as comfortable as
possible - and also to get them used to the new place.
Thank you on their behalf.

Claire

I would be very concerned about placing a cat in the trunk of a car. If the
trunk is closed, there is the possibility of suffocation or carbon monoxide
poisoning. Even if the trunk were open and the carrier secured within the
trunk, you would not be able to see it to monitor the situation. I had
friends who had a large carrier built that would fit within the back seat of
the car. However, a 10-hour trip really isn't all that long. I think your
better option would be to use two standard carriers in the car. Spray the
inside of the carriers with Feliway (a behavior modification spray that can
reduce stress) about 20 minutes before you place the cat in the carriers.
Your "anxious" cat is likely to cry for about 45 minutes and then will
probably settle down. If there is room in the car, place a small litter box
on the floor of the back seat and stop a couple of times (with doors and
windows tightly closed) to let the cats out, one at a time. Also have a
bowl of water and a little food available. However, I suspect that they
will not drink, eat, or use the litter box until you arrive at your
destination.

Good luck with your trip ... and don't worry too much. I have traveled many
times with cats in my cat, and all settled into their new "quarters" without
any problems.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"Froog" wrote in message
om...
Hi

Sorry if this question has been posted before...

We are moving from the UK to France with our 2 cats. It is not
straight forward to fly the cats as there are no direct flights and I
don't like the idea of them going as cargo.
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.

Any advice is most welcome to make their journey as comfortable as
possible - and also to get them used to the new place.
Thank you on their behalf.

Claire

I apologize if this appears as a duplicate. I was going to post a follow-up
to my own message, and I appear to have inadvertently hit the "delete" key
.... my message instantly disappeared from my view. Therefore, I am pasting
my original message here, along with the follow-up information that occurred
to me:

I would be very concerned about placing a cat in the trunk of a car. If the
trunk is closed, there is the possibility of suffocation or carbon monoxide
poisoning. Even if the trunk were open and the carrier secured within the
trunk, you would not be able to see it to monitor the situation. I had
friends who had a large carrier built that would fit within the back seat of
the car. However, a 10-hour trip really isn't all that long. I think your
better option would be to use two standard carriers in the car. Spray the
inside of the carriers with Feliway (a behavior modification spray that can
reduce stress) about 20 minutes before you place the cat in the carriers.
Your "anxious" cat is likely to cry for about 45 minutes and then will
probably settle down. If there is room in the car, place a small litter box
on the floor of the back seat and stop a couple of times (with doors and
windows tightly closed) to let the cats out, one at a time. Also have a
bowl of water and a little food available. However, I suspect that they
will not drink, eat, or use the litter box until you arrive at your
destination.

Good luck with your trip ... and don't worry too much. I have traveled many
times with cats in my cat, and all settled into their new "quarters" without
any problems.

(That was my original message. What I *intended* to add as an addendum was
this: It appears that you are considering the possibility of placing the
cats' carrier in the trunk of your car. In addition to the problems I
already mentioned, you would probably be exposing your cats to a great deal
of wind and road noise. I think that would be incredibly stressful for
them.)

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"Froog" wrote in message
om...
Hi

Sorry if this question has been posted before...

We are moving from the UK to France with our 2 cats. It is not
straight forward to fly the cats as there are no direct flights and I
don't like the idea of them going as cargo.
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.

Any advice is most welcome to make their journey as comfortable as
possible - and also to get them used to the new place.
Thank you on their behalf.

Claire

I apologize if this appears as a duplicate. I was going to post a follow-up
to my own message, and I appear to have inadvertently hit the "delete" key
.... my message instantly disappeared from my view. Therefore, I am pasting
my original message here, along with the follow-up information that occurred
to me:

I would be very concerned about placing a cat in the trunk of a car. If the
trunk is closed, there is the possibility of suffocation or carbon monoxide
poisoning. Even if the trunk were open and the carrier secured within the
trunk, you would not be able to see it to monitor the situation. I had
friends who had a large carrier built that would fit within the back seat of
the car. However, a 10-hour trip really isn't all that long. I think your
better option would be to use two standard carriers in the car. Spray the
inside of the carriers with Feliway (a behavior modification spray that can
reduce stress) about 20 minutes before you place the cat in the carriers.
Your "anxious" cat is likely to cry for about 45 minutes and then will
probably settle down. If there is room in the car, place a small litter box
on the floor of the back seat and stop a couple of times (with doors and
windows tightly closed) to let the cats out, one at a time. Also have a
bowl of water and a little food available. However, I suspect that they
will not drink, eat, or use the litter box until you arrive at your
destination.

Good luck with your trip ... and don't worry too much. I have traveled many
times with cats in my cat, and all settled into their new "quarters" without
any problems.

(That was my original message. What I *intended* to add as an addendum was
this: It appears that you are considering the possibility of placing the
cats' carrier in the trunk of your car. In addition to the problems I
already mentioned, you would probably be exposing your cats to a great deal
of wind and road noise. I think that would be incredibly stressful for
them.)

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"Froog" wrote in message
om...
Hi
....
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.
....
Claire

Ten hours is a long time to drive, unless you have two people and can split
the driving time.
I'm not sure what you mean by boot or trunk. In the U.S., the trunk is the
enclosed area in the back of the car and the cats would not be able to see
what is going on. Maybe you have what we know as a station wagon where there
is an open area behind the back seat?
The cats should be fine with the length of the trip, but should not be put
in the trunk, if that is an enclosed space. Put your luggage in the trunk
and your cats in travel carriers on the back seat. If you put your cats in
the trunk, they may be exposed to dangerous exhaust fumes and will not have
temperature control. They would be better off in the dreaded cargo hold of
the airplane than in the trunk of a car.
When we drove with three cats from Washington State (U.S.A.) to Texas, the
trip took several long days with stops at motels along the way. We had a
Suburban, which is a large version of a station wagon layout. We did get
larger size carriers, one for each cat. Because the back area is open to
the rest of the car, we could keep an eye on them. The cats complained at
first, but quickly settled down to the routine.
Good luck with your move.
Annie

"Froog" wrote in message
om...
Hi
....
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.
....
Claire

Ten hours is a long time to drive, unless you have two people and can split
the driving time.
I'm not sure what you mean by boot or trunk. In the U.S., the trunk is the
enclosed area in the back of the car and the cats would not be able to see
what is going on. Maybe you have what we know as a station wagon where there
is an open area behind the back seat?
The cats should be fine with the length of the trip, but should not be put
in the trunk, if that is an enclosed space. Put your luggage in the trunk
and your cats in travel carriers on the back seat. If you put your cats in
the trunk, they may be exposed to dangerous exhaust fumes and will not have
temperature control. They would be better off in the dreaded cargo hold of
the airplane than in the trunk of a car.
When we drove with three cats from Washington State (U.S.A.) to Texas, the
trip took several long days with stops at motels along the way. We had a
Suburban, which is a large version of a station wagon layout. We did get
larger size carriers, one for each cat. Because the back area is open to
the rest of the car, we could keep an eye on them. The cats complained at
first, but quickly settled down to the routine.
Good luck with your move.
Annie

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
...

"Froog" wrote in message
om...
Hi

Sorry if this question has been posted before...

We are moving from the UK to France with our 2 cats. It is not
straight forward to fly the cats as there are no direct flights and I
don't like the idea of them going as cargo.
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.

Any advice is most welcome to make their journey as comfortable as
possible - and also to get them used to the new place.
Thank you on their behalf.

Claire

I would be very concerned about placing a cat in the trunk of a car. If
the
trunk is closed, there is the possibility of suffocation or carbon
monoxide
poisoning. Even if the trunk were open and the carrier secured within the
trunk, you would not be able to see it to monitor the situation.


Let me jump in here! when we say "boot" of car, we also mean hatchback, and
Froog did say " larger carrier so they can see out!" so it is obviously not
a close in boot! but a Hatched back style car :-)



I had
friends who had a large carrier built that would fit within the back seat
of
the car. However, a 10-hour trip really isn't all that long. I think
your
better option would be to use two standard carriers in the car. Spray the
inside of the carriers with Feliway (a behavior modification spray that
can
reduce stress) about 20 minutes before you place the cat in the carriers.
Your "anxious" cat is likely to cry for about 45 minutes and then will
probably settle down. If there is room in the car, place a small litter
box
on the floor of the back seat and stop a couple of times (with doors and
windows tightly closed) to let the cats out, one at a time. Also have a
bowl of water and a little food available. However, I suspect that they
will not drink, eat, or use the litter box until you arrive at your
destination.

Good luck with your trip ... and don't worry too much. I have traveled
many
times with cats in my cat, and all settled into their new "quarters"
without
any problems.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
...

"Froog" wrote in message
om...
Hi

Sorry if this question has been posted before...

We are moving from the UK to France with our 2 cats. It is not
straight forward to fly the cats as there are no direct flights and I
don't like the idea of them going as cargo.
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.

Any advice is most welcome to make their journey as comfortable as
possible - and also to get them used to the new place.
Thank you on their behalf.

Claire

I would be very concerned about placing a cat in the trunk of a car. If
the
trunk is closed, there is the possibility of suffocation or carbon
monoxide
poisoning. Even if the trunk were open and the carrier secured within the
trunk, you would not be able to see it to monitor the situation.


Let me jump in here! when we say "boot" of car, we also mean hatchback, and
Froog did say " larger carrier so they can see out!" so it is obviously not
a close in boot! but a Hatched back style car :-)



I had
friends who had a large carrier built that would fit within the back seat
of
the car. However, a 10-hour trip really isn't all that long. I think
your
better option would be to use two standard carriers in the car. Spray the
inside of the carriers with Feliway (a behavior modification spray that
can
reduce stress) about 20 minutes before you place the cat in the carriers.
Your "anxious" cat is likely to cry for about 45 minutes and then will
probably settle down. If there is room in the car, place a small litter
box
on the floor of the back seat and stop a couple of times (with doors and
windows tightly closed) to let the cats out, one at a time. Also have a
bowl of water and a little food available. However, I suspect that they
will not drink, eat, or use the litter box until you arrive at your
destination.

Good luck with your trip ... and don't worry too much. I have traveled
many
times with cats in my cat, and all settled into their new "quarters"
without
any problems.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"Annie Wxill" wrote in message
...

"Froog" wrote in message
om...
Hi
...
We are going to take them by car but it's a long trip of about 10
hours. One of our cats doesn't do travelling very well, he mews and
pants quite a lot in his carrier box. The plan is to get a much larger
"cage" to put up in the boot(trunk) of the car so they have space and
they can see what's going on.
...
Claire

Ten hours is a long time to drive, unless you have two people and can
split
the driving time.
I'm not sure what you mean by boot or trunk. In the U.S., the trunk is
the
enclosed area in the back of the car and the cats would not be able to see
what is going on. Maybe you have what we know as a station wagon where
there
is an open area behind the back seat?
The cats should be fine with the length of the trip, but should not be put
in the trunk, if that is an enclosed space. Put your luggage in the trunk
and your cats in travel carriers on the back seat. If you put your cats
in
the trunk, they may be exposed to dangerous exhaust fumes and will not
have
temperature control. They would be better off in the dreaded cargo hold
of
the airplane than in the trunk of a car.
When we drove with three cats from Washington State (U.S.A.) to Texas, the
trip took several long days with stops at motels along the way. We had a
Suburban, which is a large version of a station wagon layout. We did get
larger size carriers, one for each cat. Because the back area is open to
the rest of the car, we could keep an eye on them. The cats complained at
first, but quickly settled down to the routine.
Good luck with your move.
Annie


in UK a boot is a enclosed area at the back of the car, but we also refer to
with our hatch back cars as having boots too, because when/if you use the
parcel shelf they then become enclosed :-)
estate cars however have no parcel shelf! but we still call that back area
where there are no seats boots! LOL

Don't you just love the English Language! LOL........ not!


--
Luv'n'Stuff
*~*SooZy*~*
http://community.webshots.com/user/ragmoor
http://community.webshots.com/user/ragdollcatsuk