A cat forum. CatBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » CatBanter forum » Cat Newsgroups » Cat health & behaviour
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Tips for a long drive with cat?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old December 13th 05, 04:14 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Tips for a long drive with cat?

jules wrote:

Next weekend Fluffy and I are going to be driving from Portland, OR to
San Francisco. I'm guessing he's not going to be pleased about this as
he cries and cries every time I drive him to the vet.

I'd appreciate any tips or tricks you can share about making this as
easy as possible for both of us.


I have done this several times.

I remove the food and water access the night before the trip. If the
trip is longer than 7 - 8 hours you might want to consider stopping for
a water and food break.

In the morning before placing in the carrier, I encourage use of the
litter box. If they don't, that's fine. I just don't want them in the
carrier without having had the opportunity to use the litter box first.

The carrier used is big enough for the cat to stand up in and turn
around and if they do make a mess inside they don't have to sit in it.

I also try to make the carrier as level as possible inside the vehicle.
If you have a vehicle with enough floor space to put the carrier on this
won't be an issue; however, a carrier inside a car on the seat is not level.

Depending on the cat, you might want to try a blanket over the carrier
to block out the movement going on and encourage quiet time... but if
your cat wants to see you and is reassured by that then this won't work.

Chose a route to your destination that is the straightest smoothest road
you can find. I have found with my cat that twisty roads causes her to
be sick. Don't make any unnecessary stops. Obviously for safety reasons
you should be stopping once in a while to get out from behind the wheel
to stretch and give yourself a break.

Once we arrive, the cat is the first priority. The cat is released from
the carrier asap and are shown where the food, water and litter box is.

There was a time when I was doing a regular 8 hour trip almost every
weekend with 2 cats. One was an excellent traveller, but was disoriented
for a couple of days at the destination despite having been there
before. The other wasn't such a good traveller usually getting sick
(throwing up) along the way, but adapted like a fish to water at the
destination. It was then that I discovered my twisty route that shaved
50 miles off the trip was causing the sickness when I tried the better
but longer route one weekend.



 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
We're back from Purrth (long) badwilson Cat anecdotes 24 July 20th 04 04:09 PM
About Bandit - long CatNipped Cat anecdotes 42 July 18th 04 07:34 AM
Back from a long weekend (and a long post!) Ginger-lyn Summer Cat anecdotes 10 June 30th 04 09:29 PM
Gem the Gray Kitten (long) Annie Benson-Lennaman Cat anecdotes 21 August 25th 03 01:02 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:13 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CatBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.