travel

My husband & I are moving/driving across country with 3 cats & are looking
for suggestions or alternatives to the regular small cat carriers. Has
anyone tried the Life Stages Crates & is there a problem using cat litter
etc. Any suggestions for our trip would be appreciated. Two of our cats
are quite large, the third is small.

Thank you

Jean

"jean" wrote in message
...
My husband & I are moving/driving across country with 3 cats & are looking
for suggestions or alternatives to the regular small cat carriers. Has
anyone tried the Life Stages Crates & is there a problem using cat litter
etc. Any suggestions for our trip would be appreciated. Two of our cats
are quite large, the third is small.

Thank you

Jean

We used a metal folding dog crate (nothing as
fancy as the Life Stages crate) to move 2 cats from
AZ to TX about 30 years ago. We moved three cats
several times in the same crate more recently
(late 80s, early 90s). We put a covered litter box
in the crate. One of the cats (both cases) liked to
sleep inside the litter box. Since it was a multi-day
trip we moved the cats into our motel room at
night (using motels that accepted cats) and moved
the litter box in with them. IIRC on one of the
three-cat moves we put one of the cats in a large
plastic carrier by herself since she proved less
friendly under crowded circumstances. You might
try the three cats in the one crate, but keep a plastic
carrier handy in case you need it. It seems to me
you'd need a really big crate to separate the cats
AND give each of them a litter box. Perhaps the
two smaller cats in one section, the larger cat in
the other section?

We used a water dish that is designed for travel.
It's covered with a deep hole in the center - no
spills under normal circumstances. Our cats
didn't eat or drink all that much during the trip.

We still have that crate and it's still in good shape.
Of course, most of the time we've had it it's
been folded up in an attic.

Gail F.
Owned by Lao Ma, Ephiny, Minya, Melosa

Gail

Thanks so much for your advice. Your dog crate must be large to hold a
covered litter box. I will definitely look for more options that the Life
Stages Crate. My older female cat doesn't get along with the younger female
so will have to separate them. The male is pretty laid back & no problem.

Jean

"Gail Futoran" wrote in message
...
"jean" wrote in message
...
My husband & I are moving/driving across country with 3 cats & are
looking
for suggestions or alternatives to the regular small cat carriers. Has
anyone tried the Life Stages Crates & is there a problem using cat litter
etc. Any suggestions for our trip would be appreciated. Two of our cats
are quite large, the third is small.

Thank you

Jean

We used a metal folding dog crate (nothing as
fancy as the Life Stages crate) to move 2 cats from
AZ to TX about 30 years ago. We moved three cats
several times in the same crate more recently
(late 80s, early 90s). We put a covered litter box
in the crate. One of the cats (both cases) liked to
sleep inside the litter box. Since it was a multi-day
trip we moved the cats into our motel room at
night (using motels that accepted cats) and moved
the litter box in with them. IIRC on one of the
three-cat moves we put one of the cats in a large
plastic carrier by herself since she proved less
friendly under crowded circumstances. You might
try the three cats in the one crate, but keep a plastic
carrier handy in case you need it. It seems to me
you'd need a really big crate to separate the cats
AND give each of them a litter box. Perhaps the
two smaller cats in one section, the larger cat in
the other section?

We used a water dish that is designed for travel.
It's covered with a deep hole in the center - no
spills under normal circumstances. Our cats
didn't eat or drink all that much during the trip.

We still have that crate and it's still in good shape.
Of course, most of the time we've had it it's
been folded up in an attic.

Gail F.
Owned by Lao Ma, Ephiny, Minya, Melosa

"jean" wrote in message
. ..
Gail

Thanks so much for your advice. Your dog crate must be large to hold a
covered litter box. I will definitely look for more options that the Life
Stages Crate. My older female cat doesn't get along with the younger
female so will have to separate them. The male is pretty laid back & no
problem.

Jean

I measured our crate (folded down). It's 42" long
and about 29" high, 24-26" wide. I checked
similar models online and it's a size used for large
dog breeds. They do come larger. If you decide
to get one for your cats, I'd go for the largest that
will fit in your vehicle. Since they fold quite small
(except the length, of course), they're easy to store.

The first car we used ours in was a small station
wagon. We couldn't fit it in the car already put
together but could put it together inside the wagon
(if that makes sense).

You might look at the crates at www.drsfostersmith.com
They have budget crates in the $55-60 range (shipping
extra) that will at least give you a ballpark price and
design so you can check around more online or
locally. Perhaps you could even find a used one.

Let us know how things work out for you and
the cats.

Gail F.
Owners: Lao Ma, Ephiny, Minya, Melosa

Gail

I bought 3 Port A Crates at Walmart. They're collapsable & would hold 2
cats easily if we were going a short distance but there wouldn't be room for
any type of litter pan. So I also bought 3 SMALL litter pans which Max our
male cat
will have to adjust to & 3 small water bowels. We figured we can feed them
2 times a day on paper plates then dispose of them.

assembling your crate while it was in the car was a great idea & I'm sure
made for future family stories. Many years ago we traveled from Iowa to
return to Ca in a Toyota Corolla with 2 elementary aged kids, a very mad
siamese cat & tropical fish. My kids still talk about that trip.

Jean


"Gail Futoran" wrote in message
...
"jean" wrote in message
. ..
Gail

Thanks so much for your advice. Your dog crate must be large to hold a
covered litter box. I will definitely look for more options that the
Life Stages Crate. My older female cat doesn't get along with the
younger female so will have to separate them. The male is pretty laid
back & no problem.

Jean

I measured our crate (folded down). It's 42" long
and about 29" high, 24-26" wide. I checked
similar models online and it's a size used for large
dog breeds. They do come larger. If you decide
to get one for your cats, I'd go for the largest that
will fit in your vehicle. Since they fold quite small
(except the length, of course), they're easy to store.

The first car we used ours in was a small station
wagon. We couldn't fit it in the car already put
together but could put it together inside the wagon
(if that makes sense).

You might look at the crates at www.drsfostersmith.com
They have budget crates in the $55-60 range (shipping
extra) that will at least give you a ballpark price and
design so you can check around more online or
locally. Perhaps you could even find a used one.

Let us know how things work out for you and
the cats.

Gail F.
Owners: Lao Ma, Ephiny, Minya, Melosa