Traveling with pets

[pinkytoe]

Thought I would bring this up here rather than hijack SiouxQ's. If/when we move to our intended place, we will be traveling in our one car - a Honda CRV. Ourselves, clothes, two Siamese cats and one very old weiner dog and all their food, cat box etc. About 800 miles through a very hot Texas and one night at a motel. It will be too hot to leave them in the car for even short stops until we get to cooler climes. The weiner dog I'm not concerned about as she is a good traveler. The cats however were both once feral and have never quite adapted to domesticity. One in particular spends most of her life under the bed as she is afraid of everything. Not even sure how we will get her in the car. Any tips are appreciated as this is the thing I fear most about moving.

[iris lilies]

Look into tranquilizers for the cat or cats. I havent used them myself, but my cats were calm. I also moved my mother's cats in a six hour drive to live with me, one cat at a time. They were fine with no drugs.

Chip all of your animals in case they get loose. A good tip I recently learned about is to carry pet ID information attached fo each pet carrier. In case you get into a car accident all of the pet's history and information will be there.

When you get to motel, the cats will stay in the bathroom. Make sure the bathroom door latches. Whenever the bathroom door is opened, make sure that the motel room door is closed in case one of them darts out. Make sure your husband understands that.

Litter boxes should be those cardboard disposable ones or somethng similar, disposable. Personally, I would not bother with trying to fit a litter box in a cat carrier, I would outfit each carrier with an absorbant towel and throw it away when soiled. Use fhe litter box at the motel.

[jp1]

Years ago friends of mine moved cross country with a cat. They did most of what IL suggests and didn't have any real problems. One thing they did was to use a dog crate instead of a cat carrier because it was bigger. It fit between the seats in the uhaul. There was an opening to the back part of the truck so part of the carrier was actually in the back.

We flew both of our cats from NY to California and didn't have any problems. We put puppy wee wee pads in their carriers but they both held it for the entire trip, which was probably 10 hours door to door.

[freshstart]

I agree with chipping and a tag with your cell number on it as people will tend to call before bothering with the chip info tag

[Teacher Terry]

Every summer we had to take our cat from home to the resort we ran when I was a kid. She was feral as a kitten and hated to be in the car. Every year we put her in a crate and drugged her. Follow all the other advice and let her pee in the crate, etc. It will be a pain but your pets would rather be with you then in a new home.

[iris lilies]

Oh also-i wouldnt worry about giving the cats food for such a short trip. i doubt that they would eat, anyway. But if they do eat dry food, that is easy enough to ot nto a small baggy. Offer them water at the motel.