Bats in the Belfry - Cats in the Car!

[BUM]

If we need a hotel then you'll know the cat barfed...and/or whatever. The trip is (only) 11 hours and we usually go straight through. Blastoff is scheduled at 4am on the 15th.

 

[Eagle43]

La Quinta is "pet-friendly."

 

[old woman]

OK so I spend an hour in Barnes and Noble looking through "All About Cats" books. DW has a PIA cat DW has a lovely tabby that just misses her terribly when we hit the road for a month or so.

Usually we have someone come in once a week to tend the kitty. However this time we'll be gone during the winter and I want to save on the already too high energy bill. Hell, with a little twist of logic - thats why we are leaving in the first place...too damn cold.

Anyway the books say forget it. Not worth it. Cats hate the car...messes with their equilibrim the vet says. Drugs probably won't work the vet says. The trip is 11 hours with 2 stops for gas and leg stretching.

Heating the house for the cat is not gonna happen. I plan to turn the 'stat down to 40something. The cat could probably hack it since the sun warms the living room to 60-70. DW thinks thats a  barbaric idea. So we are bringing the cat.

I've built a darling travel carrier complete with comfy bedding and her favorite toys. I keep it near us in the den and she is now napping in it and otherwise getting used to it. Next step is to latch her in for a few minutes at a time. Later we'll take her on a short ride I guess to see what might happen 

So if you see me chasing a cat down the interstate...best not to get involved.


Anybody ever done this?

I have taken cats all over the counrty by car, they loved it. One liked to lay in the back window with his head on a little dog with the head bobbing. He liked to try to catch the window washing thing at gas stations. We took another to Alaska and back in the winter. She didn't like being in a sleeping bag and we slept in the car. She would get out and lay on top and shiver. After a few days she learned to like it in a sleeping bag.
The trick to travel with cats is to start with kittens and take them everywhere. I had to cats once that didn't travel but after one died we decided to take the other camping. Everytime we let her out she headed for home through the woods, she seemed to know which way home was but it was too far and too much wildlife to let him try. He spent most of the weekend in the car unless we were holding him.

 

[Sundance Kid]

Here I was,--- all excited to hear a story about travelling with Bats!

JD

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I used to have a cat that loved riding in the car. Just like a dog...whenever I went out to the driveway, she'd follow me, hop in and sit up in the shelf under the back window and just have a great time. One day I went to put up the rear power windows without realizing she had her head stuck out the opening and caught her head. No damage, I saw it and stopped and put it down before it did much more than startle her.

Never got in the car after that though.

 

[BUM]

I've built a darling travel carrier complete with comfy bedding and her favorite toys. I keep it near us in the den and she is now napping in it and otherwise getting used to it. Next step is to latch her in for a few minutes at a time. Later we'll take her on a short ride I guess to see what might happen

Chapter 2

We've gotten kitty used to the aforementioned homebrew car carrier. Left treats inside... even manage to lock her in for a few minutes at a time. Last week we prepared for the the first trip in the suv, put down plastic, blah, blah, blah.

Bottom line, after a little whining...not a peep! Now we take her with us someplace everyday just to keep things going before the "big trip".

So far so good.

 

[BUM]

Epilog


Trip to NC with the cat went just fine. Eleven hours and hardly a peep. However she didn't seem to like New Jersey...there was alot of meowing through there. Otherwise all was rather quiet, thankfully.  The home brew cat carrier with a blanket cover worked well. Once we arrived at the beach little missy got very shy and buried herself between the sofa cushions for the day. Now she's a big shot and thinks she can pick fights with the seagulls, while hiding safely behind the sliding glass doors.

Bottom line pets and travelling ERees are a problem. For this trip at least, so far things are turning out just purrrrrfect.

 

[sgeeeee]

. . .However she didn't seem to like New Jersey...

New Jersey affects a lot of people that way too.

 

[kbst]

Bum,
Glad to see you had success with you're cat. The way you acclimated her to the car was the right way to go. I did the same thing with our cat when she was young.
We take our cat and dog with us when we go down to the  island. Now it's every other weekend, off season.
3 years, 10 months, 1 week, 3 days, 9 hours and 13 minutes from now maybe we'll be going down for 3 months or so.
kbst