Relocating with elderly cat

[Harrald]

Hello all,


My bride and I are preparing to move to our post-retirement home. We have 2 cats. One is 18+ years old and the other is about 12. Our vet has told us that the 18 year old shouldn't fly.


The drive for us would be in the 18 hour range. The total time to fly (driving to/from airport and flight time) would be about 7-8 hours.

Our cat is getting cranky in his old age and frequently he'll urinate or the "other" outside of his litter box. If we drive we can give them both a sedative that the vet has provided for us. I think it only lasts 6-7 hours and should be administered 2 hours before the travel begins.


I've looked into Cat friendly hotels and there are plenty along our route. My concern would be that he'll be so stressed on the drive that he may do things to a hotel room that we don't want. We're also concerned that driving or flying would stress him passed the point that his body could handle.


Right now we're considering driving the entire trip in one day with hotels as back up if we can't make it. My bride can drive the first 6 hours and the last 12 I can do. Those numbers are the max either one of us could do.



SO... I'm asking for opinions, ideas or lessons learned from my fellow forum users. Have I missed an option?


Cheers all and TIA,
Harrald

 

[Amethyst]

Have not traveled with such an old cat. I agree that just as with a very old person, long-distance travel is going to stress him - you have to balance that against not being able to take him at all.

I did learn a lesson about traveling with cats when I was a teen. My parents and I moved from NJ to FL with two cats. One was 10 years old, the other about 6. My dad did all the driving. But being in his 60's, he divided the 1250-mile trip into 3 days. Mom and I babied the cats in their carriers, and in the hotel room, so all was well as far as litter behavior. But we had a bad scare when we had to leave the cats in the car while we stopped for lunch. The poor things refused to drink from the water dishes I put in their carriers, and got dehydrated far quicker than we expected. We came back to find them lying listlessly in their carriers, panting with their tongues hanging out.

After running the AC like mad in the car and coaxing the cats to lap water from my hand, they did revive, but we were so scared that for the next 2 days, we only grabbed fast food for lunch and brought it back to the car to eat.

I think in your case, I would drive, but divide the trip into 2 nights. Somebody needs to baby the old fellow in the car and in the hotel, and I mean baby, even if it means letting him lick water and food off your fingers or his own paws. I think he will benefit from being fussed over. Old people seem to.

 

[RunningBum]

I would do it over two days as well. 18 hours in a car sounds like a long day, pushing your own limits, and I don't think the cats would do well in a carrier for that long. Could you get some kind of a cage for the hotel room, where they have some room to move around while you sleep or otherwise can't keep a close eye on them? Put towels or some of those absorbing pads underneath the whole cage area to keep from damaging the room's carpet. Or would they stay inside a closed bathroom?

 

[38Chevy454]

Get a large enough carrier that you can put one of the disposable litter boxes inside the carrier. We've traveled numerous trips moving or extended RV trips and the bigger carrier works great.
The carrier we have is metal and I added a shelf, so the litter box is on the bottom, and the cats sleep on the shelf.

 

[Aerides]

I would do it over two days as well. 18 hours in a car sounds like a long day, pushing your own limits, and I don't think the cats would do well in a carrier for that long. Could you get some kind of a cage for the hotel room, where they have some room to move around while you sleep or otherwise can't keep a close eye on them? Put towels or some of those absorbing pads underneath the whole cage area to keep from damaging the room's carpet. Or would they stay inside a closed bathroom?

I think this last part in particular is a great idea. One (quick) night stopover. Stay in the room with the cat - get room service or delivery. Don't leave the cat alone in the hotel room.

The smaller bathroom is less intimidating than a whole new room and less chance you have to fight him out from under the bed in the morning, and far easier to clean up any accident.

When you get to your new home, same thing - let him stay in the smallest room at first rather than the whole house.

 

[Harrald]

All good advice. We're ordering two large soft sided cat crates for the drive. They'll have littler box and a place for water built in. Our furry family have no claws so the soft side shouldn't be an issue. They will strap onto the back seat so if anything happened, they'll be as safe as was are. I've thought about keeping them in the bathroom overnight and it seems to be the best option. Our only problem is howling. The older cat HOWLS. he howls after he eats, goes potty, wakes up from a nap, is locked out of a room or whenever he feels like howling. Like I said...he's a cranky old cat.



We'll probably split the trip into 2 days. with a one night hotel stay.

@Amethyst

That is the same trip we'll be making. Northern NJ to north central Florida. A pair of 9 hour days will be pretty easy. I still make a bi-monthly 6 hour round trip drive (3 hour drive, a 15 minute stop and then head back). I feel bad for the cats. It's like flying with a baby or a young toddler. They won't understand and it will seem like hell to them.


Cheers all,
Harrald


*edited for spelling*

 

[oldphd]

As luck would have it, we (OK, DW and her cousin) just did this a few months ago. Cat was just over 17 at the time. Indoor cat that had only been in a carrier for 5 minutes to the vet a handful of times. On the advice of our vet, here's what we did.

No meds. Vet didn't like that idea, and also wasn't strong on flying. Bought a larger than normal carrier (nicer, sturdy, airline qualified, wasn't really that expensive), put in a blanket and a throwaway litter box. There is a little feed/water dish that clamps on to the door of the carrier. Also added zip tie to ensure door didn't inadvertently open.

Drive was about 20 hours. I was already making multiple trips for other reasons, so this one fell to DW. She is not able to drive for an extended period, so one of her cousins went along and they shared the drive. Spent the night at a pet friendly (for a fee!) hotel. Booked a 2 BR suite so DW and cat wouldn't disturb cousin over night. That was an expensive hotel night. Cat stayed in carrier for the entire trip, concern that if she got out of the carrier she'd hide somewhere in the room and it would be tough to get her back in.

She howled for the first hour or two, then settled down. Wasn't happy, but settled in. DW talked to her on a regular basis to try to keep her calm. Total time in carrier was about 36 hours. I had a room ready for her at destination. She started to explore as soon as out, we introduced her to additional parts of the house gradually.

All in all, it went better than expected. Worst part was that initial time howling, and I guess there were a couple of other minor complaints, but she slept, ate, drank, peed, and pooped. All the signs of life. No lasting harm, she is still doing fine in the new place.

Good luck!

 

[Harrald]

Pet carrier

You wouldn't happen to have a link to what you used, would you?

<<SNIP>> Bought a larger than normal carrier (nicer, sturdy, airline qualified, wasn't really that expensive), <<SNIP>>

Cheers,
Harrald

 

[misshathaway]

I paid someone who does it for a living to drive the cat from MA to Florida. The cat is 15 and I was really worried about how she'd do.

The driver brought a friend so one person could always stay in the van while the other went to get food. She also runs a boarding facility so she brought a large cage with the litter box and blanket inside. They did the trip in 3 days and stayed at pet-friendly motels. This is not a cheap option but I really did not want to drive, never mind with a wailing cat i the car.

According to the driver my cat, and every other cat she has driven, yowl for about an hour, give up, and mostly sleep through the trip. The vet had given me sedatives for the cat but the driver said they were not necessary and would not use them, probably for liability reasons.

The cat was treated well and was fine. As a matter of fact when the driver took her out of her carrier in my apartment the cat went to the driver for reassurance. Then she went about exploring the very small space and that was it for adjustment. I was shocked.

 

[mpeirce]

According to the driver my cat, and every other cat she has driven, yowl for about an hour, give up, and mostly sleep through the trip.

When we drove from California to Ohio with a cat, a dog, and a 5 year old it was "fun".

As to the cat, it meowed the entire first day, but after that settled down and was fine. The cat was free to roam in the minivan (as was the dog and child!) and found a nice spot to hunker down in for most of the trip.

 

[euro]

I paid someone who does it for a living to drive the cat from MA to Florida. The cat is 15 and I was really worried about how she'd do.

The driver brought a friend so one person could always stay in the van while the other went to get food. She also runs a boarding facility so she brought a large cage with the litter box and blanket inside. They did the trip in 3 days and stayed at pet-friendly motels. This is not a cheap option but I really did not want to drive, never mind with a wailing cat i the car.

According to the driver my cat, and every other cat she has driven, yowl for about an hour, give up, and mostly sleep through the trip. The vet had given me sedatives for the cat but the driver said they were not necessary and would not use them, probably for liability reasons.

The cat was treated well and was fine. As a matter of fact when the driver took her out of her carrier in my apartment the cat went to the driver for reassurance. Then she went about exploring the very small space and that was it for adjustment. I was shocked.

I'm curious as to what the ballpark price was for this service. Would you be willing to share rough number? Also, I assume they transported other goods as well, so not the entire 2 person 2-way trip just for the cat, right?
I'm interested because we have been debating how to move a (6yo) cat from South Texas to mid-Atlantic (22h pure driving time)

 

[misshathaway]

I'm curious as to what the ballpark price was for this service. Would you be willing to share rough number? Also, I assume they transported other goods as well, so not the entire 2 person 2-way trip just for the cat, right?
I'm interested because we have been debating how to move a (6yo) cat from South Texas to mid-Atlantic (22h pure driving time)

OK, I admit that it sounds crazy, but I had 2 different drivers. One for the stuff and another for the cat. The stuff driver volunteered to take the cat but there would be no room for a carrier and he described himself as a dog person. I was afraid she would escape the car. So I hired a cat driver too. I guess this was my version of "blow that dough".

The initial quote for the cat driver was $1950. Then the hurricane was going to hit Orlando the day she was supposed to deliver the cat so she ended up going to her facility in Georgia. Then she had family and scheduling issues and I ended up footing another $500 in boarding fees. Plus I really was not sure if she was just extorting me or if something had happened to the cat so it was very stressful.

They have commercial services for about the same fee. I would NOT go with a one person operation again, even though it worked out OK for me. I almost used Precious Pets and they were very nice about refunding the deposit. With them you have to schedule when they have a trip going by you - in my case they only ran once a month.

 

[Big_Hitter]

so this may be overkill but it is how we handled an 1800 mile move with 3 cats, one elderly:

we put each in a collapsible dog cage each with a litter box, water and food
when we stopped for the day we took each cage out into the hotel room
repeat and reload

now I did buy a van for the move since they are difficult to rent but maybe you could rent one?

 

[Gumby]

We have spent the last 36 years transporting three different generations of cats all over the country. Out longest trip was from Connecticut to Dallas, Texas with a 9 year old cat. That was a 3 day trip. And every summer for 20 years, we have taken two cats from Connecticut up to Maine and back after two weeks. That is a five to six hour trip each way. We're on the second generation of cats who have done that trip. The first generation were 16 years old the last year of their going to Maine.

Here's what we have learned.

1. It varies by cat, but as misshathaway and mpierce noted above, after an initial period of complaining, the cats generally give up and go to sleep.

2. We have a regular cat carrier for each cat. It is big enough for them to stand up, but not big enough to put a litter box or food in it. Cats really can go without eating, drinking or using the litter box for longer than you would think. Certainly five to six hours has not been a problem. In fact, they almost always spend that much time sleeping at home in the middle of the day. Additionally, I think they are comforted by a smaller space. You can always bring a little package of kitty snacks to give them when you make a rest stop and they wake up.

3. We put a folded towel in the bottom of the carrier for them to lay on comfortably. We put Feliway cat pheremone spray (~$13 on Amazon) on the towel before we put in in the box. It is what they provide at our vet's office to calm the cats while they are in the waiting room.

4. Then we put the carriers face to face in the back seat so they can see each other, and we can talk to them if necessary. We put another towel over the top of each carrier, also spayed with the Feliway. It screens out what otherwise could be discomforting sights of the world going by. Dogs may like to watch, but in my experience cats don't. We also keep the radio on; they are accustomed to it at home and it muffles the sounds of trucks going by.

5. We bring their own litter box from home in a black garbage bag. We first clean the lumps out of the litter as we do at home every day, but, importantly, we leave the same litter in it. That is so when you get to a hotel for the night (or, for us, our summer house in Maine), they immediately recognize their litter box from home and head for it. If you stop in a hotel, put the litter box in the bathroom, and as soon as you get it in, show it to them.

6. If we stop for a bathroom break, we always crack the windows, but we leave the cats in their carriers.

7. Make sure your hotel is cat friendly before you get there. We got kicked out of hotel in Ohio once.

8. Bring them into the hotel in the carrier and let them out close to the litter box. Leave the carrier set up on the floor with the door open and the Feliway scented towel on top. Unless they prefer sleeping in bed with you, they will probably want to sleep in their carrier.


P.S. - make sure you use the seat belt to secure the carrier in the back seat, so they don't get thrown around in a sudden stop or collision.

 

[Amethyst]

Great advice. Not all cats settle down, though. My personal experience with unhappy, relentless meowers is that they are comforted by having the hand or finger of one of their humans near the carrier mesh where they can see/smell it. Of course this only works if there is a human passenger.

We have spent the last 36 years transporting three different generations of cats all over the country. Out longest trip was from Connecticut to Dallas, Texas with a 9 year old cat. That was a 3 day trip. And every summer for 20 years, we have taken two cats from Connecticut up to Maine and back after two weeks. That is a five to six hour trip each way. We're on the second generation of cats who have done that trip. The first generation were 16 years old the last year of their going to Maine.

Here's what we have learned.

1. It varies by cat, but as misshathaway and mpierce noted above, after an initial period of complaining, the cats generally give up and go to sleep.

2. We have a regular cat carrier for each cat. It is big enough for them to stand up, but not big enough to put a litter box or food in it. Cats really can go without eating, drinking or using the litter box for longer than you would think. Certainly five to six hours has not been a problem. In fact, they almost always spend that much time sleeping at home in the middle of the day. Additionally, I think they are comforted by a smaller space. You can always bring a little package of kitty snacks to give them when you make a rest stop and they wake up.

3. We put a folded towel in the bottom of the carrier for them to lay on comfortably. We put Feliway cat pheremone spray (~$13 on Amazon) on the towel before we put in in the box. It is what they provide at our vet's office to calm the cats while they are in the waiting room.

4. Then we put the carriers face to face in the back seat so they can see each other, and we can talk to them if necessary. We put another towel over the top of each carrier, also spayed with the Feliway. It screens out what otherwise could be discomforting sights of the world going by. Dogs may like to watch, but in my experience cats don't. We also keep the radio on; they are accustomed to it at home and it muffles the sounds of trucks going by.

5. We bring their own litter box from home in a black garbage bag. We first clean the lumps out of the litter as we do at home every day, but, importantly, we leave the same litter in it. That is so when you get to a hotel for the night (or, for us, our summer house in Maine), they immediately recognize their litter box from home and head for it. If you stop in a hotel, put the litter box in the bathroom, and as soon as you get it in, show it to them.

6. If we stop for a bathroom break, we always crack the windows, but we leave the cats in their carriers.

7. Make sure your hotel is cat friendly before you get there. We got kicked out of hotel in Ohio once.

8. Bring them into the hotel in the carrier and let them out close to the litter box. Leave the carrier set up on the floor with the door open and the Feliway scented towel on top. Unless they prefer sleeping in bed with you, they will probably want to sleep in their carrier.

 

[Sunset]

These days, we all know, or should know that cars/vans get very HOT in just 10 minutes and a lunch/bathroom break always takes a lot longer than a person plans/thinks it will.

One solution is to take turns going to the bathroom, while the other person sits in the vehicle with the AC running.

Maybe if the drive is done in Winter in the North, then the AC won't be needed, but once in FL it certainly will.

 

[Aerides]

Having trapped and transported more than one feral cat, another solution that helps with howling/crying is to cover the carrier. Especially in that bathroom at night to avoid other guests complaining. If they have can't see out, they tend to calm down a lot more quickly. Cats feel secure in small enclosed spaces. Since you'll have a larger carrier, cover it with towels or extra sheets and that might help.

 

[Mmm Rrr]

You've gotten good advice here. I did a move with an 18 year old cat, a 10 year old cat, and an 8 year old husky with an overnight stay. It went better than I expected. On my vet's advice I didn't drug any of them.

Be sure you have a packet of cat-friendly wipes with you. There will probably be urine and vomit!

 

[TrvlBug]

If you are going with a transport service, I would ONLY do it with a 2 person crew. About 2 weeks ago there was news coverage of such a 1 man service that had their van with a dozen or so dogs stolen while she was in her hotel room catching some Zzzzs. Last I heard, not all dogs have been recovered. SF Bay area.

 

[socca]

This thread brought back the memory of my trek across the frozen wastes of the upper Midwest with a youngish semi-feral cat in a cat carrier in the back of a poorly heated panel van. The cat whined throughout the entire 8-hour trip - who wouldn't? I was relocating the cat to its new home (with one of my relatives) before I relocated to Europe. I never did get the cat back, which was something of a surprise because my relative previously had never liked cats. Humans, like cats, can sometimes surprise you.

The two-day plan sounds like it would be easier on the humans and easier on the cat. Good luck!

 

[oldphd]

You wouldn't happen to have a link to what you used, would you?

Cheers,
Harrald

Hi Harrald,

Sorry for the delay, but been traveling since yesterday afternoon. Here are the links. Yes, we BTD to a degree, but wanted her happy as possible. We had two real cheapo plastic carriers for going to the vet from when her sister was still with us. And were down to one that was pieced together from those two. Busted door hinge, busted clips holding top and bottom together, etc. We were NOT comfortable using it, which is why we upgraded. This carrier is very sturdy, adding the airline qualified bolt/nuts was overkill, but I did it any way. And in the big scheme of the move, this was a small dent in the budget.

Oldphd

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QSJ9X64/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AAPGA2W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087Y5OOS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0733DCZQL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073FH18XX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[pjm-7]

Definitely get the Feliway. It is calming without being a drug. Use a towel, rug or whatever they sleep on to place in the carrier. It is their scent and it helps them feel secure.

 

[calmloki]

Good suggestions here. Another is to have the carrier in your house with the door open for a few days before the trip. Gives cat time to get accustomed to it. We just did ten days in Guatemala and our cat knew something was up - she's gone north and south from SoCal to Oregon with us several times now and while not a big fan of travel does want to share.

 

[ckelly78z]

Flying for an animal is so much more than just the time involved. Imagine being taken away from your home, placed in a cage, handled by strange people in uniform, stuffed in a cargo hold in a loud jet, and jostled around for a whole day.

The ideal thing is to make it easy on yourselves, and the cats by driving 1/2 way each day, and resting quietly for the night. You could still interact with your cats in the car, but they will be completely abandoned in the hold of a jet.

 

[misshathaway]

Definitely get the Feliway. It is calming without being a drug.

Another thumbs up for Fellway. I had to bring the cat to the vet for a health certificate before any driving service would take her. The few vet visits she has had have been very traumatic. This new vet had the Fellway in the exam room. When I opened the carrier she just stepped out and walked directly toward the vet and assistant, rubbed against them to say hi, then started walking around the exam room. She let the vet examine her no problem.