Less stressful?

This will be stressful for her no matter what you do!! I think that you should take her with you....when you get there make sure that you set up an area really fast for her to kind of coward by (for lack of a better term) She will need something that she recognizes at the new place.

Once you get settled in she should be fine....lets face it, you guys will be there and I think that it would cause more stress to have her stay with other people and then be moved into a new house all in a short span of time!!

I would definitely get her used to trips in the car now, and then once you get to the new place set up a safe haven for your cat, with lots of your stuff to smell and all of her old toys from home!!

Good Luck with the move!! Hope everything works out ok!

Hmm...First, I would take her to the vet to clear her health for moving. If she handles the car ride alright, she should be fine. The cat will need to stay in a carrying case, or cage for more room in the car. You may wish to keep her with friends until you settle a little bit.

It will be stressful for the cat either way, offer her what she likes and do what YOU think is right. You know the cat.

You might want to contact the vet and get a sedative for the cat. My husband and I take our cat with us wherever we go and he gets very upset. The vet prescribed a valium like pill that we give him a 1/4 of. It sedates him for a while and he can just relax. I don't think trying to acclimate her to the car with work. Cats are not like dogs. They don't like the movement, it makes them very sick. She will not adapt to the car ride no matter how many times you take her. I would say the best bet is to get meds.

Talk to your vet. You may be able to give your cat a small amount of tranqualizers, if you are going to drive that far. Maybe you could have her flown to your new location too. Whatever you do, if you drive her~do not let her loose in the car.~they freak out, and will bolt in a second. Try to drive her around a little bit everyday and see how she does.

Well, I was faced with a similar dilemma when my husband and I decided to move from Buffalo, NY to LA. We had planned to drive, but it became increasingly impossible to find enough pet friendly hotels along the way to where I would be comfortable.

Both our cats have always loved the car, and we had a litter box in the back for them and everything. They were never crated and usually just sat on the seat and looked out the window.

So faced with gas prices and hotel unavailability, we decided to leave the car and fly with them. Wow, we saved so much money on this it was ridiculous, and they slept through the whole 8 hours. The vibration of the plane knocked them right out.

If you are content on driving, my best advice is to get her used to being in the car, preferably out of a crate, just on a leash. Have a litter box available to her and some toys/water/etc. If you're worried about being crammed in a car with a cat for a week, would it be possible for you to rent an RV and tow your car behind it? That way your baby can have a bit of room to roam and the drive won't be so stressful to her.

My husband and I also entertained the idea of getting a big tent and stopping at campgrounds along the way, so we could all stretch out and relax a bit. But, we left at the beginning of winter, so there weren't any campgrounds even open in the northeast (another vote for flying).

I'm with you though, I couldn't leave my two little ones for anything and having them as my carry ons for the flight was wonderful for all of us. If you think the drive might be too much for her, would you be able to fly with her and have your husband make the drive with a friend (offer to pay for the return flight for the friend)? I don't know about you, but I'd rather have my cats with me than my hubby. I know my hubby is able to manage by himself if needed, but I can't let the cats out of my sight for more than a few hours.

I would NOT recommend leaving her with someone else while you go. A cross country move is stressing enough and if you're anything like me, you will drive yourself insane worrying about her. It's not worth it, trust me. My husband and I have to travel back to Buffalo 2 times in 2 months next year and we've already made plans for the cats to come with us. I don't even want to think about what could happen if I left them with a boarder or sitter. Especially since I have no way of being able to guarantee that they are being cared for as well as we would care for them and would NEVER be able to forgive myself if something happened.

To give you an idea of how obsessed we are with our cats, we were originally going to Hawaii, until I found out about their quarantine policy. And while my cats had all their shots and documents, there was a clause that stated that it was up to the quarantine official to decide if a quarantine was still warranted. Basically, I had no guarantee that my cats weren't going to go into quarantine, regardless of how much proof I had that they were fine. I wouldn't take that chance, so we ended up in LA.

Please write me if you have any questions or need any further suggestions. I wrote about flying with the cats as an answer to another question on here, so here is the link in case you can consider flying as an option.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApfFI...

Best of Luck to All of You!!!!

P.S. Just read your additional details, and I'm fairly certain that she won't give a hoot about being alone again, she's going to have way to much other stuff going on that's going to be stressing enough for her and she probably won't even think about it. She's going to rely on you and your husband for security and companionship until everyone's all settled and comfy. Then maybe you can take her to the animal shelter with you and let her pick out a new friend if you think she might be lonely.

You can help the stress by spraying Feliway in her carrier and giving her Recue Remedy when she's really stressed.