Question for cat owners... traveling with cats?

several choices for you

leave the cats at home, with a neighbour coming to feed them

book the cats into a cattery

these are the easiest options!

to take the cats with you, each should be in a cat basket.

if the car is big enough, lock all the doors and windows, put the litter tray on the floor and let them roam the car for a few mins. give them water and a little food.

my cat will walk on a small dog harness, you could try this with yours. try at home first!

if you see your vet and explain you are travelling, he might give you a sedative for a long trip. as the cats will be sleepy, they wont be eating and drinking, so nothing will come out the tail end.

When I was showing Abyssinians, I had crates large enough to give ample room for the cat and a small litter tray in the back of the crate. I put a towel and a toy in as well as water on long trips. I did not usually offer food unless we were driving straight through. Most crates come with a food/water cup that clips on the door. Ten hours is long enough that you could if you want to, or just feed them as soon as you arrive. I always stopped when one of them was stinky, put the cat into another crate and scooped the poop. Be sure your doors are closed before moving the cat around - you don't want an escape artist in a strange place. If you want your cats to travel together, you need to have an extra large crate so they don't feel too confined. Since you have some time before the big travel date, take some short trips, like an hour or two, to see how they travel. My guys traveled from the time they were kittens, so it was no big deal for them. If you find that your guys don't travel well, you may want to ask someone to come in and take care of them while you are gone, unless there is a specific reason you are taking them. Sometimes putting a towel over the crate helps. I would not recommend tranquilizing them unless you have some experience with how they react to the tranquilizer. Years ago I moved two cats from Texas and tranq'ed them the first day, so not only did I have unhappy cats, I had unhappy, drunk cats who sang arias and duets the entire day. Good luck.

cats aren't generally happy with being in a car. They will be scared and nervous for the most part. I have 2 that pee in their kennel going just a 15 min. drive to the vet. We have also had cats in the kennel going 5 hours away and they haven't had to go until we got there. I am not sur about 10 hours though. Maybe take a litter tray with you just in case. Personally I would just get a cat sitter and leave them at home. They are independant creatures and can handle it better. Leave feed for it once or twice a day and they would be good. We have been gone for two weeks and had a cat sitter come in. Of course with 7 cats, we would not have done it any other way.

It is best to have the cat in a carrier at all times while driving and if you want to get out of the car. Cats tend panic and bolt at the first sign of trouble and you may loss the cat. There have been a few people asking this same question on yahoo answers so looking further on the site for more info on the subject is a good idea. I could give links but most people don't like using them these days.

First don't feed or give water before you start out. Have a litter pan, small amount of litter, paper towels, plastic bags and a few extra small towels for the carrier.

Most cats won't go when riding; some do - but not in the pan - in the carrier. You need to have material for a quick clean up if necessary.

I would only offer a little food/water when you stop for more then 1/2 hour (like for lunch/supper) and then let them out of the carriers to stretch and use the litter pan.

When you get to where you are going, be sure the litter pan is one of the first things set up before you let them out of the carrier.

I've travelled 6 hrs with my show cat and he will not use the pan in the car.

My husband and I just moved our two cats from VA to FL. It was two days in the car, the first day was 11 hours and the second day was six hours. Normally you wouldn't let them eat or drink anything after midnight the night before so that they won't have to use the bathroom, but since one of our cats needed some medicine to calm her down and the only way we could give it to her was in her wet food, we fed them two hours before we left and made sure they both used the litter box before we left. Once they were in the car they were of course kind of scared so they had no desire to use the bathroom at all. Animals are really good at holding it if they have to so don't worry about the bathroom situation.

Some other tips:

Make sure they are secure in their carriers, we slept with some clean towels for two nights before we left to get our scent on them then lined the carriers with those, never let the cats loose in the car

Offer your kitties water when you stop for gas or lunch but most likely they won't accept, mine didn't

Once you get to your destination, it will be less overwhelming if you keep them in one room, show them where the litter box is first thing then offer them food

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

Some large cages are big enough to have a litter box so when the cats/dogs need to "go", they can. Or u could do the messy route and clean the animals up as they go. I would stick with Plan A.

Get a decent size kennel and put a small box in there with a little bit of litter. You only need to use a little, they are very smart and get the idea. As long as they have a box with some litter in it, you will be fine. all they care is there is somewhere for them to go!! I would do the same thing with my cats. You could even go to petsmart and ask them to recommend something good size for travel for your two kitties. Plus you will need to travel with them in a kennel because it is safer for them and you.

well you have a couple of options depending on how well the cats adobt to it:

1.) you can put a harnass on them and physically walk them. this is something my cat has taken to fairly well, but i started him out very young.

2.) you can keep a small litter box in the back seat of your car in like a shoe box so they can go when they feel like it. this may not work so well, as the motion of the car might upset them.

3.) you can when you break, smuggle your cats into a private bathroom place the litter box (also a shoe box somewhere) and let them go when they are on non moving ground.

4.) you also have the option of just putting them up at the vet or a pet hotel.

5.) you can air ship them. it might be a miserable ride for them, but they will survive.

6.) of course if you are super cheap and dont like the prospect of a cat freaking out in a car you are operating you can confine them to a travel kennel that is large enough to let them move around and what not, but has all the basic necessities they would require. this would probably only fit in the back seat of like a hatch back, suv, truck... i dont think it is likely they would fit in the back seat of a four seater car.

get a kennel large enough to put in small litter box or at least a towel some cats travel easy some are frightened and may spend the week of the new surrounding frightened and hiding if you know someone they trust to come and feed them that might be a better solution for them