Long Trips With Cats
Doug Andersen
trip in a moving truck. I have two cats and would like to hear other's
experiences/tips on this subject.
I've read the FAQ but wonder if anyone would like to elaborate on those
comments. Our cats are so active (although they are inside cats) that I
have the feeling they will go crazy during the move.
Thanks in advance.
--
Doug Andersen
ha...@Sugar.NeoSoft.com
Bill Stewart +1-908-949-0705
I'm planning on moving in the near future, and it will require a 6 day
trip in a moving truck. I have two cats and would like to hear other's
experiences/tips on this subject.
I've read the FAQ but wonder if anyone would like to elaborate on those
comments. Our cats are so active (although they are inside cats) that I
have the feeling they will go crazy during the move.
Every cat is different. I've moved cross-country twice, each time with a cat.
(Next time will probably be with two cats and a bunny.) Blackberry didn't
like travelling, and would either sit on the seat back and yowl in my ear
(for about an hour) or hide under something, or just sit on top of
everything and pant when it was hot. Tranquilizers didn't help any; tuna did.
Jenny was a kitten, was mostly bored, would sleep under the seat where
she could hear the car purring, or sleep on one of the people's laps.
Thumper, the current kitten, seems to actively like driving, as long
as he can wander around the car instead of being caged.
--
# Pray for peace; Bill
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Keith P. Keber
in the car, even for a short distance, they behave like we're torturing them.
The smaller one hunkers down like he's under attack in a foxhole, and the other
one yowls, pants and poops. This animal is truly frightened, as evidenced by
his watery, foul-smelling discharge.
It got so bad that the vet (9.1 miles, 31 feet, 4.5 inches from home) gave us
some tranquilizers and trained us to administer them before we left. What a
trial!
Keith
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Keith P. Keber <Kee...@skipper.cityconnect.com> wrote:
>Well, each cat is its own personality, but whenever we take our cats anywhere
>in the car, even for a short distance, they behave like we're torturing them.
>The smaller one hunkers down like he's under attack in a foxhole, and the other
>one yowls, pants and poops. This animal is truly frightened, as evidenced by
>his watery, foul-smelling discharge.
I had to take Kato to the vet a couple of months ago, so we put her in a
cardboard carrier. She howled and whined and cried the whole way. I'd
never heard her so upset. So then on the way back my human companion and I
decided that he'd try holding her while I drove. We were stunned! She
was an absolute angel, not a peep out of her, and she seemed to be even
enjoying hanging out and watching the scenery go by. She just sat curled
up on his lap, hanging out as happily as if we were at home.
With my previous cat Lestat (who I drove on a nerve-shattering ride in
a 14-foot U-haul on Highway 1 from Santa Cruz to San Francisco [about 80
miles!]) I found that his incessant and panicked howling quieted a little
when he was able to peek out the windows.
Assuming you have been taking them in a carrier up until now, it might be
worth a shot.
-Leslie and Kato
John Vinson x7209
> In article <1993Aug18.0...@skipper.cityconnect.com>,
> Keith P. Keber <Kee...@skipper.cityconnect.com> wrote:
>>Well, each cat is its own personality, but whenever we take our cats anywhere
>>in the car, even for a short distance, they behave like we're torturing them.
>
> cardboard carrier. She howled and whined and cried the whole way. I'd
> never heard her so upset. So then on the way back my human companion and I
> decided that he'd try holding her while I drove. We were stunned! She
> was an absolute angel, not a peep out of her, and she seemed to be even
> enjoying hanging out and watching the scenery go by. She just sat curled
> up on his lap, hanging out as happily as if we were at home.
>
> With my previous cat Lestat (who I drove on a nerve-shattering ride in
> a 14-foot U-haul on Highway 1 from Santa Cruz to San Francisco [about 80
> miles!]) I found that his incessant and panicked howling quieted a little
> when he was able to peek out the windows.
>
> Assuming you have been taking them in a carrier up until now, it might be
> worth a shot.
>
My wife brought our Muffin from Crystal Falls, MI to Stockbridge, MI last
summer - a ten-hour trip. Muffin was very uncomfortable in the cat carrier:
meowing piteously, putting her paw out through the bars for a touch...
Karen let her out into the car at a stop to see if she would be a bit less
distraught seeing what was going on. It was *much*worse*: she seemed to be
really frightened of the scenery rushing by, and especially of other cars,
oncoming or passing. Karen had to pull off at the next stop and put her
back in the carrier. :-(
Now we have to figure out how to get her from Michigan to Idaho with her
sanity intact... :-{ I'm taking her for increasingly long rides in the
car right before she gets fed to *try* to desensitize her but it seems to
be having little effect. We're now thinking of finding the most direct
air route possible, sedating her, and shipping her expedited air freight
(or maybe first class: they serve salmon, don't they?) :-)
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Dave Ratcliffe
- a 14-foot U-haul on Highway 1 from Santa Cruz to San Francisco [about 80
- miles!]) I found that his incessant and panicked howling quieted a little
- when he was able to peek out the windows.
-
- Assuming you have been taking them in a carrier up until now, it might be
- worth a shot.
I know when we took T'pring to the vets in her carrier she REALLY raised
a ruckus. Yowling (and a siam can reaaaaaaly yowl) loudly and often.
When my wife decided to leave the carrier at home and just carry her in
her arms to and from her neutering appointment she still howled but a
LOT less and spent quite an amount of time just looking around. I think
they get hinky if everything is shaking around and they can't see much.
If they can see motion out the windows it may make them feel better.
Just a guess.
Dave "relax kids, I'm just putting the carrier in the closet" Ratcliffe
--
Pyewacket - T'pring - Dave Ratcliffe vogon1!frackit!da...@psuvax1.psu.edu
<DSH> <Lynx Pt.> <Human>
Gary Koerzendorfer
> never heard her so upset. So then on the way back my human companion and I
> decided that he'd try holding her while I drove. We were stunned! She
> was an absolute angel, not a peep out of her, and she seemed to be even
> enjoying hanging out and watching the scenery go by. She just sat curled
> up on his lap, hanging out as happily as if we were at home.
I tried this, letting Rica out of her carrier on the way back from the
Vet. She ended up on the back seat- I never imagined that one cat could
have held so much dirrahea. Fortunately, the car had vinyl seats. That
was the end of that experiment.
A friend of mine takes her cats fairly regularly on short car trips, such
as to the store. They take to trips much better than mine, who only rides
in the car to visit the man with the thermometer.
Gary