Advice for traveling with cats

[lucky428]

I have two cats, an 8 year old girl who is 7.5 lbs and a 7 year old boy who is 22 lbs (we are working on that)

We are moving from Portland, OR to St Paul, MN and we are stressing over how to get our cats there.

We want to take them as carry ons.  It's $125/cat so not too bad.  Our biggest concern is getting them through security.  You have to get them out of the carrier and walk through the scanner while the bag goes through the x-ray.  My concern is that my boy will freak.  In order to get him IN the carrier, we will have to have him wrapped in a towel so I think that will help in subduing him. Also, we have two adults to help get the cats through.  We aren't too worried about my girl cat.  We will take a while to get through security and probably piss people off but I don't care. 

Checking them is not an option.

My MIL suggested that DH brings one of the cats when he goes this month.  He starts work this month, our son and i will follow in May.  But I think that would really stress my cats out.  They are best friends.

Then the other option is a two day drive.  Cons are obvious.  But they can stay in one crate together.

And what about drugging?  We won't drug my girl cat.  But I'm open to it for the boy if it will keep him from panicking.

Help.  We are so stressed about this.

[katietornado]

You should never sedate an animal while flying; it can reduce its respiratory rate and be very dangerous at altitude.

We have moved from coast to coast twice with our three cats. We have a Jetta wagon, and we bought a pet barrier that we put up between the back seat and the trunk. We got a bunch of bungee cords and strapped down a litter box and two cat carriers sans doors. We got a spillproof water bowl and some kibble and that was that. It was way less stressful than flying, and the cats did great. We stayed at pet-friendly hotels at night (we took 4 or 5 days to travel each time). The only potentially stressful thing was getting them in and out of the trunk each day.

It sounds like you were not planning on driving, so I assume you were going to ship your car(s)? If that's the case, rent a van or a wagon and bring the cats along with you.

We were facing an international move a few years ago and the thought of flying our pets was giving me nightmares. Driving is much safer and easier!

Here's a pic of our setup from the trip to California in 2007. You can see Petey and Alice snuggled together in that carrier.

[sugarglider]

I moved from OH to CA this past summer and drove. In a sedan. With my mother, practically all my worldly belongings, and my two cats. I placed them in two adjacent hard carriers so they could see each other but not bother each other (the boy can be a bully at times).

Because my cats, particularly my girl, don't like the car, I bought Feli-way spray and sprayed the inside of their carriers each day before the drive. I bought harnesses and leads, too, and had them wear the harnesses on the ride so that I could easily leash them if they got upset and wanted to get out. My girl cat started crying pretty dramatically early during the first day, so I pulled over at a rest stop and took her out. She clung to me, though, and was eager to get back to her carrier, lol. My boy cat was a good backseat driver and would meow whenever I had a car in my blind spot. Overall, though, they were really good on the drive.

AAA lists hotels that are pet-friendly. Though not the greatest litter, you can purchase disposable litter boxes at big box stores. Feed them at night, and take away their water before bed to avoid accidents the next morning.

I agree that you should drive with the cats. Talk with your vet about feli-way. My vet in OH recommended it, but the advice might vary by cat. S/he may have samples if you want to test it on a drive around the neighborhood. Don't sedate though--the risks aren't worth it.

[lucky428]

katietornado thank you so much for letting me know!  I had no idea about the dangers of drugging them on planes.  I'm not crazy about drugging them anyway but now this solidifies that decision.  Your kitty is so beautiful.

sugarglider this is probably a stupid question but why did you spray it in the container?

[sugarglider]

Mar 18, 2014 20:54:32 GMT -5 lucky428 said:

sugarglider this is probably a stupid question but why did you spray it in the container?

Because that's how it works. It's a synthetic pheromone, and the scent is comforting. In your home, you can use a diffuser, but for travel, you need the spray. You're not supposed to spray it on the cat, you just want the smell of their environment during transport to be calming.

[lucky428]

Mar 18, 2014 21:58:03 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Mar 18, 2014 20:54:32 GMT -5 lucky428 said:

sugarglider this is probably a stupid question but why did you spray it in the container?

Because that's how it works. It's a synthetic pheromone, and the scent is comforting. In your home, you can use a diffuser, but for travel, you need the spray. You're not supposed to spray it on the cat, you just want the smell of their environment during transport to be calming.

Thank you!!  I will definitely pick some up!

[msmerymac]

Super late to this, but I flew across the country with my cats. One of my cats had medical issues and it seemed better to kind of knock it out in 9 hours than deal with a 5 day car trip (including staying 36 hours with my husband's aunt and uncle in Iowa).

My husband and his BIL drove our stuff/car across the country. My friend and I flew with the cats and met them the day after the arrived. I used rescue remedy in their water, and they were pretty good the whole time.

I bought cat (or x-small dog sized) harnesses and leashes. I clipped the leash on both before taking them out of the carriers at security, and took them out right before we walked through. Of course, the security guy HAD to be an asshole and claimed the metal in the leashes would set off the alarm (the leashes were something like $8 each - I'm sure I had more metal in my necklace) so they took us to a private room. We took the cats out and they ran the crates through the scanner. It was actually much more calm than taking them out in the security line.

You have to get the smallest sized, soft-sided crate, though, and a 22 pound cat might be a really tight fit.

My boy cat (with the medical problems) was totally fine. I tried giving him water, but he wasn't having it. Still, he was calm the whole time and adjusted well at the new place. His sister, who I hadn't been worried about at all, both peed and threw up over the course of the day. She also hid behind the couch off and on for about 10 days. I lined the crates with towels AND a puppy pad to keep them clean.

Whatever you choose, good luck!