Drugging Cats for Travel

[aprilsails]

Hello,

Two years ago today we inherited my brothers cats when he dropped them off for the weekend.  Long story short, they are ours now but have never been in a car since that day.  They are healthy 6 year olds and they had all of their shots, etc years ago and they are now happy plump house cats.

DH and I are going to my Mom's cottage for a week this summer.  Her cottage is set up for her own cats (they won't be there) and we wanted to bring ours up for the week so no one would have to drop in and take care of them while we're gone.  My brother warned me this past weekend that I would have to go to the vets and drug them or they wouldn't make it through the ride.  Every time they've ever been in a car it has been for a permanent move and he said they find it too stressful.  It's also a 2 hour drive. 

Do any of you have experience doing this?  I've dealt with both good and bad animal travelers, however these guys are huge tabbies (I mean muscular as all get out) and he has a valid point that they might hurt themselves in a carrier.

[mala]

I think they'd probably be ok for 2 hours. Can you take them for a test drive and see how they do? You can also train them for the car. Put them in the carrier every day for 5minutes for a week. Then put them in the car in their carriers for a few minutes a day for a week, then start going on short drives. Also, make sure your carrier(s) is(are) big enough for your cats. If they're large cats they're going to need large carriers. If they're likely to throw themselves at the sides of the carrier then you might try a soft sided carrier. If all else fails get some valium from the vet but drugging them should really be your last resort. In fact, if you have to drug them I think it would really be better for them to stay at home. It's only a week.

When hurricane Sandy rolled through the east coast, we evacuated to my SIL's place. It was me, alone, with a 6month old baby, our giant dog, and two cats on a 5 hour drive through the mountains. The cats, which are house cats like yours and are almost never in a car, were just fine.

[aprilsails]

Do you think the two of them would be better off in one large carrier together or in separate carriers? I was definitely going to pick up the soft sided type. Training them is a good idea since I have a couple of months. I'll give it a go.

[mrssavy42112]

Considering that you haven't actually traveled with them & are just going off the word of someone else, I'd try them in 2 separate crates, sitting next to each other. If they're chaotic, then I'd try 1 larger with both in them. For my cats, I feel that would make them worse. But it might be better for yours?

[charlatti]

You could try that Feliway pheromone spray during your training trips. I'm not convinced if it really works, but we used the plugins when we were moving and packing, which really stressed out my cat, and it seemed to help.

[aprilsails]

I can borrow my MIL's carriers to see if separate ones will work. They are hard cases though. I'm not sure feliway will work with them. I've never tried it. They are generally really laid back but my brother's eyes went huge when I said we were going to move them.

[Deleted]

It might be totally different in cats, but I gave my dog some of the herbal travel anxiety remedies and it made her crazier and more anxious. If you end up giving your cats something definitely try it out before you go.

[spindle92]

I use to travel quite a bit with my cats in the car (5 hours each way) and I ended up buying something similar to this so they cold both be in the same carrier together and they did wonderful. I think the fact that they were together and could snuggle up with each other, as they normally do at home helped a lot.

www.petco.com/product/112744/Pet-Gear-Travel-Lite-Soft-Crate.aspx

[Deleted]

I flew with my two kitties and knew we'd be traveling for 8+ hours. I did a trial run three days before so I'd be sure to have the dosing correct. It worked out perfectly!

[aprilsails]

Well I got to take one of them out in the carrier for a couple of runs to the vet. He just yells the whole time... yikes. 30 minutes straight each way. Poor baby. I mentioned it to the vet and they suggested trying not to sedate them but putting them in the same case.

Our other option is possibly putting them in their harnesses and keeping them loose in the car. The harnesses have a strong sedative effect on the cats. They just stop moving so that may be the way to go.

[Deleted]

They sell calming treats at any pet store...I use them on my cats 4th of July or during big thunder storms...they don't make them sleep, just clam....can't hurt..try it.