Dealing w/ Cat anxiety during a move

[dottyblue]

Suggestions on keeping my sweet boy sane during our upcoming move?  (300 miles)  He hates the car and his carrier; we have a 5.5-6 hour car ride to deal with on top of the stress of a new home. 

We may also have 24-48 hours at my parents' house (unfamiliar territory and 2 large dogs) depending on how long the moving truck takes to arrive.  He would be isolated to a single room and the dogs kept out, but he'll still smell them.

I plan on doing a calming collar and rescue remedy on some treats.

Is there anything else I can do?  Should I consider calling the vet for meds?

[mich1]

I drove 1500 miles with a cat who hated the car with a passion. The first leg of my trip, I tried to sedate him with a drug that the vet gave me. Only problem was that it sounded like he had a drunken howl rather than a pissed off howl, which was waaaay more pathetic (and annoying).

I chose not to sedate him for the rest of the trip, and after a couple hours I would get an occasional howl out of the carrier to remind me that he was there but he pretty much behaved himself.

It's not going to be easy for him, the only thing I can think of is to make sure he has his favorite food/blankets/treats/toys in the carrier with him, that he is chipped and has a collar on with your name and address in case he escapes.

[Deleted]

We have moved with our four cats from MI to NC, and then back to MI. It's about 12 hours and 700 miles each way.

Both times we picked up their food and water at midnight, then hit the road around 7am. We figured this way they hopefully won't need to potty during the trip. We used Dramamine one time to sedate them, but skipped it the second time and they seemed OK.

They all hate the car, and cried a lot in the beginning. Once we got going on the highway they'd quiet down, and then cry again whenever we stopped. They never seemed happy, but they did just hunker down and sit quietly after a while.

The first few days in the new place really depend on the cat. Some want to hide; some want to explore. Just let your cat do as much as he/she wants.

Good luck!

[G22]

We've moved several times with our cats cross country (military family). For a few of the moves, I put them in one big soft sided kennel together for the trip. They seemed to like that. But we just moved last week again, and this time I had them in individual kennels, since we are flying with them this fall and I wanted them to get used to those before the plane trip.

In the past we have had to sedate one of them because he cried the whole time. But now he's used to it and neither of them needed anything this trip. They just napped during the day and would run around an explore the hotel room at night for exercise.

I also picked up food after midnight but left water down until the next morning, and offered it to them as well as a litter box as soon as we got to our stopping place for the night.

I sprayed Feliway in their kennels and left them out for a few weeks prior to leaving so they could poke around in them and try to get used to them ahead of time. I also resprayed them the day of the trip. When we get to our new place, I let them roam the house and sniff around, but pick one room to put all their things in and designate as the cat room. It becomes their safe place when they want to slink away for a bit.