Anyone ever move cross country with two cats?

[Mac4life30]

I want to move and it will be a 24 hour drive... I have two cats and not sure how to take them..

 

[Simba's Mom]

We moved from the upper end of the country to the southern tip, would have taken us 4 days if we'd driven but we flew, along with our 3 cats. The biggest thing we learned, that the vet told us, is do NOT sedate them. If the airplane hits turbulence (or in your case, you make a sudden stop), the cats may not be able to brace themselves and prevent injury to themselves, so the sedation would end up doing more damage than good. Just put them under our seats on the airplane (in approved height carriers)and off we went!

 

[firefly_ris]

Not me personally but my friend moved from Chicago to LA, back to Chicago and then back to the Bay Area. She has 2 cats. She just worked several weeks ahead of time getting them used to their carriers. Then they drove, and stayed overnight in a pet-friendly hotel. They didn't use sedation or anything like that.

 

[leebee]

We moved our two cats in the back of our minivan. We purchased some heavy-duty plastic milk-crate type boxes. By creative cutting and the use of duct tape and clothesline, we managed to construct a multi-room, multi-level cat contraption, so they could sit up, move around, etc. while being "caged." There was even space in one corner for a litter box. Since we had a moving company for all our furniture and stuff, we had the space in the back of the van to do this.

 

[pearlieq]

We went from IL to FL. We decided to fly them as it was much easier than contemplating 2 days in the car with cats who HATE car rides.

Our vet gave us a small dose of Xanax for them. One took it and was pretty much a zombie till we got there. The other didn't want to take a pill and just went unmedicated. The car ride to the airport was actually the worst part of the trip. They seemed pretty interested in all the new sights & sounds at the airport and didn't seem to mind the plane trip. We bought soft carriers with expandable pop-out sides for extra room.

If you choose to fly, insist on taking the cats to a confined area for security screening. They'll need to send the carrier through the xray and the last thing you want is for the cat to wriggle free and lead you on a chase through the airport!

If you're going to drive, talk to your vet about Cerenia. It can help with nausea/anxiety/motion sickness during travel but won't knock them out. Get them the largest carriers you can and put a worn t-shirt in there to soothe them. Line the carriers with puppy pads just in case there's an accident.

 

[QueenIsabella]

When we moved 800 miles away, we flew the pets (3 cats and a dog) and used sedation. We did 2 separate trips, 2 pets each. FTR, not only does it cost $125 a pop, but the pet counts as your carry-on. It was pretty miserable for all of us, but driving would have been worse.

 

[Mac4life30]

Thanks everyone!!! I am curious when traveling in the airport.. How do you handle TSA? Flight Delays?...Waiting to board? Do you not feed them starting a day before to avoid "accidents"?

 

[QueenIsabella]

They have to be in an approved carrier, one that fits under your seat. You have to take them out of the carrier to go through security (specifically, the metal detectors). DH/older DD took the two cats, I took the other cat and the dog. On my leg, the cat's carrier broke a zipper going through security, so I was paranoid to open the other side and risk breaking the other one, so he had no water the entire time. We did take the dog out to drink and piddle--we put down a wee pad in the family bathroom. Keep in mind, I was travelling with a 12yo and a 9yo--my options were limited. They do have dog bathroom areas, but you have to go back through security to get back into the airport building, so we didn't want to do this with a broken carrier for the cat. Had it been 2 adults traveling, one of us would have taken her outside. The cat, we didn't do anything special, feeding-wise, and he didn't have any accidents.

Once we got to our gate, we let the dog out on her leash a bit. Cat stayed put (see broken carrier, above--plus, i didn't want to risk him getting away). I had to work with the gate agents--they'd put us in far apart seats on the plane. Luckily, they were very understanding and got other passengers to switch seats prior to boarding. We flew Hartford-Charlotte, then Charlotte to our final airport.

 

[sonnyjane]

Moved from Florida to Washington state with my cat which was the longest. Have also moved between WA and CA twice. Drove. Kept in the carrier. He mostly sleeps the whole time. Drove about 10 hours each day. Took a small litter box with us and stayed at pet-friendly hotels. He didn’t ever use the litter box and I’d try to feed him at rest stops but he never really ate. He didn’t love it but I didn’t need to sedate him.

 

[OneOftheB's]

If you have the room, get a small dog crate so they have room to move a bit/ use the litter box. I’ve known several people who moved across the country with their cats. It’s very doable with foresight and patience.

 

[AuntieMe3]

My in laws went from CA to South Carolina with a cat. They had her cat box in the back seat and she just sat on their laps during the drive. They had a cardboard cat box they took her in and out of when getting themselves in and out of the car(so she wouldn't run off.) They also stopped and stayed at pet friendly hotel/motels. The cat was fine because she was with her people. She was a little obsessed with them so they probably could've taken her anywhere for however long and she would've been fine.

 

[sasywtch]

We drove 1400 miles with 2 cats. We didn't use te cat carrier at first and one cat freaked, started scratching so into the carrier she went. 10 minutes later she was fine. They actually laid down in the back window for most of the ride. We took them into the motel by carrier and set up a small litter box. I had poured some kitty litter into gallon size ziplocks and used one each motel stay. For the two motel nights, I had a cardboard box (the ones used to hold 24 cans of soda). I bought some plastic garbage bags and slipped the box in and then poured the gallon ziplock full of litter on top. (I put newspapers underneath and around). In the morning I took another garbage bag, slipped the box and newspaper in and threw it in the dumpster. The ONLY problem we had was, one motel the cat went under the bed and unknown to us, there was a rip and the cat went up into the box spring.

We also bought a good collar that went under the legs so they could walk around when we stopped. Cats tend to be better at car rides then dogs as they don't need the walking and continual drinking of water.

 

[MomofKatie]

I drove from NC to PA (about 10 hours) with 3 VERY unhappy cats. They literally yelled and cried in their loudest little cat voices the entire trip. 1 stayed in her carrier the entire trip, while the other 2 escaped and were loose in the car. My big boy cat laid on the floor of the front passenger side, while my little girl roamed around, spending time in the back window, on the seats, and on my lap.

I hope never to have to do a long trip again with them. It was not fun.

 

[Pea's Mom]

Moved from Florida to Washington state with my cat which was the longest. Have also moved between WA and CA twice. Drove. Kept in the carrier. He mostly sleeps the whole time. Drove about 10 hours each day. Took a small litter box with us and stayed at pet-friendly hotels. He didn’t ever use the litter box and I’d try to feed him at rest stops but he never really ate. He didn’t love it but I didn’t need to sedate him.

We just did this a week ago. We moved from Delaware to Florida (1100 miles) with our 4 cats. I had them in the back of my car each in their own carriers. Our kitties hate to travel but settled down after a bit and slept. We stopped a couple of times the first day to let them roam the back of the car, use the litter and eat,etc. None of them really ate or used the box, 2 never left their carriers. Stopped at a pet friendly hotel overnight. The next day wasn't quite as calm. A couple of them moaned almost the entire way from SC to FL but the other 2 just slept. We thought about sedation but decided against it. We also were against traveling with them loose in the car. That isn't safe for the cats or the driver in the event something were to happen. Good Luck, I'm sure your cats will do just fine. May hold a grudge for a while but they'll survive

 

[RangerPooh]

Not acts but dogs. We moved from Maryland to WA with two large dogs. Then WA to TN with the same dogs (then much larger and older). It wa snot pleasant. Only one was crated because that's how she traveled better, as she and cars did not mix. Move one was spread over time as we had 2 preschoolers and a infant. Move two was done in two days. It's all about taking breaks, and checking in on them. Making sure they are as comfortable as possible. One of the dogs was notorious for being car sick, so that was no fun.

 

[bellebud]

I drove a van from NY to FL with my 2 dogs and 2 cats. The cats were in a large, wired dog crate with a litter box and 2 beds. The drive took about 2 days. I never removed them from the crate, I was so afraid of them running off. We (dd18 and I) slept in the van for a few hours, but if we were going to sleep in a hotel, my plan was to book one with outside doors, bring the cats in the room in cat carriers, and put a litter box and the cats in the bathroom.

 

[Mac4life30]

Thanks everyone for all your advice..

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks everyone!!! I am curious when traveling in the airport.. How do you handle TSA? Flight Delays?...Waiting to board? Do you not feed them starting a day before to avoid "accidents"?

I remember that we picked up our cats from boarding and went directly to the airport, so not feeding them wasn't happening-I'm sure they had food at the kennel. Even though I was concerned about accidents (it was a 6 hour trip-with airplane changes and 1/2 hour drive to the place we were staying), they held it that whole time. I guess most cats don't like going in a small enclosed space. Although we have a cat now who always pees when we put him in a carrier. As far as waiting at the gate, there were no problems-people came over several times to peek in and see our cats. And on the layover (sort of long), one of our kids managed to put a little water in through the bars.

 

[pearlieq]

One tip for a long trip (we learned this during our super fun Irma evacuation last year): Scoop up some of the litter in their current box and seal it into a ziploc bag. When you get to the hotel, add it to whatever temporary/disposable litter set-up you've devised. It will smell familiar to them and may help them understand that the temporary box is theirs to use.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We moved from Louisiana to SW Florida with two dogs and two cats. The cats rode in a carrier sitting on top of each other (with an old bathmat in the bottom of each carrier) and the dogs sat on both sides of the carrier hooked up with their seatbelt harnesses. We stopped at a hotel after about twelve hours on the road that accepted pets. It was not good. We let the cats out of the carriers, set up a litter box for them (and cleaned out the carriers), set up food and water for all the pets, slept a couple of hours and got back on the road. Drove the rest of the way, checked into another pet friendly hotel where we had planned to stay for two or three nights and again it was not good. This hotel room had carpet and a full length mirror that freaked the cats out. We found a vet to board all four pets for two nights until we could get into our new home. But that was delayed so they stayed boarded for another two nights and then we freed them and brought them to the new house with no furniture (we slept on patio furniture in the house that was left by the previous owners until our furniture arrived a few days later). We didn't give any of the animals any sedatives, just used a calming spray for the cats that I found online.

When we had to evacuate for Irma six weeks later, they all survived a 15 hour drive to Georgia pretty much the same set up. Only we didn't have to stay in a hotel; we stayed with friends. The drive back to SW Florida after the hurricane took about ten hours and everyone was glad to be home.

Each time we drove with the cats, we had the carriers out and open in the house for a few days to get them used to the carriers. Plus all the time we showed the house we were selling, we had all the animals in the car with us, cats in carriers, dogs on the back seat for an hour or more.

Another time we moved from Eastern Montana to Louisiana (about 1500 miles) with three cats and one large dog. We stopped twice and the dog had to sleep in the car both nights (she didn't like the cats at all). This time the car was an 8 passenger minivan and the dog had the back seat, the cats were all in carriers in the back end of the vehicle. This trip was in late October, and it was cold in Colorado when we arrived there the first night. We had planned to board the dog overnight at a boarding facility, but we arrived too late because we got caught in a snowstorm leaving Montana. We went out to the car a few times during the night to check on her and she was fine. The worst thing was we had four cats and we couldn't find the fourth one the morning we had to leave. We thought she might have gotten out while the movers were loading our furniture, but she was hiding in the house and we didn't know that. So we had to leave without her. When the new owners moved into the house, they shoed her out of the house and she nearly died from the weather and lack of food and water. They took her to the vet to have her euthanized and the vet, who was our vet, recognized her and called us. The vet got her healthy, drove her 150 miles to Billings to get her on a plane and she flew to Louisiana. The vet bill was expensive because they went ahead and paid to fly her as well, but we got her back and she was with us for another five or more years. It's harder to fly animals these days though.