Your thoughts on traveling with indoor cat almost every second weekend over summer.

Hello all, I posted a couple days ago about my newly diagnosed diabetic cat Zoe. Im really hoping she will go into remission at some point but we know thats not always the case. Ive been thinking long term lately as what im going to do in the summer months. My family has a piece of property about 2 1/2 hours away from home. As my father whos always taken care of this place has been battling cancer its becoming more apparent that I will soon be needing to spend at least every second weekend maintaining the landscape and property.

I posted in a previous thread that my dear Zoe is very much a shy cat who's scares quite easily. When people come over shes gone in her hiding place and wont make an appearance until its just me. When she stayed at the vet over night getting started on insulin I guess she pretty much sat in the corner with her back turned and only ate when they staff left overnight. With her recent diagnoses ive been racking my brain on what to do during these weekends. I dont know or trust enough people to come over and inject a needle into her. Im sure i could find someone to come over and put out some wet food for her but she has trust issues with people other then me and i dont want traumatize her. Ive explored a local shelter that will put her in her own "cat condo", thats ran by a vet tech, who does take care of kittys with special needs like diabetes. my concerns is 1. shes not use to other cats. and 2. how they will handle giving her insulin when shes such a high stressed cat and probably wont eat if food is put in front of her. I still have to find out details from this shelter how they deal with these things, i could be over thinking it.

Ive had a few people on these message boards mention taking her with me? that sounded completely out of the picture until i thought about it some more. On our property we do have a holiday trailer. it has a big bed, lots of windows and spots for her to jump up on and look out windows. Its totally plausible. I could stay in the trailer with her and spend lots of time with her. Feeling good about this idea i always do this stupid thing where i go down a Google rabbit hole (thats how i found you guys!) According to most google articles it sounds like this should be a last resort as it could be stressful to the cat. Some articles mention that sometimes doing this could make a cat stop eating or using the litter box for 24-48 hours. But would this be any different then her staying at a shelter with strange humans and other cats? at least if i brought her with me she would at least know me, her most trusted human, and would calm her anxiety a little bit. I like the idea of her getting to live a little then being stuck in my apartment with 2 windows that face the same direction. some of my cat owner co-workers are complaining that cats dont like change and that this is a bad idea. im afraid of this being detrimental to her overall health. There will be alot of unfamiliar noises like lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and barking dogs around the trailer. she did live in a basement suit with me for 5 years with these noises... I feel me and her have a bond enough that she could get use to it. m finding awesome big cat carrier bags on amazon for reasonable prices!

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01F0RUQCO...m/images/I/91fYnCNlDWL.jpg&sb-ci-a=B01F0RUQCO

So to the community that seems to know more about cats then any other ive came across, would this be reasonable? do you have any experiences or stories you can tell me about your anxiety riddled cat and trips/continues trips? anything that could make these trips easier on her? Would this be worse then a shelter? I know theirs "pet sitters" but again Zoe is not a huge fan of strangers.

thanks for the incoming advice awesome cat community!

 

I haven't done any travelling with my cat however, I've known a number of folks who've taken their cat to their cottage every weekend. While the new location may make her a little tense initially, with you there, and if she has already experienced noises similar to what will be at the new location, I doubt getting her used to the trailer will be an issue. I'd expect it would become a second home for her in relatively short order as long as her HOOMAN is there with her.

I would expect you might have more of a problem with the drive to the trailer unless you are one of the lucky folks whose kitty doesn't mind the car. You can gradually introduce her to the car by taking her for gradually longer car rides so she becomes accustomed to being in her carrier and the motion of the car and the road noise. With a little "de-sensitizing" she should get used to the travelling and you and Zoe won't be missing each other all weekend.

Hopefully others with more experience will chime in. I know at least one member took her cat camping with her and a few others have made some lengthy trips for medical issues so if you need advice on getting kitty car ready, a change of title on your post might elicit more responses.

 

Hello Braden and Zoe, I've just completed another long-distance journey from Michigan to Florida with Luci. Luci is ten now and she was diagnosed last year in November - so we're 'celebrating' our first year of feline diabetes...well not exactly a celebration but a milestone nonetheless, huh? This is Luci's third...or is it the fourth migration to Florida and back...South in the Fall, North in the Spring....she travels like a champ...only a few meows initially - once she realizes we're not going to the vet she settles down and sleeps 90% of the time.

Luci took a short amount of time adjusting to her new home here in Florida but she seems to be settling in quite nicely - I always make sure to use the same litter - and the same style of LB as I do at home - and the same foods - so at least she has something that's familiar to her - even the same treats...of course there's the insulin test kit - it's a plastic box with all our supplies including the 'testing towel' - so she has all of her familiar things for that experience....I can only say I wouldn't have it any other way. Where we go, she goes...I have taken her on shorter outings - otherwise I'd never get to go anywhere for more than two hours! She has managed to do fine...

Luci isn't the chummiest cat either - not very friendly with strangers - so I think your idea of taking her along and keeping her in the trailer - with windows where she can look out - is wonderful! I use a smaller carrier - it fits her size perfectly - and keep her in it while we're underway in the car - except for testing, etc. Sometimes she comes out but seems to feel most secure/safe inside of her carrier and stays in there and sleeps for the entire trip. We just spent 10 hours + on the road each day - and she liked to stand for a moment - step out on the console, stretch her legs and then about face, right back in she went - I would not have allowed that if I were driving - only while DH was driving so I could keep a close eye on her - I also have a harness that I can put on her if she decides she wants to sit up front for a bit...but that takes a lot of nerve so she generally declined that idea...

I hope you'll gather up her things and take her along - she'll adjust - and she might even enjoy the change of scenery...and you can take care of her while you're doing your other chores.

Best of luck to you

 

If she does okay in the car, I would try bringing her. To make the transitions to the trailer easier, bring lots of familiar cloth items that smell like home with you--her bed, your top comforter or blanket if she sleeps on your bed, towels, some of your unwashed clothing (so it has your scent on it, like sweatshirts or t-shirts) whatever will bring the comforting scents of home with you, so she has familiar items in the new strange place.

I would be worried about her getting loose out of the car if not contained in a crate or carrier. But if you can find a large one, so litter box can be inside as well as a box or smaller carrier for her to hide in, that should work, as it's not too long a trip.

My first cat, I had harness and leash-trained her, (she flew home with me from college for one Christmas break, and got to walk around the airports while waiting, on leash) so I would let her travel uncrated in my car for local trips. She would lay in the back deck looking out the window. Early on, she once jumped up on the front dash. My immediate reaction was to throw the air blowers on full blast without warning. Cat FLEW to the back of the car, and never came up front again! On local trips, she would meow full voice in protest if we were on the route to the vets. Would immediately stop and just look around if we turned off that route. Drove cross-country with her, three day trip, and she just went down under the seats and rode there the whole time, had litterbox and food/water in the floor wells for her.

Nowadays, being older and wiser, I would be more afraid of a cat getting away if uncrated during a trip, even with leash and harness on her. But the idea of a very large crate with litterbox, food, water, and a cozy bed (whether small carrier or box) should work if the car itself doesn't freak her out.

 

I agree try some short trips to get her use to being in the car. Also before you start traveling make sure she has a microchip and you have registered it.

If she is nervous in the car try using Rescue Remedy or Feliway spray to help calm her.

 

I think is a good idea to take her with you, she may be a bit stressed because the trailer is new to her but as long as you are there with her she will probably get used to it very quickly, the trailer will become part of his territory and she would be ok, especially if she is already used to the noises and I think is much better than a pension (that's really strange aggressive environment with other cats smell around)

I have my cats trained to use a cat harness and a leash and I found that makes car traveling much more easy than in the carrier as long as they realise we are not going to the vet ( they know somehow when the trip is to the vet) , the leash gets secured to the safety belt.

You can also consider one of those outdoor crates for cats so that he can enjoy the outdoors a bit while you are working if the work being done allows it, my cats are totally indoor cats but they have a portion of the garden closed so that they can go out once in a while and they do enjoy it

 

I would certainly give it a shot! We traveled with a cat and 2 dogs for years all over the country. I turned one of the bottom cabinets into a 'litter box' area keeping it out of the way. The only thing we were very careful about is when we entered and exited the RV or van whichever we were in on that trip. Cat always wore harness but he was used to it - show him the harness, he ran to have it put on and be ready to 'go'! You might be very pleasantly surprised!

 

I agree. My cat Callie loved to have her harness put on because that meant she was going to get to go outside. If you decide to take her with you, keep the harness on her at all times. Then you have something to grab on to if she decides to try to get away from you.