Oh, good, I’m not the only one!
If so, make sure it’s something designed to be used around cats. A closed car is pretty close quarters and something that’s OK as a couple of spritzes in a house might be irritating in a car, especially if used on the carrier itself.
(I’m irritated myself by most of the things, so may be more aware of this.)
As far as safety in an accident, if I am in a crash at 65 mph, I think we are both dead. With a seatbelt and airbag, I guess it is possible I could survive if very lucky. But even if I put him in the back in a carrier, held by a seatbelt, is that going to matter? Isn’t he going to be thrown against the side of the carrier at 65 mph? It is hard plastic. I’m asking because I can buy a pet barrier. I don’t see any designed for cats, but one of the dog ones is wire, and holes are not big enought for a cat to fit through. I would have to tape cardboard on the sides where there is a space he could crawl through. I’ve got these big square pillows I could tape across the backs of the seats. Kitty airbags.
I moved a cat 4 times from NY to NC. I got her a small crate, one where I could put a litter box on one side and a cat circle bed on the other along with some extra room for food and water. I pretty much drive straight thru, stopping for gas and to go foods and bathroom and just to stretch my legs every 2 hours or so. It did work as intended, though it took a lot of the storage room of the car and it was just me and her. So about half the space when to kitty.
You might be surprised at how well modern cars protect the passengers. As to kitty, yes, kitty will get tossed a small distance into the carrier wall. Kitty won’t be tossed a longer distance into a part of the car at least once. Kitty also won’t be thrown into you, which could make a huge difference in an accident.
If you had a child, would you feel safe putting a barrier up so you could allow the child to roam around free, or would you buckle the child into a secured child seat?
Personally, what I like to do is to seat belt the carrier in the front seat and then move the seat up so the carrier is wedged against the dashboard.
But as I mentioned up thread, I am rather paranoid so I’m sorry if I got too preachy.
Call your vet and ask her the safest way for both of you for your cat to travel, any potential meds that might help your cat, etc.
Vets are the pros-they are who I would listen to.
I would not leave a child like that, but they don’t make cat carriers that strap in like a child seat, and you can’t buckle a cat in. So I am just wondering if it will make a differnce if he is in a carrier. He can’t be thrown into me because of the barrier. Your idea about the front seat is great, but I have another passenger
He has travelled 3 1/2 hours in a carrier, 3 years ago. Now that I think about it, I left him in while we unloaded, so he was in there for 4 1/2 hours. This trip will be two 3 1/2 hour segments. I will stop half way there to eat - at an Arbys’, a guilty pleasure I can’t get here or my home town - and because of COVID I am not going to eat in the restaurant. So if I eat in the car, let him out to see if he wants to eat, or drink, or use the tempoary litter box that will be on the floor, I may just be able to put him back in the carrier for the rest of the way. But what if that doesn’t work? Can’t make any changes on the road. What if he is meowing the whole way, that is a distraction to driving. So I will get the barrier, put him in the carrier, and if it doesn’t work then take him out.
The other reason for the barrier - If I let him out of the carrier, he might jump into the front where I can’t reach him. And if I get out and get in the front, he might jump in the back. The last thing I want on this long day is to be chasing him around the interior of the car. This probably would not happen, I could probably intice him back into the back with cat treats. Just want to be prepared for anything.
If the crash is drastic enough, yes you’re both dead. There are intermediary-level crashes.
A cat loose in the car can also cause an accident by interfering with the driver.
If he’s in a carrier, he’s not going to be thrown as far. I don’t know enough to tell whether he’d be safer in a moderate crash being thrown into a mesh barrier or into the side of the carrier, or whether it’s actually possible to modify a dog mesh barrier to hold a cat – my experience is that cats can destroy cardboard just fine, so I certainly wouldn’t count on that as a cat barrier construction material. And in the aftermath of a crash, he’d be far more likely to get out of the car, run off in terror, and get lost. Scared cats want to hide in something small.
Pillows against surfaces might be helpful. There are probably studies on this, somewhere. – hard to find as the search engine keeps wanting to switch me to dogs, and some of what sites I do find seem to also be ads for particular makes of carriers. There’s disagreement about whether a soft sided carrier or a hard one is better, and whether to belt it in or put it on the floor of the back seat, held in place by being jammed between the back seat and the back of the front seat.
Hartz, by the way, suggests puppy pee pads for in the carrier; which makes sense. Might be better than newspaper, and a lot of people these days probably don’t have newspaper. You might want some old towels with a familiar smell; put one on top of the pee pad. Maybe keep them in your bed the night before to get a lot of your scent on them.
If you let him out of the carrier other than into an entirely closed car, make sure he’s on a leash and harness (not collar), and that the harness fits properly. If you’re worried about his avoiding you in the car, again a leash and harness ought to work.
If he’s going to meow the whole way, he can do that loose in the car as well as in a carrier.
I have two Sherpa-brand pet carriers (soft sided, but airline acceptable) that have a loop on them for passing a seatbelt through, so yes, you can strap a carrier into a seat. It isn’t as safe for the cat as a car seat is for a child, but it’s much safer than leaving the cat or the carrier loose.
This is how we handled it. My grandfather managed to lose a family cat by taking her out of the carrier in an unfamiliar place. I just didn’t want to chance it. To help with smells and mess, I put the litter box inside a cardboard box, with an opening for the cats to go in and out. I had one hiding in there for awhile until the others made her move.
Rough day for Mickey on Saturday. A 7 hour drive turned into over 10 hours. He complained for about 5 minutes after I put him in the carrier and in the car, didn’t make a peep for the rest of the drive and never moved in the carrier. Stayed in the corner, looking up through the top. I guess he could see the sky and trees going by. I stopped a couple of times to see if he wanted the litter box or food and water and he did not. He was a little withdrawn before we ever left the apartment as there were 3 unfamilar people in there moving stuff. If I had to do it again I would put him in the car before we started loading (we had 2 vehicles), another hour would not have made a difference, even if the trip had been 7 instead of 11
Anyway, got here and put him in a bedroom and he went to the back of the closet and stayed there for about 4 hours, finally came out after everyone had gone to bed and slept with me, but when I woke up the yesterday he was back in the closet. My parents (I am staying with them for a while) get up about 6 am, me around noon. He will come and get on the bed when I am in there, when I leave he goes back to the closet. Once Mom held out her hand and he finally came to her and even rubbed his head against her hand for a second. Hasn’t since, but they will be friends soon I am sure. Last night, after everyone had gone to bed, I was able to coax him into the living room. Today, he kept looking through the half open bedroom door towards the living room and he wants to explore, but can’t quite bring himself to do so yet.
Maybe tomorrow. I am the only one up now, hopefully he will come out soon without my coaxing him. He’ll be fine eventually. I learned one thing. The next time I move, I don’t have to worry about him in the carrier. He won’t come out even with the door open, and he won’t pee or poo in there. I’ll put newspaper down just in case, but I read yesterday that cats can hold it up to 48 hours. Wish I could do that.
I hope Mickey is comfortable, curious and well-settled-in soon!
Thanks for the update and also hope he’s no longer hiding.
Very polite of him not to yell at you the whole way! though I suppose he might just have thought it was safer to be very, very quiet.
I apologize; I’m late to this party.
We live in AZ and travel to SCal regularly. Mr VOW says the one-way distance is 549 miles.
I have had (and still have) cats who make the trip with us.
We use drugs. The kitty tranq from the vet knocks them out for the approximate 8 hours the trip takes.
Except
We had one cat who was apparently immune to the tranq. He spent the whole trip in his carrier going “Mrow! Mrow! Mrow!” like a metronome.
The whole. 549. Miles.
Except the ONE time we heard terrible thumping and banging coming from the back seat. Then it stopped, and we took a collective deep breath.
Whoops, too soon.
His head appears between the two front seats, and he is bright-eyed with an almost manic frenzy, and says, “Mrow!” as in, “Let’s get this party started!”
He jumped into the front seat and went lap to lap. Then he stood on one lap or the other to gaze out the side windows, to watch the cars and trucks. Finally, he decided to take a tour of the dashboard, obscuring the view.
Mr VOW stopped. I honestly thought he’d kill the cat.
I held the hyped up cat while Mr VOW yanked out his carrier. Somehow, the cat had busted the fasteners that held the top of the carrier to the bottom. Mr VOW MacGuyvered the carrier back together, stuffed the cat inside, and we continued on our way.
With the “Mrow! Mrow! Mrow!” metronome continuing.
~VOW
Thank you. I needed this tale (tail) this morning. Laughed out loud and there are few morning things better than that.
Mrow, mrow, mrow.
he is still staying in the bedroom during the day, but not in the closet. At night when everyone else has gone to bed he ventures out into the living room
When I had to move my cat from Michigan to Kansas, a two day trip, I got tranquilizers from the vet. Very mild ones. The first day I gave him the pill and he stayed calm. By the end of the day he was resigned to it, so the next day I put Toby in the carrier without the pill, and he did okay.
Maybe you mistook Toby’s going through withdrawal for resignation.
Oh my God. Hehehehe