Soooo, it turns out, the move is going to happen. I just found out my transfer date today! (a few short weeks ago, I thought the end of the contract surely meant the end of my job, so I’m happy!).
That’s the good news. That bad news (sort of) is that I get to do the frantic move and find a place to live thing all over again. (just did this in the late fall of 2010 from Anchorage, Alaska).
When I moved from Anchorage, we all flew down and this time, I’ll be driving. The trip will be around 20some odd hours so a LOT of drive time and one overnight. I’ll have a Uhaul truck and then my truck on a lowboy (one-car low to the ground type trailer) pulled behind. I have no idea how to travel with the cat. I’m guessing she can’t just chill in the cab (don’t think they’re more than one bench seat anyway, and the dog and my sister will be in there as well). I think it would be a tight fit if she were in her carrier and I know from short trips that she meows (albeit somewhat quietly and politely) the whole trip.
Would it absolutely traumatize her to ride in the truck (the one being towed)? If not, should she be put in her carrier in the truck? Or allowed free rein (with kitty box in place in the back seat)? How about doping her and then letting her ride in the cab, or in the truck (on the lowboy)?
If she rides in the cab of the Uhaul, how often should she be allowed access to the kitty box, and will she even use it if it’s in the cab of the vehicle being towed? (whether moving, or parked??).
Argh.
Any suggestions (even the usual doper funny/smartassed ones) welcome. Help!
I moved from Oregon to Houston which involved several days of driving 12+ hours, and I had my cat in a carrier in the cab of our moving truck with me. She handled it pretty well. I also had chinchillas, if you can believe it, and even they survived. Your cat will be fine. I say keep it in the cab in a carrier transporter thing!
Moved Wisconsin to Georgia with a scairdy cat loose in the car and hiding under the seat. Moved California to Texas with cat in a big dog-type crate which held him and his litter box. This second one was much more successful. He did fine.
Having had one heart-stopping experience of an escaped, freaked-out cat running around on the dashboard obstructing the driver’s view while doing 65 on the highway, I’d advise keeping the cat in a carrier. It’s probably also safer for her if, heaven forbid, you wreck.
The cat will probably be fine. Honestly, you’ll probably be more traumatized than she will, from worrying about her and the constant meowing. I took my cat on a plane cross-country for the first time last year (in the cabin) and I swear I was checking on her in her little Sherpa bag under the seat every 2 minutes to make sure she was happy and not making noise, and she just snoozed the whole flight.
Kitty is plucked up from snoozing spot with no trouble.
Kitty gets vet prescribed anti anxiety drugs, accepts pill with mellow calmness.
Kitty gets placed into cat carrier to endure three hour drive.
Hoomins get bandages and hydrogen peroxide.
Kitty hisses and growls and meows and mwarls and (cat people can fill in the sounds. He used all of them.) the entire way.
Cat carrier is brought into the house.
Kitty is let free.
Kitty starts to cross the entry way, weaves a bit, walks diagonally into a wall as anti anxiety drugs finally kick in.
Kitty sleeps for a while.
Kitty wakes up and, after having slept in the entry way while the furniture was brought in around him streaks into the bedroom to hide under the bed.
Three days later, kitty would like to know why you haven’t fed him yet, as it is clearly an hour before you wake up and he has been standing on your bladder for some time.
Cats is weird. If you let them go outside they will find way more stressful situations to get themselves into than any you could arrange.
I’d put the cat in the vehicle being towed with a litter box. I moved years ago with two cats, for the first hour or so they were unhappy in their crates so we let them out, they went under the seat and went to sleep.
We overnighted in Williams Lake at a Sandman (never again, we woke up and got ready to go but one of the cats was missing! No sign of her, we looked out the only open window which was 2nd story but nope no cat. We kinda looked at each other and wondered what we were going to do when the cat crawled out of the mattress…there was a hole in the ide that she’d crawled into.
My only concerns about kitty in the truck being towed are security and temperature. As long as you are totally confident that she won’t bolt when a door is opened, then maybe being loose in the cab could be OK. I’m thinking of terrified cat tearing past you in the hotel parking lot when trying to move her from truck to room for the night. If there’s space for a large-ish dog crate, that might be a safer option. Seat belt it in, too.
After that, if it’s even a little warm out, it might get too warm inside the cab. Granted, you could crack a window an inch, but that will only work while you’re on the road moving fast. It will be a problem when stopping to eat and stretch/bathroom breaks. If she’s in a kennel, you can open all the windows when stopped.
I double, triple keep the cat in the carrier. Make up a shoebox with kitty litter, but absolutely keep the cat in a carrier. I moved long distance and at one point my co-pilot thought it would be okay to let the cat roam. She suddenly became determined that she could jump through the window. I had to make an emergency stop to catch her before she broke her neck trying to get out of the car. If your cat is behind in the truck, you won’t have any idea if she suddenly has started freaking out.
Also, If you have a big box truck. I would tend to put the cat in the box truck where it will be dark and no scenery flying by. That seems to be what was freaking my cat out… seeing the world whizzing past at high speeds. You might be able to get by with a bigger box in there, instead of a cat carrier, to give her some more room.
This. When my mom moved from Florida to New York, she took her two cats in a large metal dog crate (ok, a small metal dog crate, but clearly larger than a cat carrier.)
If it’s only one cat and it has to stay in the truck portion, you could probably fit a real live litter box (albeit small) and put some food in another corner. Not sure how you’d get water access without spilling all over: do gerbil-style water teats work for cats?
I did a three day, two night move with four cats in the cab of the truck with little trouble. My tricks was not using a carrier, as mine, like yours, can cry nonstop for hours. Instead I got harnesses and leashes, attached the leash handle to a carabiner that clipped to a loop on the passenger side, and tied enough knots in the leashes to reduce the length so they could not get on the driver side dash or in the well under my feet. I put down a plastic and topped with old towels in case someone got nervous. They wandered and cried for about 10-15 minutes, then settled down and I had no problems with them for the rest of the trip.
In addition to the benefits of not being driven insane with their mad singing, the leash meant I could roll down the driver side window while driving for fresh air, open doors without worry of escapes, and when I needed to get them out from under the bed at the motel I could just grab the end of a leash or a handful of harness and pull them out.
I traveled from Ohio to LA with three cats in 2011. I arrived on the third day of driving.
I put the hardy traveler in a crate by himself on the passenger seat. He loves to travel, so he’s not a good example. I put puppy accident pads in with him, just in case.
For the other two, I bought a big plastic crate kinda like this and I put a full-size litter box in there.
At rest areas, I very carefully opened the crates and gave them food. I had the crates turned so that I was opening them while I was in the Jeep with the doors closed, so they couldn’t get outside.
There was only one accident, and it was my fault. My hardy traveler, who never complains, started meowing and I didn’t immediately understand that he needed a litter box.
I think the whole trip took 30-something hours of driving.
I tried drugging one of them, but it made it much worse.
Have the cat in a carrier in the cab w/ you, try to limit yourself to 10 hour (or less) driving days; we do this w/ our cats nearly every other year as an Air Force family. Ours won’t eat, drink or use the litter until they’re in a room for the night, no matter how available it is to them while traveling.
Even though you are a safe driver you can’t guarantee the driving of those around you; if something happened and your cat was lost or hurt or worse when a carrier would have kept them safe, you’d feel awful. Please put her in a carrier.
By herself in the tow behind would surely leave her upset more than being crammed in the cab - she won’t know you’re in the vehicle ahead of her; yes, it’s annoying how they cry but she will fall asleep within a few hours. I doubt you’ll need to dope her and in fact it’s not always safe. Her vet could tell you for sure. But the logistics of doping her every 6 hours or so for 2 days would make all of you frustrated and miserable.
Take her food away an hour or so before you get on the road each day; she’s less likely to get sick that way.
You’re better off using both vehicles but I imagine if it were easier for you that’d already be your plan. Good luck.
The leash idea is fine if the cat’s in the cab with you. I wouldn’t leave a leashed cat alone for any length of time, as they can get it wrapped around themselves, legs, or neck and be very distressed or worse until you check on them and find a problem.
Any chance you can find a u-haul with an extended cab? Or a walk-through door where you could place a crate next to the door and pack around it maybe? You’d have to be extra careful that nothing shifts in the back, but at least she’d be in the vehicle with you, and you could definitely use a big enough crate in that case for a litter box and a bed.
I made a long move from Michigan back home to Kansas. The cat was in a carrier.
Also, I visited the vet and she gave me two “kitty tranquilizer” pills. I ended up only using one, the first day, because although my cat hated car rides, after hours of driving the first day he realized it wasn’t so scary after all.
I schlepped my cats back and forth from my place to my folks for years, 500 miles RT. I would sometimes leave the carrier doors open and thought it was sweet when one relaxed enough to sleep on my lap while I drove. Then she woke up and decided to curl up near my feet. You know, between the gas pedal and brakes.
Carriers, and closed, definitely. And a second vote for the idea that even if everything is hunky-dory in your vehicle, bad things will happen to your unsecured pet if someone else hits you.
This is the kind of crate I used and the size I got was roughly the largest (48x30x30). I understand if a crate this big would not fit in your vehicle but you should get the biggest you can. Then put one of those small litter boxes in it. I had room so used a covered litter box. My kitty loved standing on the top of the litter box and yowling at the trucks we passed. (You get where you can tune out the yowling after a while.) It was pretty easy to transfer the kitty from the crate to a carrier to transfer to a motel room, too, as the crate has doors on several sides. I highly recommend this system so kitty doesn’t escape. Really, it was a lot less traumatic than I expected. Good luck!
When the SO moved from Tennessee to Redding, CA, she carried the cat in his soft-sided carrier in the cab of the truck. Harvey did not care for travelling, but once he settled in he just slept. He may not have liked travelling, but he was a good traveller. When she flew out to visit me, Harvey’s carrier fit under the seat and he was quiet the whole trip.
I agree with others who say to let the cat ride with you in the cab.
Thanks! This is what I was hoping to do, it’s a truck with a crew cab, so there’s a bench seat in the back and a bench seat in the front. I figured I could put the litter box in the back seat and food and water and she’d be fairly okay. She’s a pretty mellow cat, but you never know.
Thanks so much for all of the advice and war stories everyone! Well, it’ll be a bit less than 20 days now. wow.
I will have a box truck! And good call on the scenery flying by and such. And I do have a huge dog kennel, but the dog will be riding in the cab, so no need for that for her. I thought that if you put them in a kennel, and put a kitty litter box in there, that they wouldn’t go in it?
Argh on review of more posts, I think I’ll have to figure out a way to put a leash on her, or a small carrier in the Uhaul Cab. I don’t want any escapes or like someone said, what if someone hits the towed vehicle?
I also had chinchillas, if you can believe it, and even they survived. Your cat will be fine. I say keep it in the cab in a carrier transporter thing!
