moving pets through Canada (Anchorage, Fairbanks: rent, hotels, house)

[kittymama]

I am planning to move this August to the lower 48. I plan on driving my kitties in my Subaru station wagon. I know they will need vet papers and rabies certificates to go through Canada. I wanted to ask what you guys thought of turning the back part of the station wagon into a cage for the kitties and just leaving them in the car all the time for the trip (with the back windows rolled down if it's hot). Do you think that would be doable? It seems a lot easier than having to carry them inside at each hotel overnight. I'm sure that most places, the car would be able to be cool enough at night for them not to be too hot with the windows cracked or rolled down. I was thinking of a termometer attached to the inside back window, so I could know what the temperature inside was for them.

For people who have moved up and down the Alcan with pets, what is your suggestion? Do I need anything else to get them through customs?

[DreamChasers8]

Please move with your animals responsibly. Leaving them locked away in the back of your car during one of the hottest months of the year (esp. in the lower 48) is dangerous. Even at night it can be quite warm and humid. I know we always needed the AC on even at night down south. Where are you headed?

[kittymama]

Texas, so I don't think that will work for the whole trip because eventually it will start getting too hot. But I remember when I went to Canada last June, it was actually cold most of the time, even though it was "summer."

[rotorhead]

I suspect you'll have problems with that setup, specifically, problems with ignorant and unwanted "do-gooders" freaking out on you.

Even if you're certain that the car isn't getting too hot for them, people (particularly down south) seem to freak out when they see animals locked in vehicles during the summer. They've all seen the articles on how pets can get overheated in a locked car and they just assume that ALL locked cars are too hot for the poor animals.

I've witnessed this at several restaurants before, where someone would leave their dog inside while the picked up a to-go order. By the time they got back outside (maybe 10-15 minutes?) there was a small crowd outside calling 911 on their phones and having heart palpitations about "that poor dog heartlessly trapped in a sweltering car". They don't look for the owner, they don't feel the windows to see how hot the car is, they just start getting the authorities involved right off the bat.

It's some sort of knee-jerk reaction I guess. I'd understand if it was a baby locked inside in the summer, but it's a gross over-reaction for a situation that they really don't know anything about.

[kittymama]

Yeah, rotorhead, I suspect you're right on that. I was going to put one of those thermometers with the suction cups against the window, so that I would know how hot it was in there and be able to remove the kitties if it was too hot. Incidentally, I have autostart on the car, so theoretically, I can run the A/C for a few minutes if I stopped somewhere and it was too hot. I know that many hotels along the Alcan will let you bring them in overnight (of course, in night the car wouldn't be too hot). But I figured that even if you have them in carriers, I'm going to have to leave them in the car when I stop to get food and stuff along the way.

[warptman]

Kelly, I was in Fairbanks for the weekend, had a blast. There is so much to do! I think I drove most of the streets all weekend. It was nice and warm, too. Mid teens and no wind. I didn't want to come back to this cold crap we have now, it's -28 now and a windchill of -40 or so.

[MissingAll4Seasons]

Wouldn't leave your kitties in the car unattended. When I was driving up to AK, I stopped at a rest area for less than 10 minutes, and when I came out Mr. Bear had his nose pressed right up to the back window licking his chops. I had to get the seal on my windshield repaired when I got to Anchorage because he'd almost popped the darn thing out trying to get at my cats! Remember, a bear soesn't differentiate between a cooler, a bag of chips or your beloved house pet... it's all food to him and shouldn't leave any of it in your car.

And that's not including stress on the animals and the need to run around. Your entire car smelling like cat box. Broiling and freezing temps. Suck it up and be a good pet parent... or rent a travel trailer and sleep in it with the cats at night.

[kittymama]

Gee, I hadn't even thought of a bear approaching my car. Are you saying that it's not even safe to carry my own snacks to eat in my car??? I drove the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse last summer and didn't have any problems at rest stops and we had all kinds of food in the car because it was a road trip.

[rotorhead]

I suspect it's just plain luck of the draw whether or not you see any bears along the AlCan. The only one we've seen was crossing the road across from Kluane lake and it hightailed it into the bushes as soon as he saw us coming.

Wish I could say the same for the caribou and the bison. They seem to like hanging out on the pavement, and don't seem to care at all that there are cars approaching at high speed. Another good reason to do your driving in the daytime, definately don't want to hit one at night.

[MissingAll4Seasons]

I wouldn't leave food or pets unattended in my car for any length of time driving in bear country. I've been approached by bears 3 times in my car (once outside Tok, once outside Whitehorse, and once in Yellowstone)... it doesn't happen every time, but once it does you start paying attention. It's fine to have snacks while you're driving, but throw out the trash and take leftovers and coolers inside with you unless you know for sure something is in an airtight container so the bear can't smell it. If you get a bear in town near a motel, it's likely that it's used to scrounging in dumpsters and cars for food and isn't that afraid of humans anymore... your kitty would just look like an easy morsel.