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It takes two people. One inside to crack the door open and another outside to spray clean water at the cat as he/she tries to leave through the door. The crack should not be wide enough to let the cat slip out. Go to another door (back, side door etc) and crack it. As soon as your cat tries to leave, have the 2nd person bang pans together as hard as possible. Or shake matal cans containing coins or marbles. You can also have the person blow a shrill whistle at the same time.
They sell Lion Poop, or pellets made with it, to deter cats. Maybe putting it just outside your doors...
This stuff gets the best results. We looked into it for around our bird feeders before but never went through with it. (OK my family refused to order lion poop off the internet )
It may to cat abuse to you since you believe cats should be allowed outdoors even if it costs them their lives. That's your prerogative. Not everyone wants they're cats ABUSED by the local neighborhood screwballs. It's not cat abuse to people who don't choose to allow their cats to go outside and really be ABUSED by sadists, cruel children, fed up neighbors and killed or crippled by cars or eaten by predators. Now that is ABUSE to me.
I don't know one cat that ever died from being spritzed with clean water or was frightened by loud noises.
They sell Lion Poop, or pellets made with it, to deter cats. Maybe putting it just outside your doors...
This stuff gets the best results. We looked into it for around our bird feeders before but never went through with it. (OK my family refused to order lion poop off the internet )
To the OP: We drove from Maryland to Houston, TX over 2 full days of driving with our large dog and cat. I agree with Racelady, keep cats in their carriers when in the car. We got an over-sized carrier for the cat and put a disposable litter box in there, which he didn't use until we stopped for the night. We had trouble getting him to eat while on the road, we ended up feeding him some tuna and tuna juice because he wouldn't drink his water.
Just be prepared for your cats to talk a lot. The worst time for my cat was around 8pm, which is normally when he runs around the house and is "crazy cat." For the most part he would do those horrible mournful meows when we first started driving and then nap and then start back up later at night. If your cat is like mine, you should be fine if you leave in the morning and get there before it gets dark. If you expect the cats to meow a lot and tell yourself "this is normal, we'll be there soon and it will be over" it will help keep you calm. I did not sedate my cat, he has always hated the car, but after a while of driving they get used to it and settle down. Just be patient and try not to let it stress you out. My dog was actually really good, he never liked long trips but he got used to it too. Just expect the worst from them and they may surprise you
I don't know if it helped but we also used a DAP collar for the dog and feliway plug ins for the cat when we stopped at the hotel. We stopped every couple hours for potty breaks. My best advice is to plan ahead, make lists of things that need to go in the car, for pets and for you. If you bring a disposible litter box, make sure you bring the one your cat is used to as well, just in case. Keep the phrase "just in case" in your head when packing the car.
When I moved from Philly to Phoenix, I drove. However, I felt it was far too long and stressful a trip for my 100% indoor 15 year old cat.
So, I purchased a plane ticket for a friend, who brought the cat down in the passenger section of the plane. Sedated, and arrived AFTER I moved in to my new apartment and had the furniture delivered, so the smells of "home" were there for the cat.
I drove 12 hours with 3 cats and 3 dogs in the car. The cats were in crates and did just fine. They meowed a few times when we first started out but were fine once we were on the road.
I stopped to walk the dogs once.. and then we were on the road again. Only one problem and that was my JRT got car sick about 30 minutes away from our destination.
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Lion Poop
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It's not cat abuse to people who don't choose to allow their cats to go outside and really be ABUSED by sadists, cruel children, fed up neighbors and killed or crippled by cars or eaten by predators. Now that is ABUSE to me. 
