Moving from Chicago to San Diego - Driving with cats - help! (moving company, truck)

[Percy82]

Hi there!

As some of you know, my wife and I are planning to move to San Diego, CA from Chicago, IL. We own to cats. Both of them are about 2 years old. One cat does not like a lot the car, and the other is fine. However, the cat that does not care about the care, needs to smell everything. If you move something from one place to another, she needs to sniff it and kick it to make sure it won't move.

We've planned to hire a pet moving company. They will pick them up at our place and deliver them to San Diego, however, it's so expensive. Around $1500. My wife worries and does not like to leave the cats for three days in a hotel.

Our idea is to buy a cat carrier big enough for the two of them and drive all the way from IL to CA. One of them is going to be talking all the way, and the other, will go nuts trying to smell everything in my car.
How we have to manage to feed them? Our cats are used to “self-serve” themselves as they have their food available all the day and they eat when needed. Is this a good way to feed them?
How about the litter box? Do you put it in the car and whenever you stop, you just open the kennel so they can go potty? What frequency is recommended to do this. I know cats can get urinary infections really fast.
Did you move in with your cats? How did you do it? How was your experience? Can you share some of your experience?
Thanks a lot!!!!!

[featherz]

Ok, we drove two cats from SoCal to upstate NY. ooo boy, was that fun. Neither of them likes cars and we drove for 12 hours each day and stayed in hotels at night. We put both cats in carriers with a litterbox on the floor behind a seat. They NEVER used it while in the car. Nor did they EVER eat or drink. I would not recommend this (prolly illegal),but for a large part of the trip at least one cat at a time was out of the carrier. This only works if you have someone in the car to keep a constant eye to make sure they don't go nuts and distract the driver. In the carrier, they were horrible.
Out of the carrier, they settled down and slept on the boxes. But of course, it would depend on the cat and is most likely illegal so don't do it. <G>. We slept in motels each night that accepted pets (on further reflection I would recommend lying and getting a nicer hotel - some pet friendly hotels will give you a HORRIBLE room when you say you have pets) and the cats then would use the litterboxes and eat.

I also used a bit of rescue remedy, but not sure if that helped at all.

[mawipafl]

We've traveled long distance three times with cats.

1) Separate carriers for each.

2) They had no interest in food nor water nor litterbox use while traveling in the car and actually preferred to nap or put themselves into the ozone layer and become oblivious to the ride.

One cat meowed a lot, but we just turned up the music. Another cat was more at ease and probably would have sat on the back of the seat to watch the world go by; however, for safety issues (including for him) we kept him in his carrier at all times while in the car.

3) We had a portable litterbox that we'd set up in the hotel room (purchased at a pet store - plastic box with cover that attached that had a door cut-out and a carrying handle on top).

4) In the hotel we put out the food and water and left it there all night, and picked it up in the morning before departure.

5) In the hotel we brought some favorite toys, but none of the cats were interested -- they spent most of their time exploring the room - one with general curiosity, the others with "where the heck are we??!"

In all three of our moves, all the cats survived just fine with no after-effects whatsoever.

[entyss]

We drove from Chicago to Maine, straight thru. I didn't want to take my little guy into a motel. We have an SUV, I sat in the back seat with the carrier next to me. Had a small litter box, I let him out of the carrier every few hours to use it, which he did. He was a very nervous cat, my vet gave me tranquilizers for him, which I tried out before we left. Anyway, my guy slept most of the way with no ill effects. I would think that your cats would be much more comfortable with you than with strangers. Good luck!

[mamh]

We are former full time rv ers and traveled with a cocker spaniel..no problems .We have friends who travel with cats and what they do is train them to be comfortable in a harness and on a leash..So when they stop for brake, lunch ect, they take the cats out for a walk,play with them on a grassy area and just let them have the chance to go potty and get a breath of fresh air..Then they are ready to cuddle back in their crates for a snooze...
This is just a thought...
Good luck on your move..

[LynnePatrice]

I agree with the poster who said they will be happier with you than with strangers.

I moved cross country (NYC to Colorado) with my cat and she was fine.

DO they enjoy the experience? Probably not, but they will survive.

The best method has already been posted.

Carrier for each
Litter box in car
Bring food/water and litter into hotel, leave out all night. Repeat each day.

Good luck!

[denverian]

I drugged my moving from L.A. to Denver. Somewhere in southern Utah, the drugs wore off, so I had to pull over in the 110 degree heat (no shade to park in, so even with the AC running, the car was getting hot), extract the angry beast, and squirt more of the medicine down her throat. Not a fun experience, but we survived.

[Leisesturm]

I can't imagine what the pet travel people could do differently from the pet owner, except be less sympathetic to the cat's obvious discomfort. We traveled from NYC to Oregon with a detour through MI. Seven days and two nights in the tiny cab of a 16' Penske truck with a 12lb Siamese. His carrier completely filled the area between the two seats of the cab. The first two days were hell until we learned to let him out of the carrier. Invariably he found a spot under the passenger seat and remained there until the truck stopped moving. Occasionally he got restless and tried to get underfoot (the driver's foot!) such occasions were rare, however. Safety of the cat in a carrier vs not in one is questionable. I think most authorities (rental agencies) are worried about what might happen if the animal soiled itself outside of the confines of a carrier. An animal of the size of a cat will be fine either way impactwise. A truck is one thing, it was probably not safe at all for him to be out of the carrier but in a car I might not even have brought a carrier. We have not found the pet friendly Motel 6 hotels to offer rooms below the standard of other hotels. My GF was in charge of locating the nearest Motel 6 to a given exit when we got ready to pull off for the night and calling ahead with the details.

H

[Percy82]

Gee, thanks a lot!!!

It really helps!!!

We will buy a kennel for both cats... if they are together they won't stress out that much!

We know we have to bring the Health Certificate. How old it must be? For sending them, it has to be no longer than 10 days old. How about if you move them yourself??

[Dark of the Moon]

On my last cross-country move (August, 2008), I drove with seven (7!!!) cats in the cab of the truck with me -- and made it from New York City to Los Angeles with sanity relatively intact. It can be done.