Driving from Baltimore MD to Oregon (with cats?)

[donie1]

Originally Posted by Kimmie_P

I would consider flying. Cats don't handle stress well and a trip that long could be a lot to take. I flew a cat here from Hawaii which was about a 11 hour flight. She handled it surprisingly well and I didn't have to sedate her. A flight to Oregon is relatively short, may be worth looking in to. The only catch is that you would probably only be able to take one cat as a carry on and the others would be cargo

No way would I put any pet as cargo. If she only had one pet, then I'd tell her to have the cat/dog as carry on and fly to OR.

You can do it! I went cross country many times in my life starting when I was younger with pets and it's doable.

[IndieMcFly]

I drove with my husband and parents from Denver to Baltimore last year, with three cats in tow, ages 8, 10 and 11. One has fairly serious heart disease, so I was pretty worried about the trip.

It wasn't easy or fun, but we did it! I bought three medium-sized dog crates, one for each cat, so they would have more headroom than in a standard carrier. These are also more open, which allows better ventilation. We drove out in August, so I was worried about them overheating. We have two small sedans, so two cats in their crates went in one car, and one in the other. They each had water, a tiny bowl of dry food (which none of them ate), a fabric-covered foam cushion and a small litter box made out of a shoebox lid lined with a plastic grocery bag. I also put our fridge thermometers in each car (they just hung from the crates) so I could make sure they didn't get too hot. I also covered the rear windows (not the rear windshield, obviously) with paper to keep the sun out and to help prevent motion sickness. With the AC on, they stayed very comfortable, although they didn't like air blowing directly on them.

Only one cat used the litterbox, the other two just held it while in the car. For our sanity, we got the cats their own hotel room for each night on the road, so they could be unconfined and relax a bit. If you normally sleep with your cats in your room, you won't have to do this.

One of my cats got pretty carsick, so we had to give him Dramamine on days two and three, which helped tremendously, but was difficult to administer. It must be very bitter or something. Our vet advised us NOT to use tranquilizers, as they can cover up signs of distress. She also gave us an appetite stimulant to use if any of the cats stopped eating. Cats can develop a very serious and often fatal liver disease if they go more than 48 hours without eating. All of mine ate wet food once they got into the hotel, so no need to use the stimulant.

By day three, the cats were really over being confined and hauled in and out of hotel rooms. If your drive is going to be five days, you might want to stay two nights at a stop halfway through, just to give them a break from the car (and you too!). And I REALLY recommend investing in some crates instead of carriers. Cats can't sit up or stand in standard carriers, so they'd be pretty uncomfortable. I also liked that I could see them much more easily through the crates than through the carriers. It let me check them quickly and ease my worried mind!

Keep in mind that most airlines don't allow pets at all, and the ones that do only allow one pet per passenger, so you'd probably have to buy three seats to fly your cats in the cabin. I would never put my pets in cargo, I would worry constantly.

Good luck!

[ardita]

We drive w 3 cats in car. Have finally gotten to bringing litter box in to rest area rest rooms. Cats wont use box in car. We also use cat leash to walk them but they wont go potty while on leash.

[ardita]

Pet stores are friendly places to stop along the way if your cats need a break and you are desperate.

[qjbusmaster]

Originally Posted by donie1

No way would I put any pet as cargo. If she only had one pet, then I'd tell her to have the cat/dog as carry on and fly to OR.

You can do it! I went cross country many times in my life starting when I was younger with pets and it's doable.

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