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Can't wait to try this! I'm getting closer to a new job in CA and will probably be on my way to either LA or San Francisco in the next couple of months with my labradoodle. I was concerned about moving my cat, but unfortunately, he died 2 weeks ago. I miss him a lot but it was time for him and it will simplify things greatly for me, I do have to admit.
Thankfully, my dog is happy as long as he's with me and he's VERY quiet in the car. I just need to ensure I have enough space on the back seat for him to stretch out. I probably won't have a passenger though, so I can use that area for stuff!
My friend moved with her 5 cats from MN to TX a few years ago. She drives an SUV and put one of those pet dividers in the back so they had room to roam in the back of the vehicle, and they all did just fine.
Sadly, when she moved home, they all stayed with her ex-fiance and she's now without fur children (I would never have let him keep them, personally, but that's her call).
My wife and I have four cats, a Cockatoo and a love bird. Yes, it is a mini zoo. We plan to relocate from Florida to Idaho. A huge move. How the heck do we do this with all these animals? Rent a big truck, put them in the back separated and then drive non-stop????
Well, not sure what to tell about birds, but we just did CA to NY with two cats. Ooo was that fun. Anyways, we opted not to use the big truck because there's not enough air conditioning for them. We rented a minivan and had other stuff shipped separately, then threw litterboxes and carriers in the back seat. Have to admit that we let them out of the carriers one at a time while driving and after a day or so (stopping at seedy motels each night) they'd calm down and just sleep on the boxes in the back of the van. I used rescue remedy and a couple of other herbal things, but can't say they helped much.
I don't know how long your trip would be straight through, but we drove around 12 hours+/day and the cats did not eat drink or pee at all until we stopped at the hotel. They had food and water and litter available but except for nibbles of shaved turkey now and then would not touch anything until on solid ground. Boy, was I happy that trip was over!
Location: Upstate NY native, now living in Houston
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We shipped all the household goods by a moving van from NY to TX. We have 3 cars. 2 were shipped. 1 we drove down to TX with our 2 dogs in their crates in the back seat. It took about 4 days. We stayed at La Quintas all the way down .....very clean and pet friendly. It was an enjoyable traveling experience!!
cats don't enjoy traveling very much. At least ours doesn't. We moved from S.C to Juneau recently and she rode mostly in a canvas type crate that has mesh on both sides, front and back. She didn't eat or drink much at all. She went totally nuts one night in our hotel room. I guess she was tired of the 12 hour drives each day for 8 days. We did offer her food, water and the litter box routinely throughout the day but she wasn't too interested. She survived though and settled in nicely here.
Just don't be alarmed if the cats don't eat or drink much on the trip.
I drove from NY to Utah with my dad, 2 dobermans and a maltese, in my Oldsmobile with a small u-haul. We got stuck in a snow storm and had to sneak the dogs into the motel! What a trip. You can google hotels that accecpt pets, you might get some help there. Good luck.
We'll be taking six or seven horses, one of the dogs and all six of the cats. I dread it, I really do. Don't know how long driving a moving van it'll take- but by car it's about 23 hours. Obviously the horses will be in the trailer, I worry about the oldest one though. That's a lot to go through, but she's so attached to her family, and us to her that we could never leave her behind. I think the dog would be okay loose, as long as the cats weren't in the vehicle with him- they'd go bonkers. I'd thought about a couple big dog crates for the cats and putting a few in each one.
We only have 1 cat so we took him on the plane with us when we moved cross-country. Our friends recently moved from Florida to Pennsylvania and they rented an RV to drive their cats.
We just moved from Ky to Ca with 4 cats, a poodle, and a turtle. We crated the cats 2 at a time - they were comforted that way. We had their crates in the cargo area of the SUV we were driving, pulling a trailer. The poodle we left loose- he sat in our laps- and the turtle rode in a cooler with no lid and high sides. It did surprisingly well. The cats learned to hold their "business" all day. We stayed in Motel 6, which calls itself the original pet-friendly motel.
It was a surprisingly smooth event. You can do it.
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