Moving cross country with older cats...

[Ibex]

Need some opinions on the best way to do this, IF it comes up. I am possibly/maybe looking at a cross country move, and am seriously concerned about my older pets. (for once, the horse would be the easy one to organize :lol: )

Cat 1: Mid-teens, sucky, needy boy. But very healthy, still bounces around, but gets very stressed by change. Biggish, but normal biggish for a cat.

Cat 2: The Behemouth. Also mid-teens, and a BIG cat. Yes, she’s a bit chunky, but even structurally she is just massive. Think bordering on Maine-coon size. Very much a take it as it comes attitude. HOWEVER… also in her mid-teens, and she’s starting to to really, REALLY show her age :(. She’s arthritic, and throws up any medication (and any food that has any kind of chemical in it… thank goodness for natural/holistic food!). The last time I moved locally I was a bit shocked that she was stressed out a bit (went under the bed for about three hours. She never does that.). She’s also stopped being the life of the party and removes herself when people are over.

When I moved west six years ago they traveled together in a large crate and we flew. The whole process was stressful on all of us. Both cats are too big for me to feel comfortable putting them in a carrier that would fit under a seat, especially the female.

If I drove them, it would mean several days in their carriers for hours at a time, hotel rooms etc.

So which is better?? A lot of stress at once (flying) or driving??

Another option that’s crossed my mind is to turn my horse trailer into a mobile cat kennel since the horse would be shipped commercially anyways… it’s a 2h slant load and I could partition enough space off they could have access to their box etc…

Thoughts??? A good (and animal loving) friend has delicately suggested that I may have to consider euthanasia for the female rather than subjecting her to the stress of a long distance move. I haven’t ruled it out if I end up deciding it’s the kindest thing to do

[Twiliath]

Flying, hands down. Cats don’t like change to begin with and stress easily, as you’ve seen. Do the big, over-with-quickly option of flying.

And how heavy are these cats? Have you looked at the charts for obesity? Get that girl on a diet to help her out with her arthritis (which cannot be diagnosed except through x-rays).

Good luck in your move.

[Ibex]

Cat A is actually skinny. Cat B has been chubby her whole life… but healthy. Diets do nothing (and she can’t eat diet food - she throws it up). Vet said that given her general good health and age to let her be…

[mvp]

Hard call!

Are you up for the expense and risk of flying them commercially-- in the cat section of the plane, not pretending they are heavy and unhappy carry-on luggage?

If you drive, I like the idea of the trailer as giant cat carrier. Or can you fit them out in one giant dog crate or two appropriately-sized cat crates.

I have to do this with an older female who has health issues and is a bad traveler. I go back and forth about euthanizing her to spare her a rough trip, too…It feels creepy to consider that so I’m trying to read and ask questions here about “best practices” for moving cats.

I know it will suck any way I slice it or dice it. I’ll be interested to see what COTHers recommend to you and how your trip goes.

[Ibex]

Ohhh - I should have noted. IF this happens… it will be a corporate move. And given that I’m a fairly cheap date when it comes to moving (single, childless, small 2-bed, not a big house worth of stuff), there would be budget room to do whatever is best.

If I were moving myself, I’d likely go with the horse trailer option, and make sure I could swap them into their carriers in the back seat of the truck if it got hot out so they could be in the A/C… Kind of wishing I had gone for the SUV right now - I would have just turned the back of that into a mobile kennel!

And yes, it feels creepy to be considering Euth. If the suggestion had come from anyone other than this friend I would have dismissed it, but (un?)fortunately she’s possibly one of the most balanced people I know when it comes to this kind of thing…

[TexasRose]

Sorry this post is a bit long, but I hope it will also be helpful.

My husband and I have traveled quite a bit over the years with our pets (cats and dog) and prefer driving than flying. The journey is longer but knowing they can see us and we can see them is a huge comfort and less stressful for all of us.

Actually, we just completed a 2-day road-trip from the East Coast to Texas (for work) and my cat was a champ (although our poor dog doesn’t travel well and she needed tranquilizers :eek:).

Traveling with cats; what worked for us in preparation for long trips, a month or more in advance, is to set our cat’s crate up in the living room with comfy bedding and let him walk in and out of it on his own. Most of the time when we use crates it’s because we need to take them to the vet so they may naturally associate crates with that stressful situation. :eek: If they are able to go in and out of it on their own I believe it becomes more of a safe haven away from daily stresses. Now we keep his crate set up all the time and we’ll find him sleeping in it during the day and at night he switches and sleeps in our dog’s crate… too funny!

In addition, I always put his harness on with a 10’ leash attached days in advance (just so he’ll get use to it) and won’t take it off until we are safely moved in to our new location. I’ve found that our cat(s) always would go under the hotel beds and those long leashes were a godsend when you needed to pull them out from underneath. :yes:

When in the car, we would put his crate on the back seat so he could see me (but found he would usually crawl underneath his bedding for the first day). We set up a smaller-sized litterbox we use just for travel on the floor behind my seat and a 2-compartment food-water bowl behind the other seat. After we are on the road for a while I would then open his crate door and let him come and go as he likes (he usually wouldn’t move from the crate until the second day). IMO I think it’s important that your cats travel together. Someone recommended a dog crate which is a good idea.

We didn’t need it for this trip but in the past we’ve used “Feliway Comfort Zone®” (purchased on-line from Drs Foster and Smith; its a calming aid). They offer a plug-in version for home and spray bottle version for travel. I’d spray some in his crate well before the trip and before I would let him out of his crate in a hotel room, I’d quickly spray the bedding and floor and this seemed to really relax him. It’s odorless to humans but works great for cats.

The idea of putting your cats in the horse trailer would work but most times (IMO) they need to be near “their person”, and not being able to see or hear you, this might turn out to be more stressful for them in the long run. Just a thought. :no:

My first cat was 15 when we began our road trips and he did better than I did. :lol: My cat now, 8, although he gets nervous with any sort of change, as long as I’m there to comfort him he seems to handle it well (or maybe, I just handle it better. :lol: ). Ibex, no doubt it’s going to be a stressful time when you are ready to move but I do wish you the best of luck whatever you decide and hope that you’ll keep us posted.

[BasqueMom]

Agree with Texas Rose about traveling with them even if it is longer. She has great ideas. Would Rescue Remedy started before the trip be helpful…think it is herbal.

Have you asked your vet about his/her recommendations?

There is all pet airlines–www.petairways.com–Perhaps their destinations might work for you. They fly in the plane’s cabin.

Would it possible for you to have the company to move your truck and trailer
and you rent an SUV for the trip across company?

Also think about the before and after of the move…things can get stressful
with movers, boxes, etc. and then unloading when you get there. If you fly
them on a regular airline, will you be traveling with them? Where will they go when you pick them up? etc, etc.

Make sure you have a few unwashed articles of your clothing such as t-shirts to travel with them. I think it helps if they have something familar with them
and your scent will help comfort them.

Decades ago I traveled with a cat across country with one stopover. Took her on the airplane…took her out of the carrier in flight and sat her on my lap…she
was quite cool with the whole thing. Not a peep! Had a fold-open litter box with me but she was good without it. She also liked to ride in the car, though.

We acquired another cat at new place and then planned to send them via air together in a large crate after then-DH got out of the Navy (we were taking two weeks to drive home plus only had a VW bug). They got into it so got two
smaller carriers for the light (this was way back when the carriers were wood
and wire screening). The trip was 4 hours, in-laws picked them up and they both had major diarrhea for several days after the trip.

[rodawn]

Actually I found that when we moved a long distance, both cats were happier in their individual crates positioned so that they could see me driving the car. Both cats hated change (most cats do, I think), and Simba was 13 when we last moved and Cinnamon was 15. Simba yowled a couple times and Cinnamon took about 30 minutes to settle in, but once they got used to the motion and realized I was right there with them, they just settled right on in and were quiet. A few hours into the trip and they hardly looked concerned at all.

We got little mini-litters to fit inside the crate (which was bigger than a standard kitty crate so they could get up and move around a bit) and their fav blannie to sleep on. They used the litter in the crate readily. We stopped and fed them their usual food and brought water from the old place (to keep the flavours the same) and then they were covered completely by the towel when we went inside a restaurant to eat so they could chill. I lifted the towel away from the front grill when I got back into the car so they could see me again (hubby was driving with the dogs in the other vehicle), but the towel covered the sides of the crates so they couldn’t see all the big trucks and cars whizzing beside them. At night, we stayed in pet-friendly motels and they came inside with us. We put out their familiar blannies to sleep on and their regular big-sized litter box. They were just fine. They would prowl the room for a while, but since motel rooms are quite small they got their bearings rather quickly. We found the dogs and cats actually kinda cuddled together and the cats were happier to see the whole “family” was all together even if it was a new place each night. Actually, I think the dogs were the most helpful for keeping the cats calmer, because our labs think any travel time is a great adventure and were always happy and relaxed. The cats would see that and it helped settle them too.

I think they would have been 10x more stressed being dumped in a strange airport, their crate picked up by strange people, surrounded by loud and strange noises all alone, dumped inside a VERY loud airplane where it also gets VERY cold, unloaded by more strange people in a strange place transported with the rest of the luggage in a cart outside to the back of the airport loading dock - in kitty’s mind, they’re alone, it’s strange and they’re very scared. Eventually, they have to be picked up by you, driven to the new place anyway and deposited into a new and strange house.

I dunno - I have always found even when taking a cat to the vet, they’re much happier if they can see and be close to their familiar people, especially if you have their total trust.

[redkat]

Since I was a single gal with a 2-br apartment, I found that the corporate budget to move me did not include enough to fly my cats. My transport allowance was separate from the amount paid to the movers, so before you make any plans, check and see how your move package is set up. Instead of showing up at an airport with no car, enough crap to see me through the TWO WEEKS it took my multiple-stop moving truck to get my stuff to me, and two cats in carriers, I elected to drive the three and a half days. It turned out to be a really good decision and much easier than expected.

The cats were fine in their crates with food, water, and their blankies. I let them out at any stops to use the box and stretch their legs, which they rarely elected to use in the car. They were more interested in looking out the windows and beeping the horn. I would talk to them while we drove, but for the most part they stayed quiet. We stayed at pet friendly hotels where they could romp around at night. They tended to settle in quite quickly in the hotel.

I don’t regret the decision at all. The cats were fine, I was able to deliver us all in one piece to the new apartment and get them settled in before the movers came, and was also able to bring along various cat essentials to make them feel more comfortable in their new home. I think it was far less stressful for them than flying because we were together through the change, I could assess their condition, and I didn’t have to worry about them being left on the tarmac of an airport in March.