What a wonderful update. I am sure it made your vacation much more pleasurable knowing he was healthy and happy with you:)
Glad the trip worked out so well!! You have given me some hope that when we head south this winter, our cats will be OK coming with us. We will be away too long for me to feel ok about leaving them with a sitter but although our 2 don’t have any particular health issues, I was still worrying about the stress they would have going to a new place for a month.
I’ve found that my cats trust me and take cues from my behavior and body language. If I get tense, upset, or hyper when traveling, they will think there surely must be something threatening to worry about. But if I’m calm and relaxed, they observe me and act quiet and patient, if watchful. Just like having a horse, haha. And I’ve found that even the worst cat traveler will wear itself after 2 hours of craziness and will finally shut up and go to sleep.