How to Travel Long Distances with Cats
Most times when you are planning a road trip, the cats aren’t normally ones to go along for the ride. I can count on one hand the amount of cats that I’ve met that actually enjoy the car. My cats loathe going in the car. Misty and Princess are indoor cats and the only time they leave is when they have to go to the vet. About two years ago, Misty and Princess were in their carrier on their way to the vet in my car. When we arrived at the vet and went to take them, we discovered that Misty had urinated all over the carrier and her sister, Princess. The poor girl was stressed out! I knew then and there that I would only take Misty in a car only if I absolutely had to.
Well, that time came last month. We were moving from Nova Scotia to Ontario and the cats were coming. I swear I was more stressed about moving the cats than I was about the actual move itself. I researched and talked to friends and family about how to make the move as easy as possible for Princess and Misty.
I debated whether or not to have Misty and Princess in the vehicle with us or have them fly with Air Canada to Ottawa and then my mom could pick them up at the airport. After discussing with the vet, she thought that going in the car with us would be easier on the two of them. Not only that but it made me nervous to have them alone on a plane without me close by. That settled my internal debate. The cats were joining us and we’d just have to tough it out.
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Today I have a few tips to share on how to travel long distances with cats. Some are from my own research and talking to our vet and others are from our personal experience making the 1,700 km drive from Middleton, NS to Pembroke, ON with our two adult cats.
1. Visit a veterinarian BEFORE you travel. You’ll want to make sure that your cat’s vaccinations are up to date and get them a check-up to make sure they are healthy enough to travel. Plus, your vet is an excellent source for advice on how to make the trip easier for your cat! Our vet recommended a natural medication to help them relax on the drive. She listed a variety of options to help them calm down and make the experience as easy as possible for them. It was worth the money to know they were healthy and get medication to calm their anxiety for the drive.
2. Make sure you have a big enough carrier for the cat to stand in. You don’t want them to feel cramped and you’ll also need room to put a blanket, food, water and their litter. My suggestion here is don’t wait till the last minute to find a carrier. I was stressing and driving all over the place to find a store that carried the right size carrier. I eventually found one, but I had to go an hour out of my way to get it!
3. Put familiar items from home in the carrier with your cat. I put in a blanket that my cats love to sleep on. It’s their blanket only (and full of cat hair) and I wanted them to get the scent of home while on the road.
4. Buy a case of bottled water before you head out. Not only can you and your family drink it on the road, but the cats will be thirsty too. Remember to bring a dish to pour the water in! John and I forgot to pack one for Princess and Misty and had to improvise. John cut a water bottle in half to make it into a bowl for the girls to drink from. I noticed them drinking more water than eating.
5. Make frequent rest stops. We stopped every 2 to 3 hours so the cats could use the litter, drink more water and eat a little. Plus, it gave them a break from the bumpy roads. I don’t recommend taking them out of their carriers though. It would be too easy for the cat to run away. Please don’t ever leave your cat (or child or any other animal for that matter) alone in a vehicle!
6. Call ahead to hotels along the way to make sure your cats are welcome. We drove straight through to avoid having to bring the cats to a hotel. However if you do need to stop for the night somewhere, you’ll want to know which hotels will allow your cats to come into the room with you.
7. Let your cat dictate how often he/she eats. I asked Petcurean’s Pet Nutritionist, Michele Dixon, about how often should my cats be eating while traveling. She said that it’s a personal preference and there’s no set way of feeding either at home or on the road. The cat will dictate how often they want to eat. She suggested checking out Catster for some cat travel tips.
If you want to make sure your cat is eating healthy, try one of Petcurean’s cat food products. The GO! FIT + FREE is a protein-rich, lower carb cat food that contains premium-quality meat proteins. In fact, the first six ingredients listed are all meat! Out of all the GO! recipes, FIT + FREE has the most meat. They also contain zero grains or gluten and are recipes formulated for cats with food sensitivities. They help to keep your cat strong, healthy and of course, fit! For a dry food, try GO! FIT + FREE Grain Free Chicken, Turkey + Duck Recipe. For canned food, try either FIT + FREE Grain Free Chicken, Turkey + Duck Pâté or FIT + FREE Grain Free Chicken, Turkey + Trout Stew. Visit Petcurean to learn more about their pet food and other important information about health & nutrition.
Now that we are settled in to our home, we aren’t planning any road trips with the cats! Princess and Misty seem to like it here and are happy. I’m just grateful that the trip went better than expected and we all arrived in one piece!
Have you ever traveled with a cat? If you have any tips, please share!
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Disclosure: I was compensated for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.
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Glad to hear that your trip with the cats went well. We have two cats and they both get very stressed in the car. The one also gets carsick so that makes it worse.
those are fantastic tips
Thanks for all the great tips! Moved our cats on the train years ago and it was a bit of a nightmare!
So glad your kitties got moved safely! We have 2 cats (Tiger and Shadow) who both love the car! We discovered this when we moved in May; they just love it! Thanks for all of the tips.
Great tips!! I completely agree that it’s important for the carrier to be big enough for the cat. Sometimes, I see people with their cats or dogs in a tiny little carrier. It’s important for them to be comfortable, especially while on long road trips!
glad the trip turned out great and your kitties survived, I used to have two kitties that loved taking car rides they used to chill out in the back window
having the right carrier can really make a difference
it is not a pretty sight just to get my cats in the carriers as they hate the car. The were a feral rescues, it can be quite difficult, I can’t imagine a trip further than the vet. I am going to bookmark your tips for that eventuality ‘just in case’.
I can’t imagine making a long trip with cats! I have two and hopefully it never becomes necessary!
Our cat always traveled well in the car, but the last time we took her (on a 5-6 hour trip) she got sick and vomited, so now we make sure she stays home, only travels when she has to go to the vet.
great tips, will be using the bottle water one for sure!
I have never traveled with a cat, and I think it was very brave of you to travel with a pet that does not like traveling. Thank you for sharing these great tips.
Funny I see this on your blog, my cousin is going quite a distance away with her cat. This is the first time she’s taken him with her on such a long journey. I’ll have to share this thank you so much.
Thanks for this blog post! Our Mama cat just had a litter of kittens and they are all so precious! We found forever homes most of them and we decided to keep one of the kittens whom we named Arya! She is precious and this info will def help when we go on trips!
Thanks for all the great tips,just a short trip to the vet is a nightmare
Excellent tips. Glad you made it to Ontario with the cats alright. My cousin once traveled half way across the country with her dog, I know they took a lot of breaks so the dog could walk around and what not.
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Thanks for sharing these tips,it can be very stressful and so scary
Thank you so much for these tips! I am very lucky to have a fur baby that enjoys traveling but doing a longer than 8 hours trip is coming up soon, so I was hoping to find some extra advice. Thanks, again!
Thank you for these helpful tips. We are moving in the spring and I did not know what to do about the cat. The idea of an extra large carrier is terrific. I plan on getting a dog when we arrive at our new home so it will find another use.
We moved 5 years ago with 3 cats. Each had their own carrier. We let them out of their carrier while in the car. They were much happier that way. We were in 2 vehicles and separated the youngest one as he has a tendency to irritate the other 2. We are moving long distance again this year. Thankfully it is just 8 hours. We plan to do the same thing. I have a music cd for relaxing cats if we need it.
I just traveled 1900+ miles from CA to TX with my two male cats. I read up on everything I could online about traveling with cats before the trip. One of my cats, Cooper, is very easy going and easy to handle.. The other .. not so much! His name is Skit for a good reason..he is extremely frightful and skittish. After my experience I wanted to share some things I have learned. Since my cats frequently sleep together I decided to put them in the same carrier. I purchased a soft sided octagon carrier with two zipper doors and a zipper top opening. I rented an SUV to put the carrier in the back. Starting a few weeks before the trip, I put the carrier with their favorite blanket inside, for them to acclimate to. I left the top open and gradually closed it a little each day. They took to it right away and slept in it every day. The woman at Pet Express where I purchased the carrier suggested starting them on two doses a day of hemp oil .. The brand is Treatables, a natural calming oil. She said to give it on some treats twice a day, and then double the morning dose on the first day of travel. She also suggested I put a smaller travel size litter box in the carrier, which I did. When the big day came, I fed them 3hrs before leaving. I then put them in the carrier and put a sheet over the entire thing. I then carried it to the car, leaving the sheet covering the carrier. For the first 10 minutes of driving to pick up my friend who was traveling with me, Skit meowed quite a bit but quieted each time I spoke to him saying “you’re okay” several times. By the time we got on the road he quieted completely and neither of them made a peep for the entire 10 hr drive the first day. Every few hours when we stopped for gas, I offered them water but neither drank until we reached the pet friendly hotel. I only let them out of the carrier once we were safely inside the hotel room when I gave them food, a bowl of water and their litter box. On the first day Cooper had deficated on the blanket which I had to remove and wash in the coin laundry at the hotel, but that was the only accident either of them had. We traveled two more 10 hr days and they did great! I did discontinue the Treatables drops during the remainder of the drive because I believe it was causing them to have bowel movements more frequently. I think if you preplan in helping your cat (s) to acclimate as much as possible beforehand it makes all the difference, however in my opinion, if you have a cat that’s hard to catch like mine, I would not recommend doing “trial runs” in the car, as they might become less trustful and more resistant knowing what lies ahead. I was so stressed for months about this trip with the cats but was SO pleasantly surprised at how easy it actually turned out to be.
Wish I could add a photo. Our cat travels around 1200 miles in our car twice a year. He’s a good traveler. The first year we traveled from upstate NY to central FL, we left him with a friend for 6 months. Guess he decided traveling was in his future because for 5 years now we’ve been making this trip down in the fall and back in the spring. Three days each way.
My cat is the most nervous boy and did not know how we were going to move 5 1/2 hours away with him.
The vet allowed us to have liquid Gabapentin which we gave him 2 hours before travel time. He sat and looked out the window and didn’t seem to mind the trip. We both were happy with the move and he is happy here.