Taking Cats On Roadtrips
Hey everyone! I have been getting some questions about staying in hotels with pets. I have a funny story about that! Take a look and see if you can relate.
Road Trip!
I once remembered when we were moving from Boston to Atlanta, we packed everything we had in a long rental minivan. I didnt want to take one of those long 24 foot uhauls or anything like that, and they didnt have much else available. At least the 3rd row of seats folded down into the floor which was great for us. We had to throw a ton of things away, but I managed to pack an absolute insane amount of stuff into that van. It was almost vacuum sealed it was packed so tight. Literally every little nook and cranny that I could find I jammed a dustpan, lintbrush, knicknack, or other little item into the free spot.
Grab the Cat
Now some cats like the car. I have seen cats who have grown up as city dwelling nomads. They ride in subways and walk around on the busy sidewalks. They lounge around in places they have never been to and walk up to strangers. Not my cat! He is a real homebody type of cat and he will act bold if someone comes over, but put him outside in the stairwell and he becomes a big scaredy cat.
So I go and jam the covered litter box into the space behind my drivers seat. We put a little food and water dish over behind the passengers side where my wife is. Then I go and grab the cat and take him outside. It was very snowy out that day and the ground was covered with slush. He wasnt too happy even coming down the elevator, by the time he got outside he was already yelling.
Lets Drive
So within about 5 minutes into the 18 hour trip, he is meowing nonstop. I am fighting with traffic and trying to drive a big overloaded van so I am not very amused. He decides to try and hide under my seat and gets stuck in all the springs and metal bars that are under there. I try to pull him out while trying to drive at the same time. I finally yank him out and pass him one handed over to my wife. She tries to keep him still but he wont have any of that!
He starts to wander around the car yelling the whole time. He tries to get into the steering wheel and underneath the brake petal as im trying to drive. Within 15 minutes I was already dreading the trip ahead!
Be Cool Cat, Be Cool
After about 3 hours or so, he is still wandering around the entire van, or whatever is not packed with stuff, and is starting to calm down quite a bit. He is meowing here and there, but is much better than before, much to my wifes relief. She had been very upset about the cat being upset, and that was just making everything that much crazier.
At about 12 hours into the trip he settled down quite well. He would wander around, but wouldnt meow anymore. He would look out at the other cars driving on the highway near us. By the time the trip ended, he was completely relaxed, like he lived in the van or something!
All in all, it began as a very stressful experience, but is a fun memory. Taking your cat on roadtrips may be like this, or it may be much easier, depending on your cats disposition. Good luck!
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