LONG car journey with cat - advice please

[Catcatcat12]

We are driving to the south of France this summer and we are bringing our indoor only cat. We’ve done a 5 hour journey once before but this would be considerably longer.

I would love to hear your best travel tips. How do we best sort out the litter tray and food for the journey? How do we keep her comfortable and happy?

Thanks in advance

Also depending on where you are and budget there are some very fancy catteries. You can pay more for larger spaces and views!

We use ‘workaway’ to find people to car sit whilst we are away.

recently had someone for 3 weeks. He actually stayed 2 years ago as well so you can often find people who will repeat. He stayed the entire time at our place, looked after our 2 cats, kept them company, watered plants for us etc. He’s a writer, so happy to go to new places and write whilst travelling a bit.
In laws used someone from there for their dog recently as well. A lady in her 70s who lived the other side of the country, and likes pet sitting some times for a change of scenery in a new location.

We used to take our cat on holiday with us every year when I was a child. It was about 6 hours' drive.

The cat honestly enjoyed it. She sat on our laps during the journey and when we had breaks we took her out on a lead (she wasn't so keen on that). We used to stay in a rural area and she absolutely loved it. She roamed around the fields hunting in a way she couldn't where we lived.

She was an outdoor cat and Siamese, maybe that makes a difference.

We collected kittens from 3 hours away and got a dog crate with a bed and litter tray in it so they were comfy

Have you considered said cat escaping though , you'd never find it again🙈 and would have to leave to go home .

Surely it would be better to leave it at home and get someone to pop in and feed it so it's safer !

Depending on the specific start/end locations this could be a 15-16 hour drive each way. Please do not put your cat through this.
If it was me and I couldn't find a cat sitter / cattery to board her I would cancel the holiday.

Thanks everyone.

This purpose of this post was to ask for practical tips with the journey, as we had already spoken with the breeder, her vet, and friends who use a service which drives their cats and dog to Spain annually for their holiday. I agree that it sounds mad to bring your pet on an extended car journey for just a holiday but people do this, and it seems to work, as long as you do it right.

We are not bringing our cat as we had a change of plans, so she is off the hook! Hopefully next time we will be able to have her board with the family she spent last summer with, whom she seemed to like.

Sorry about the grammatical errors

Honestly OP I wouldn't do it based on what you've said, but I would look round a bunch of catteries/cat hotels. The best ones let you pop in to visit any time without an appt which I think is good transparency on how they are with their animals all the time (ie not on show for a couple of hours each day).

I was dubious about leaving mine but found one run by people who genuinely care, and every time my two antisocial fluffs go, they come back fat and happy and purring, and cuddle up to the two people who are mostly in charge of the cat runs. The pens aren't super pretty, but you can take your own scratch posts, beds etc so they feel at home.

I still hate leaving them because I miss them (mainly away for work but occasionally holiday too), but I'd much rather leave them in safety and comfort with humans and cuddles and vet access than try to take them away on such a long journey which would stress them.

Glad yours is off the hook for this one - but do look around and visit some cat hotels if you have a chance, they're not all alike by a long way!

Good luck!

I find playing neoclassical music helps soothe and relax my cat. She's a big fan of Sebastian Plano and will often come and sit by the music source. She also loves the sound of Duduk, which is a sinuous sounding flute type instrument used in Armenia, Turkey and in the Middle East. I have various Lévon Minassian's CDs that she loves to listen to and will send her to sleep.

There are lots of kitty sleep music compilations on YouTube.

I have done this a couple of times as we have a house about 3-4 hours away, and it’s been fine. Our cat has settled down and gone to sleep after half an hour - but he does like to have his head stroked! As soon as we have let him out of his carrier, he’s straight out and back to normal. He had never been to the toilet en route and we don’t stop. I’m generally more worried when he’s asleep, as at least when he’s moving around, I know he’s ok! Poor cat can’t win! He’s a very laid back ragdoll though, and I definitely couldn’t have taken a previous cat who used to miaw and pant.