How to transport cats long distance by car?

[Yddraigoldragon]

Need advice please - I am likely to have to move with work, and have a pair of cats I will need to transport 200 miles by car.
Their car experience so far has been home from the farm where they were born (wailed the whole way, one was sick) about half an hour in the car, and sundry trips to the vet for spaying and kitten checks etc (wailed the whole way there and back)!

They are sisters, still young and a bit mad so no way they could be loose in the car.

Does anyone have any experience of such a journey, and any advice re how to contain them and possibly calm them down so we don't get 4-5 hours of upset for them and us ?
How do we deal with dirty / wet litter on the way?

talk to your vet about sedation.

But - long journeys are usually OK. I know someone who drove the CP van from the midlands to the rehoming centre.

A van full of cats. As soon as she got on the motorway they went to sleep.

Don't feed them on the day of travel, so they don't need to use litter, and also won't be able to be sick.

Feliway the car.

If you can have a spare cat carrier and line all of them with incontinence pads - they will soak up any pee and if you do have a cat that poos or is sick you transfer them to the spare carrier (in the car with the windows up) and wrap and throw the pad in the bin in the disabled toilet at the motorway service station.

No sedation, Yddra.

We discussed this in a previous thread (to save me typing.) Here it is - might be useful.

\link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray/1606295-Anyone-travelled-with-cats\travelling with cats}

Best of luck - it's perfectly do-able.

PS - I'd also review your carrying arrangements to make sure that you have enough room for them. My personal inclination would be to have a carrier each for them to ensure that they don't set each other off. At the very least (given they're still young and probably growing) you're going to have to have a carrier or cage that is truly big enough for two. And that means big enough for them to each move around in and not just big enough to get two of them into it.

Wow thanks for the help guys, Mumsnet wisdom is a wonderful thing. Thanks Cozie for the link!

I was losing sleep wondering how to organise it, have some really good ideas now.

Have never used Feliway but will try it now and gauge the effect on them. They are too big to both go in one carrier even for small trips but it seems worth investing in a couple of spares and bringing them in so they are accepted in advance of being needed for swaps on a journey.

OH has just suggested puppy training pads to line the bottoms of the carriers, seems like a reasonable suggestion.

Thanks all!

You could, I suppose (and it's a valid suggestion which is worth a try) just that I've found the easiest is a large scrunched up towel as I mentioned. They don't much like peeing en route and will tend to cross their legs - but if there's an accident you just whip a spare in to the carrier and put the wet one in a plastic bag. Then into the machine on a hot wash when you get to destination. They might use a tray at a pit stop but that's still a little unlikely. Reason for a towel is not just that but also that they're comfy for them and can be burrowed into. They're also easily rearranged in the event of shenanigans.

Be prepared when you get to the destination to quickly nip them into a room with tray and food/water, close the door and leave them quietly be. That should be your very first thing on arrival.

Don't worry. I've taken cats on loads of long journeys without mishap and 200 miles really isn't too bad for them at all. The reason you're apprehensive is mainly, I suspect, that all the journeys you've done with them have been pretty short and they've not had time on those trips to get over their squawky period and hunker down.

Good luck with them anyway.

PS - just to note that my cat carriers all have plastic bases so are impervious to pee coming through. If you don't have those, then maybe the puppy things might be a good lining if they're waterproof.

I nearly chucked our cat in a ditch bringing him home, he doesnt know how close he came to kitticide.

I made the mistake of letting the breeder feed him one last meal (madness) and we drove at a normal speed.

Now I dont feed him before trips and we go everywhere at 30mph.

When we used to take the cats on holiday (caught the madness off my parents didnt I?) we took all 4 in special crates designed for air travel, they were huge, they had one each.

Zylkene is good for a few days calmness.

We have wicker carriers at the mo, so potential for leaks. For short journeys we have always used a folded up newspaper and then a folded big towel, I think they find it comfy as they are happy to sleep in there if a basket is left out.

I like the idea of plastic carriers - will investigate some bigger ones so they have room to move around and rest properly. We took one to the vets today and whilst it was fine for a short journey, there was no room to curl up properly or stretch etc - so would not work for hours at a time.

Thanks again for the advice, it is appreciated!