Travelling with cats

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I'm moving house and it involves a 7 hour drive with 2 cats. It'll just be me in an estate car and I've got a few of options.....

Large cage in the boot - both cats locked in the cage - but there won't be enough room for a litter tray

Cats in the boot - there would be enough room for the litter tray but I'm worried that they might get stuck in the dog guard if they tried to get through onto the back seats

Cats allowed to roam free - I'm worried how I would get out the car without them escaping when I need to stop for the loo.

So what do you think is best?

Personally I think I'd use the dog cage? I thought about suggesting chickenwire across the dog guard, but you wouldn't want the pair of them jumping out when you open the boot.

Could you possibly get a mild sedative so they sleep the whole way there?

Of those options, I'd go for both in large cage in boot, but only if you're sure they won't fight. Mine get along well but would be pissed off to have to be so close to eachother (actually Borpcat2 would love it, but Borpcat1 would get sick of him pretty quickly).

I would have them each in a separate carrier, strapped to back seats, with litter tray in passenger footwell. Let them out of carriers (with windows shut and doors locked) when you stop so they can use the litter tray, and have water available for them then too. They definitely need to be contained in some way for safety. The last thing you need in an accident is a cat being thrown between your face and your airbag.

The current vet advice is no sedatives because of the risk of vomiting. Your best bet is two separate cages because when cats are frightened they can fight. If you're driving on your own, you've got to think safety first. I regularly move house, driving big distances with my two. This year alone, we're in three different houses in three different countries!

I remove food liquids about two to four hours before travel. I line the crates with puppy pads in case they do go, but tbh this has only happened once and it was poop! Carry spare pads/blankets and cover carriers with light sheet so they can't see out often helps. No food, water or litter trays in crates.

Do not let them free roam under any circumstances. They'll be in the footwell when you're driving, and a distraction. If you have to break hard.... And obviously they'll leg it the minute you open the car door.

My noisy cat is much quieter if she can't see me, and my quiet cat is happiest when he's in his crate on the passenger seat but not able to see out of the front windscreen. But it has taken a lot of car trips to figure that out.

Good luck.

RAC do pet carriers with bits that the seat belt can pass through, so you can strap the carriers to the seat more securely.

If they respond well to Feliway, spray a little in the carriers before the journey, and leave them out for a few days, doors open with a blanket/towel inside, to allow cats to familiarise themselves.

The puppy pads - a brilliant idea, never thought of that.

Spider ropes (bungee straps) whatever they are called also work.

Hi, we drove from Essex to Edinburgh with our cat and she was fine. We do just have the one but we used a dog cage across the back seat. We managed to fit her litter tray in, not that she used it, she just sat in it weirdly most of the way!

We covered the sides with a towel as she gets a bit freaked out by moving traffic, we did drive at night so it was a lot quieter. She was a lot calmer than we thought she would be all that way and didnt seem to phased when we got to the other end.

Agree no food or water before travelling and put a pad or towel in the carrier which can be replaced if need be.

Have moved several times too and never needed litter trays.

My previous two cats actually preferred to travel together but we had a carrier which was big enough to accommodate both of them.

Different cats will react differently to travelling though but agree that a blanket over the carrier helps to calm them as they can't see out. Previous two cats were good as gold travelling and never uttered a sound. Most recent cat cried all the way home from the rescue, and again all the way to and from the vet for her check-up.

When I moved to Edinburgh it was wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah all the fucking way chatting to each other, chatting to me, chatting to the fecking night sky.

The settled down and fell asleep ten minutes before we arrived. Ten fucking minutes.

They croaked for a week after that.

When I moved to Cardiff I worked out that if I put the noisy one in the back seat and the quiet one in the front seat things were much better although we were still cat sirening all the way up the M54.

We have an eight and a half hour trip again coming up. Deep joy.

God, I only had an hour of yelling when we picked up Little Monsieur as a kitten. Even after that he was croakey. Didn't stop him exiting the carrier as if he owned the place, and demanded we flicked his Flying Frenzy around for 2 hours once we got him home. After which he got under the duvet between DH and I, leaving us about 2 inches of space.

8 and a half hours? You'll need some ball-gags then. They sound so mournful.

When we moved house, we put MCat in a wire dog crate. He did monkey-bar swinging from the top bars of the cage, yowling all the way. Thank Christ it was only a 10 minute journey.