Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Taking cats on holiday with me - am I mad?!

51 replies

silverley · 26/11/2021 20:16

Posting here to check whether this idea is actually reasonable, or whether I've completely lost the plot.

I'm living in Ireland but am hoping to go visit family in the UK around Christmas (2 weeks-1 month). I'll be taking my dog with me, but also have two cats. Looking at catterys today and my heart just sank...most of the ones in my area are essentially weld mesh cages in barns. I can't bear to think of them somewhere like that for a month.

Leaving them at my house and having a pet sitter come in isn't feasible, due to remote location and state of house (renovating at the moment). Would it be mad to take them with me to the UK for the month??? I'll drive and ferry over, then stay with family. They'd have to stay indoors for a month, but at least would be somewhere nice with people they know.

I'm just worried about the stress of travelling and a new place...what does everyone think??

OP posts:
Cecillie · 26/11/2021 22:47

Cats don't really have the same concept of time that we do
As long as they are warm, well fed and not stressed, four weeks is not much different to one.
But you do need to find a nice cattery

mangowithasqueezeoflime · 26/11/2021 22:50

I have done Catinaflat both as a client and a sitter and find it very good. Seems they are in Ireland now:

ie.catinaflat.com/

Original poster
silverley · 26/11/2021 22:51

@icedcoffees Perhaps I'm worrying too much? Just looking at the pictures on Facebook of the ones local to me, they seem to be fairly small, just a plastic chair with a blanket, a bed and a scratching post, entirely indoors. Is this the norm? I've never used a cattery before and thought they would be a bit nicer.

OP posts:
Original poster
silverley · 26/11/2021 22:53

[quote mangowithasqueezeoflime]I have done Catinaflat both as a client and a sitter and find it very good. Seems they are in Ireland now:

ie.catinaflat.com/[/quote]
Thank you - no sitters in my area apparently. I'm very rural and out of the way!

OP posts:
Honeyroar · 26/11/2021 22:55

Perhaps look at a cattery near to your relatives then? My friend sends hers to a lovely one. Her cats have a room full of climbing frames and platforms with a huge comfy chair and beds.

aramox1 · 26/11/2021 23:18

Can you get a catsitter to stay? There are companies that specialise in this.

MrsSkylerWhite · 26/11/2021 23:20

I’d worry about them getting out and lost.

Lots of people board digs in their homes. Is the same available for cats?

icedcoffees · 26/11/2021 23:21

[quote silverley]@icedcoffees Perhaps I'm worrying too much? Just looking at the pictures on Facebook of the ones local to me, they seem to be fairly small, just a plastic chair with a blanket, a bed and a scratching post, entirely indoors. Is this the norm? I've never used a cattery before and thought they would be a bit nicer.[/quote]
I've never known a cattery like that - the staff always give the cats plenty of attention and fussy

MrsFin · 26/11/2021 23:31

There are pet sitting websites where you can find people who will come and live in your house for a sort of free holiday in return for looking after your pets.
Might be worth a look.

MrsFin · 26/11/2021 23:33

Or I bet there'll be a local teenager who'd welcome a bolt hole for a few weeks in return for cat spring.
Have you tried local FB pages?

helpfulperson · 27/11/2021 08:49

I would just take them. I take my cats to visit my parents with me. At first they were restricted to the spare room where I slept. So a much bigger nicer space than a cattery then on the second visit they got the run of the house and now they go out and about just like they do at home. There is no catflap and they learnt very quickly to come and scratch at the window when they want back in.

PoisoningPigeons · 27/11/2021 09:01

We always took our cat with us when we visited family (PiLs), but it was "only" a 4-hour drive. We brought her litter tray, food bowls, favourite blanket etc. The first couple of (short) visits we kept her indoors the whole time, but on longer visits once she was used to the place, she was allowed out.

Seasonschange · 27/11/2021 09:08

I think it depends entirely on the cat. When we moved house our cat was completely not bothered. She hated the car journey but wasn’t stressed at the change of house. But she is an indoor cat and never bolts for the back door or anything so that would be a worry for me if I were you.

AmandaHugenkiss · 27/11/2021 14:37

We’ve got an indoor cat, he goes to the in-laws when we go on holiday and he settles in straight away. We are planning to take him for Christmas when we visit them. It isn’t a long journey though, and he’s an extremely sociable cat who loves and needs human interaction. The last cat took a few visits to settle in, but to my mind having him there was no different to the cattery.

Not sure about such a long journey though, that’s a large amount of stress to put them through.

Needspace21 · 27/11/2021 21:23

That is terrible, terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE advice! Cats should be kept in any new place for at least three weeks, sometimes longer if it's nervous cat. This is what most rescues recommend.

Well it's always worked for us and I would say way less stressful for the cat than being in a small cage for a month!

TheLongRider · 27/11/2021 21:31

Are there any Dublin based catteries you could use? Drop them off on the way to the ferry and collect them when you return?

Babymamamama · 27/11/2021 21:37

Cats hate travel. Focus on finding someone who is able to come in once a day to feed and top up water. That’s the kindest option.

CrikeyPeg · 29/11/2021 03:14

If they're vaccinated and passported and able to travel to the UK, can you try and find a decent cattery in the same area as your family, ie they come along for the ride and stay at their own digs? Our guy is on prescription food so he can't go into any communual setting, and luckily for us and him, most of the catteries around our area have private suites. Some have the small cages as well but it seems that mostly they're for sleeping/night time only and the rest of the time they're out in general population; I've never seen any cat actually in one of the small cages when we've been to inspect places or drop our guy off.

CrikeyPeg · 29/11/2021 03:20

Forgot to say, I'm in New Zealand and so I've got no idea at all about how long such a journey would be, and only you know whether your cats would travel well. Our cat's tolerance for travel is about 30 seconds, then he starts yowling. Thankfully our vet clinic and current cattery are not too far away and it's usually only on the way home that we have any kind of toilet incident.

Ftl6 · 04/12/2021 14:21

You know your cats and how they’d cope better than anyone else. I took my cats with me when I visited family (around 2 hours in the car so a bit closer) when they were younger and they were fine. They loved exploring a new place and soon got over the stress of the journey. If you’ll be home with them a lot (they may not like being left without you for long periods in a new place) then I’m sure they will be fine.

I’m surprised that so many people are against the idea.

EachandEveryone · 04/12/2021 14:26

Have you got a posh cat hotel even an hours drive away?

VirgilStarkwell · 04/12/2021 14:34

I think you are being unreasonable to put this conundrum to us without even providing pictures of your cats!

AllotmentTime · 04/12/2021 14:40

I definitely wouldn’t do this as a one off. The journey will be very stressful for your cats and settling in to the new place will also be stressful. Not worth it for one occasion.

I used to take my cat an hour’s drive to/from uni digs and felt like that took a few trips before she was equally happy in both places, and she was pretty adaptable.

What cattery are you looking at, maybe someone on here can advise what it’s like/how it looks to compare to others?

(Also how would you toilet them on a long trip?? I can’t figure out the logistics of letting a cat use a litter tray en route!! Am I missing something?)

icedcoffees · 04/12/2021 14:43

I’m surprised that so many people are against the idea.

Because, as a general rule, cats are very territorial animals and don't like being uprooted from their homes.

There's a good reason why rescues tell you to keep cats inside for a good three weeks when you move house or re-home. Cats wander and can easily get lost if they're scared or frightened.

What happens if one of the cats escapes abroad and OP has no choice but to return home without them?

wheresmymojo · 04/12/2021 16:03

Personally in your circumstances I would take mine with me.

They're very bonded to me and I know (from moving house) that they settle in somewhere quickly as long as I'm with them.

I know exactly the kind of cattery you mean - my parents used one like that and our family cat used to come back very hunched and odd for a week or two afterwards. When you live in the middle of nowhere you don't have a load of options of nice catteries which is what PP seem to be missing here!

I would look into a potential light sedative for the travel. Saying that my cats hate being in the car for the first 15 mins and aren't too bad after that.