Moving with a cat

At the end of Feb I have the pleasure of moving my boyfriend's cat from New York to South Carolina, a distance of about 900 miles. I'm not quite sure on the best way to do this. Anyone have any tips or pointers?

Are you travelling by car?

A crate would be a good idea. Get a leash for potty stops.

Don't be surprised if the kittie leaves a stinky present for you in his crate...cats get stressed on car trips and sometimes poo happens. You should probably bring an extra towel or two in case you need to clean up!

Good idea. You could line the crate with newspaper and take some baby wipes as well.

A thought: You could take him/her for a few short trips in his/her crate in the car, before you actually leave. Give him/her a bit of time to get used to it.

You could use a small blanket to cover the crate; he/she might feel safer.

Belt the crate in securely in your car. Keep a window down. Take water and food.

Keep a tight hold of the leash when you take her out. My cat got out of my hands at the vet, and it was a mission catching her and finding her again; in my car engine of all places. :yikes:

She loves to hang out in my dogs crate when he's not in it, so she's already used to being in one and she has gone on a few car rides in a crate and doesn't seem to mind it that much, just not one for 14 hours. Do they make little litter boxes that can go in a crate? She's an indoor cat so I don't know how she'll respond to going outside, when we got her we tried to put her on a leash and she just layed on the floor and didn't move at all! Do you think going outside might be too stressful for her, since she isn't use to it?

Thanks for the help--the boyfriend owes me big for this

We travel with Bailey every year down to NC (from MO, an 18 hour trip) and she's pretty good. We have a crate, but Her Majesty prefers the door open so she can come and go as she pleases. (We do shut her in the crate whenever we stop for gas and to switch drivers - about every two hours.) We bought a deep plastic pan that fits on the floor behind the front seats and use those absorbent crystals (had to get her used to those before the trip since it's not something we use at home on a regular basis.) The high sides help contain any 'accidents' if Bailey misjudges the size of the box.

Unless your cat is used to going outside in unfamiliar territory (we did have one cat, Brando, who was quite happy walking along with the dogs, no matter where we were), I'd leave her in the car. Less stress for her and you don't have to worry about losing her if she slips out of the leash.
Whenever you take a break at a rest stop or gas station, let her out and offer her some water (I doubt she'll eat, although you can try.)

Once you get to her new home, it would probably be less stressful for her if you put her in a room by herself to acclimate (maybe with some of your boyfriend's clothes) for a little while. She'll let you know when she's feeling brave enough to explore the rest of the house...

This is Bailey. (The Queen Is Not Amused...)

Drug the Cat for 14 hours

Just kidding, but I do not envy you at all... I cant stand being in the car with my cats for the half hour car ride to the vet... they scream the entire way. I would bring a regular litter box and stop every few hours... go in somewhere and get something to eat... leave the litter box on the seat and hope the cat uses it while you are gone (obviously you need to leave the cat out of the crate at this point). Cats really can hold it a long time. Good Luck and the boyfriend certainly owes you.

Elissa

The crate sounds like a good idea. For the litter box, try to find a container that you could put down that's not too big. You might try holding it in place with a few pieces of velcro on the bottom so it doesn't move around.

THanks for all the help!

Bring some earplugs. We moved a cat 800 miles and she screamed the entire way. It got so loud that my father was threatening to put her in the bed of the truck. (Of course he would never actually do that but darn! she was loud). She was inside a crate but thankfully did not leave us any gifts. Our new cat on the other hand, pees in his crate in the 10 minuets it takes to get to the vet.

Our Siamese used to do that on every car trip (Dad couldn't say anything because he was the one who insisted on getting a Siamese in the first place). Ming had a very deep penetrating voice (we could hear him inside the house when we were outside in the back of the yard) so you can imagine what it was like inside a car. We couldn't board him because not even the vet would take him (he yowled nonstop there, too).

karabee331: Don't let us scare you with our 'horror' stories. If the kitty hasn't objected strenuously on the few car rides she's been on, she'll probably be okay for this longer trip. Will she tolerate a collar? You can pick up temporary tags (they're plastic containers with a place to write info) and put her name and your (or your boyfriend's) cell phone number on it for travel purposes. (We do that with the dogs when we go on vacation - listing the address where we're staying, dates we'll be there & cell phone number.)