Hi everyone!
Has you may know I just recently went on a 12 day vacation to the East Coast and on this trip we decided to bring our furry friend Kira along for the 12+ hour drive! I know “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” This would be our second time doing thing lenghtly trip with Kira and I thought I prepared myself properly the second time because let’s face it, the first time, I had no idea what what coming for me. And if like me, thought I knew what what headed my way the second time around, WRONG!
I want to first say that this blog is not intended to make your travel plans go off without a hitch but simply to give you more information on what could go wrong, what can go right and what I would suggest you pack in your car just in case anything were to go wrong.
Prior to the first trip I had done virtually no research on how to travel with a cat because I was used to doing this trip with dogs and thought it probably wouldn’t be too different. WRONG, again! During the first trip we put her in her crate with a blanket at the bottom and put her in there. She whined and meowed for the first FOUR HOURS and then settled down a little but still kept whining and meowing for the whole 13 hour drive. She didn’t use the little box or want to drink or eat anything including treats. There were no bathroom accidents either. On our way back home from that trip, the first 4 hours were okay, she laid down in the cage and meowed ever so often to let us know she was still there. I think she was giving us a little peace and quiet for a little while because she whined and cried for the last 8 hours of our trip. We vowed to NEVER bring her back on such a trip again, both for her well being and our own.
How does the saying go? Never say never. When it came time to planning out this trip we thought long and hard about what to do with Kira. Should we leave her home and have someone come check on her daily and interact with her or should we try and find a way to bring her with us. After doing some research we decided to go with a pheromone spray by Whiskey City called At Ease Aromatherapy for cats. Th spray claims to simulate feline pheromones to create a calming environment that lasts up to 10 hours. You can spray it in the crate and in your car, which is what we did. Long story short, the spray worked like a charm. We got to our destination in 13 hours and overall all had a stress free trip. On our way back we tried the exact same method and much to our worst nightmare it failed! Not even 3 hours into our trip and we had already dealt with: pee, poop, and vomit. We pulled over and took out the blanket from her crate but I failed to bring extras so for a little while she was left without a blanket but hey! Better to have no blanket than to have a shitty one! Once I saw a Walmart I pulled in and stocked up on a few blankets for her. Luckily there was a Pet Value in the same plaza and after hearing my ordeal she recommended I try out “Sentry Cat Calming Collar” which has pheromone technology and soothing lavender Chamomile. The package claimed to it worked immediately and the lady told me that it worked for her once! I was sold! And it worked immediately… the meowing virtually stopped, our stress levels went down, she laid in her crate and slept most of the way, she even ate some treats.
Here are some of the supplies I think you should have handy in your car while travelling with your cat. I will link where you can find some of the products that I list down below.
1. A pet carrier or crate
2. Blankets x3
3. Paper towel roll
4. A small dish
5. Water bottle
6. Treats
7. Litter box
8. Litter
9. Whisker City At Ease Aromatherapy Spray
10. Pheromone collar
The most important thing you can bring along for the ride is patience. It’s important to remember that though her whining and meowing may be stressful on you, she has no idea what’s going on and she has no way of understanding. The best thing you can do is be patient and try to find a solution. The more stress out you get the more stress out she gets!
Safe travels,
Jess ♥
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