Seeking Advice on Car Travel With a Yowling Cat

[SoDesuKa]

Otis really doesn't like to ride in a car. We got him a big soft traveling case, which I kept my hand in, stroking his head to calm him. It didn't work. He kept struggling to get out, so we gave in. Then he was all over the car. First he got up in the back window, then in the front window. We stopped so he could calm down, but as soon as we started up again, so did he. His yowling was really pathetic.

Eventually he curled up on the floor behind the driver's seat, but by then he was hyperventilating with his mouth open. After we reached our destination, I did a web search on traveling with kitty. Most sites cautioned against using tranquilizers.

Now we don't know what to do. Got any ideas?

[dubeskin]

1. Have you tried a tranquilizer gun yet?

I hear those things work marvels. Set it on high, zap the little bas***d, and he'll be out forever, literally. I'm kidding, just keep him in the cage. He will eventually calm down, hopefully. And, seriously, try the gun.:)

[tuvor]

2. The only advice I have is to resist the urge to kill with bare hands.

Actually, I think a vet once suggested Gravol. Don't quote me, though.

I've been through that too many times, and man, do I feel for ya.

[grasswire]

3. feliway?

It's used to soothe cats, but I haven't seen it specifically noted for travel. Comes in a little spritz bottle. Check with your pet store.

[pokerfan]

4. Training

Cats get attached to places. If you need to transprt him often, let him get used to the car. Let him into the garage and the car as it's parked.

This can all help, but once the car starts moving, the cat will know that he/she is moving, which is very distressing for a cat.

A dog is happy just hanging with the alpha dog (you) cause he knows he is still "home," a member of a pack. The cat wants to know which direction is home, where is the food dish and the litter box.

Start with short trips. Trips that don't don'e necessarily end with unpleasantness, i.e. the vet or the kennel.

Allow the cat time to think of the var and the carrier as an extension of home.

It just takes times and repetition.

And let me repeat again this fundamental cat tip: Whenever you must do anything unpleasant (vet, kennel, meds, etc.) to your cat, never call him/her to you. Simply walk over and pick them up. You don't want them associating being called with "bad things." Abd follow that up with a treat or catnip.

[radwriter0555]

5. USE TRANQUILIZERS.

I've used them for years on all my critters. It's far better to keep them calm and medicated than to subject them to such intense trauma and anxiety.

[calico1]

6. I know bird cages are covered to keep them

calm. Something like that may work. Also putting some catnip in the carrier or getting tranquilzers from the vet as others have suggested.

[Jokerman]

7. A cat I had in college...

would freak out in the car during the daytime but traveled just fine after dark.

I think the large number of things to watch in the daylight upset him but at night he would watch the light go by for a few minutes then lay down next to me and sleep.

May not be practical or even work with all cats but there it is.

[AirmensMom]

8. We just took a 22 1/2 hour long trip with four cats last month.

Satchmo was the worst one. He actually escaped from his soft-sided carrier twice (he can open zippers from the inside -- who would know?). We have one hard-sided one, but I hesitated to put him in it since he gets so upset he bangs his face on the door. But I had no choice. I ended up putting him in the hard-sided cage with a t-shirt that I had worn the day before. He tried to escape for a few minutes and then settled down. I don't know if it was the change in carriers or the t-shirt that did the trick.

Also, we left the carriers out on the floor for several weeks before we moved. That seemed to help the girls. Sabrina actually slept in hers (SHE decided which one was hers) every night before we moved and she ended up crying less than the others. Sashka also slept in hers ahead of time, but not as much. I do think it helped, though.

We also gave them a homeopathic remedy from our vet. The only problem was that they stopped eating about two days before we left, being upset from the movers being there. So we didn't get as much remedy in them as we should have. We have never had good luck with Feliway, although I do see it recommended a lot here.

[LostinVA]

9. Nerve pills -- for you, not the cat

I am so not joking.

Good luck... been there, done that... *sob*

[ellie]

10. I drove cross country

three times with my beloved Frances. The last time, we were in a U-Haul truck and we thought we would put her in a cage (the other times we were in a car and she layed on the back seat).

Wrong. She freaked out and banged her head against the bars. We had to let her out. She ended up laying on the bench seat between us and although she cried from Boulder, CO to the middle of Nebraska, she calmed down.

Later in her life, when we were taking her to the vet, she would just lounge around on the back seat.

I miss my beautiful kitty.

[nickinSTL]

11. good luck with that

my cat would yowl for hours. He'd tire himself out eventually...for a while. In 15 years, he never did get over it.

And he was part Siamese...and sounded it - not a pleasant sound for three hours straight.

[graywarrior]

12. Try Rescue Remedy

I used that on my cat from Florida to NH. Calmed him to the point of stopping the hyperventilating. You can get it in the herb section in health food stores.

[LaurenG]

13. Mine did that

when we moved from Colorado. I let her out of her carrier and turned the AC on and let it blow on her. She calmed down about 20 minutes later. I think they get car sick or something. She rides like a pro now, we even took her and her sister to NM in May with no problems.

[jrandom421]

14. Catnip works wonders

Kept our 7 calm during a cross country move.