Cross-Country Kitty (AKA, Moving A Cat)

StrifeRaZoR

Heyo H/A folks.

I've got a bit of an issue on my hands here. My fiancee has recently moved to SC to live with me while she goes to school in Charlotte, and we've hit a bit of a snag. We have a cat. The only problem is the cat is in San Antonio, TX. We were going to take him with us on our long 21+ hour drive across the states, but we were running low on space in the car and didn't want to cramp him up for that long trip. That, and I have no idea how well cats react to long trips like that. He's a pretty laid back cat and has been in the car plenty of times, but never for prolonged periods of time. So, my question is this: How does one move a cat? We contacted a pet transportation service and they were extremely unhelpful and the price was outrageous. Over $1600 just to move the cat. He's not even big. Under 8 pounds (On a good day ). Does anyone have any experience with this? Are there any major complications we should be worried about? I just want him here safely in our new apartment.

Thanks in advance, folks. H/A has never let me down!

FF

My anecdotal evidence:

I moved my (now) fiancé from St. Louis, MO to Oakland, CA. Her, myself and her cat in a budget moving truck. Her cat pretty much went into kind of a catatonic (teehee) state. We did have the moving truck so there was space in the cab between the seats for the cats covered litter box. Her cat stayed in the litter box, didn't really use it much since we couldn't get her to eat more than a bite or two of food a day. We could get her to drink a little water. After, just shy of 3 days, near the end of the trip the cat decided she was comfortable and came out of the litter box and sat on the dashboard for the last 2 hours of the trip.

Elin

If you're planning on driving back to get him and then drive him back it should be fine if he's usually good in the car. Put him in a travel crate with access to food and water. You can also talk to your vet before hand and get some kitty tranquilizers for just in case.

I've never flown an animal before so I'm not sure how that goes. You'd most likely get the best info by calling different airlines and asking their policies.

StrifeRaZoR

I'm mainly looking for a transportation service that isn't extremely expensive, as money is pretty tight since we're setting up a new life here. I wish I could've taken him with us on the initial trip, but I don't think going all the way back to get him is an option right now. Have any of you guys had any experience with any of the pet transportation services?

Esh

He'll be fine. I took my cat on a 12 hour plane flight in a tiny under seat carrier and he was ok. You're making a stop at some point to spend the night? Let the cat stretch it's legs then in the motel room.

Kipling

Fly there, pick up cat, fly back. It will be cheaper. Transporting animals on plane does require a few hoops - check with the carrier for what they require before you buy a ticket.

You could even pull it off in a day if you can pull direct flights. Unpleasant, but quick.

Aurora Borealis

Fly with him now before it starts to get cold. Airlines will not transport an animal in cargo if the outside temp is below freezing.
Direct flight is the way to go.
If you can get him in a short carrier as your carry on bag that is the ultimate best way.

If you are driving, can he wear a harness? If I take a long car trip with her, my cat gets out and takes a walk whenever we stop at a pet friendly rest area.

Esh

Aurora Borealis wrote:

Fly with him now before it starts to get cold. Airlines will not transport an animal in cargo if the outside temp is below freezing.
Direct flight is the way to go.
If you can get him in a short carrier as your carry on bag that is the ultimate best way.

If you are driving, can he wear a harness? If I take a long car trip with her, my cat gets out and takes a walk whenever we stop at a pet friendly rest area.

Delta is really awesome about pets in cabin. I was initially supposed to fly United with my cat, but when I got to the airport, the woman said he had to be able to stand FULLY UPRIGHT (impossible unless he's a kitten) in his carrier under the seat. Delta just said he had to be able to turn around comfortably.

David Walgas

American Airlines is really good about transporting cats, via their cargo service. It was just a trip to the vet to make sure his shots were up to date, and get a form saying that the animal is okay in cold-weather up to a certain point, and dropping him off at the cargo terminal an hour before the flight. I don't know about picking them up, but the actual shipping was pretty easy and painless. Only cost $200 for his flight too, and we were able to schedule it so that he landed in Florida after my wife did.

mts

i drove my dog and two cats cross country from Nor Cal to Pittsburgh. it honestly wasn't that terrible.
cat 1 is a bit skittish and scared of loud noises etc
cat 2 is very outgoing and will explore everything

the dog sat in the front seat the entire time.
my wife sat/layed in the back.
we had a CRV so we were able to fit a dog crate back there. in the crate we kept a litter box, mostly to keep the dog out of it in the event they used it, but it was also dark in there in case they freaked out.

Original plan was to dose both our cats. this did not go as planned as cat 1 ended up tripping out while on the drugs and pooped in his cat bed which was on the floor of the car. cat 2 was mostly unconcious the entire time. We ended up not giving the tranqs to cat 1 for teh rest of the trip and he was fine, he just hung out on top of the crate and watched stuff go by. Cat 2 got the drugs and slept hung out on the crate too. when he wasn't on the drugs he would try and crawl by our feet which was bad.

we didn't stay at a hotel or anything, just slept in the car until we were awake enough to drive.

Stephidabefida

We drove with our cat when we moved from Alaska to Missouri. It was a 60ish hour drive and he did ok. We used and medium dog crate and put in a small litter box and and water and food. We left the door to the crate open and had a small kitty crate open so if he wanted to curl up somewhere more closed off. We got him some tranquilizers from the vet and gave him some whenever he was he seemed like he was getting really stressed. I wouldn't say he had a great time. He certainly was vocal about his situation, but he made the trip just fine!

faerielaurelyn

If your cat is laid back then they will likely be fine for the trip.

My cat drove from Vancouver, BC to San Diego, CA and back and was very fine about it. This was in a car packed to the max with luggage etc. She had very little room and spent her time moving from suitcase to suitcase, or in whoever's lap who was in the passenger's seat, or on the passenger seat floor.

She would never use the litter box while we were moving, and wouldn't eat or drink either. But she would walk a bit on a harness when we stopped at rest areas, and would rest comfortably in the motel room (and eat and drink and use the litter box).

I guess it depends on what your budget is - flying might be better on the cat as it is faster, but if you can't manage that then just try to make a spot for the cat to curl up in, and they should be fine to travel. Some sedatives from a vet just in case might help as well, if you have never taken them travelling before.

Wezoin

I took my very fussy cat from Montreal to London, on. About an 8 or 9 hour trip. Used a cat carrier, padded the inside with old towels I case he peed and a garbage bag to put dirty towels in which we'd swap for fresh towels. A free roaming cat inside a car can be very dangerous, so I'd advise a crate.

The issue with my cat is he has his claws and would defend himself pretty harshly to avoid going in the cat carrier, so we couldn't really let him out for the trip. But he just laid there and whined the whole way. We tried the tranqs the vet gave us and I guess they quietened him a bit but they definitely didn't put him to sleep.

Obviously with your length of trip you really should stop at least once or twice to let the cat get some exercise.