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Please help me re: moving
I haven't posted on TB/TN in quite some time, but I could really use some advice. Sorry this is so long.
We are moving from OR to MN later this year. I am having so much anxiety about moving my cats. I have two cats, a boy and a girl, both 7 years old. We have moved before, but only a couple hours.
I am obsessing about this. I don't know if I should drive them or fly them. Driving will be 2 days in a car, and I worry about them eating/going to the bathroom and just being incredibly miserable and scared for that long. But with flying, the thought of them being down wherever they put pets makes me want to cry. At least with driving, they'll have us. Flying will be so much faster, though.
Either way, we will medicate them, but the whole thing is giving me so much anxiety. If we fly them there, I will be flying alone with two cats and a toddler. I think I could handle it because wouldn't the cats be "checked in" like luggage at the beginning? Would they let two cats stay in one kennel? They will be so much happier if they could stay together.
I am panicked. Both options just feel so mean but I have to get them there somehow.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
ETA I just talked to my MIL. She said they make a huge tent thing that takes up the whole trunk of a van or SUV and it gives the cats room to eat, use the box, snuggle, things like that. She also said she has no problem with handling the cats so I can fly with my son and that way I don't have to worry so much.
Re: Please help me re: moving
So, I don't know anything about cats, but we recently took my dog on vacation in the car. It was supposed to be a 11 hour trip, but w traffic ended up closer to 14. Yes she was miserable, but she got over it the second we got there. I mean if you think about it, traveling can be miserable for us, but we get over it too.
I have heard of people traveling with dogs (flying or driving) giving them a little benadryl so they pass out. I know someone who did this, and didn't even have to worry about her dog on the plane and could focus on her two children. Our vet actually recommended this, but I would check with them first.
Again, cats might be completely different making my advice useless. But no matter what you choose to do, they will be ok.
I am so glad your MIL will be driving the cats. I just hear about those stories about cats getting lost in airports...
I hope your move goes smoothly.
My H and I just did a 10 hour drive last week with our three cats. Before we did it, we were debating if we should put down the back seats so that the trunk is opened up to the rest of the car and fence it off so the cats could stay in the trunk and walk around or to keep them in their carriers. We ended up keeping the cats in their carriers and the trip was a breeze! They basically slept the whole time. When we would stop for a rest stop, they new we were stopping and would sit up expecting to be let out, but once we started driving again they were fine. We did not feed them or give them water from midnight the night before (we left like 4:30 in the morning) so that they wouldn't have to go to the bathroom or possibly get nauseous and throw up. At one rest stop, we gave them a few treats and put a cup of water in their carriers. Only one cat ate the treats and no one touched the water. (we took the cup of water out when we started driving again so they had their space). Once we got to our new apartment we put them in a room with a litter box, food, and water. They each used the litter box within 15 minutes and ate and drank.
The trip went much better than we thought. One tip, try and leave at a time that you know you won't hit regular traffic, like rush hours, at any point of the trip. My H and I had done the trip the week before alone and about 7 hours into the trip we hit rush hour traffic. We left extra early in the morning so that we wouldn't hit any expected traffic.
Good luck!
They lose the cats?! I would be devastated.
Thank you everyone for the advice and encouragement