Advice for long car journey please

[unseeliechylde]

I've done a 9 hour trip - Aberdeen to S Uist (via the ferry). We took Riley, and after the first hour, he settled down and was fine. We put a fine-meshed doggy-barrier from the floor just at the back of the front seats to the roof (huge estate car, courtesy of OH's work), velcroed the litter tray to the floor in the footwell of one of the back seats, put food and water (secured) on the parcel shelf, and had plenty of blankets / beds etc on the back seats and in the other footwell. We took his harness and lead so that we could stop every few hours (in quiet areas) and open the door to let him get some air and look out (which he wasn't too bothered about, but at least he had the option). On the ferry we couldn't get a cabin due to the short trip, but we did go to check on him (he was fine, and fast asleep
He spent most of the time curled up asleep in the footwell "nest", but did come out now and then to eat, wee, and look out the windows. He adapted really well, and I would certainly take him away like this again. Which is just as well, really, as we're moving to Ireland at some point, and there's no way I'm putting him on a plane!

[CarolM (Wendolene)]

Hi Lily
As Helen said, we took Korky from NW England to central France (and back of course) in 2007

Before anybody decides to report me for cruelty I should point out that there was a 3 month gap between the going and the coming back

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think the others have given very good advice as I only travelled a long way with my very old cat Kocka. We did London to Devon and back and then about throee weeks later london to west wales where i moved to.

She used to sit on my knee in front of car in half her carrier which was a big one and as she was so small, pleanty of room for her to lie down and sleep.

She wore a harness and a lead and she loved to look out of the window when we werent on motorways, she slept on motorways cos they were boring LOL.

Took food , water, litter tray, dishes, kitchen towels, newspaper, spare bedding. We stopped as often as we needed and she had CRF so needed to go for walks cos she preferred outdoor litter trays 

She would drink but wasnt interested in eating. She liked traveling so no meowwing but dread to think with my four now cos they sing for 50 miles, to and from vet 

[CarolM (Wendolene)]

Hi Lily
As Helen said, we took Korky from NW England to central France (and back of course) in 2007 and my advice is pretty much the same as others have said (probably because I got it from here in the first place  )
No two cats behave the same so its really a matter of trial and error and being prepared for all eventualities (kitchen roll, wet wipes and  poly bags are a must as well as food and water).  As you've only ever done 10 minute runs a longer practice run would be a good idea - you may well find the miaowing stops when Lily gets bored and you'll know whether travel sickness is going to be an issue.  There are of course certain basic rules but even there if you know your cat you may chose to 'bend' some of them.  For example, the general advice is to keep food to a minimum but give plenty of water.  Getting Korky to drink is a nightmare at the best of times but he's always up for food so I kept to his usual mealtimes with the same amount of food as normal (or even a bit more) but added a little bit of water to it (not too much or he would refuse it).  Plenty of stops are also recommended but we found that while Korky was mostly laid back on the move (he's a very docile cat) he became quite agitated when we stopped in busy motorway car parks.  I think it was all the too-ing and fro-ing that upset him so we kept stops to a minimum unless we could find somewhere quiet which wasn't often possible. 
I think being able to see out of the windows and also being able to see us helped but there again some people find their cat is calmer if covered up so take a towel or blanket with you just in case.  The only time Korky miaowed was when we were on very noisy road surfaces such as the concreted bits on motorways but then he is a very quiet cat.

I agonised for ages over what type of carrier to get and in the end opted for a plastic-coated wire dog  cage so I could put a litter tray in it (fastened to the wire with cable ties to stop it moving about) and still leave room for him to stretch out (he's a big cat).  That said, he never used the tray - he's very regular in his habits and went before we set off!  I also put water in but of course he never touched that either. I bought a piece of vet-bed for the bottom of the cage - its quite expensive but its brilliant.  Its lovely and cosy but doesn't get too hot and it stays dry even if kitty has an accident (can't vouch for this personally but the vet nurse at my practice says it does).  I also sewed tapes onto Korky's favourite cushion and attached it vertically to one of the sides of the cage so he could snuggle against it.  I think the most important thing about the carrier whatever type you use is, like Lottie said, your cat should associate it with nice things and not with nasty things like vet visits.  We erected the cage in the house several weeks before we were due to leave, put the vet bed and cushion in it, sprayed it with heavy duty catnip  and left it with the doors open.  Within minutes Korky was in there.  We were fortunate that we had room to leave it in place and he often used to go in there to sleep.  When we did put it in the car we secured it with cable ties (we have a VW Touran and took the back seats out to make room for it).

plan ahead but don't worry too much about it, cats are very resilient.

[Team Svartalfheims]

My bunch are certainly very well used to travelling! They've collectively prob got more miles than Jeremy Clarkson 

Litter: I always have a litter tray in the carrier with them as usually the shortest journey I am doing with mine is 7-8 hours. Sticky back velcro on the bottom of the litter tray and the bottom of the cage will ensure it stays in place rather than flying round the carrier and hitting your cat. As an alternative to litter tray you could line the bottom of the carrier with puppy training pads although I've found these slide around too much and end up bunched up in a corner. Just because they have a litter tray in the carrier doesn't always mean they'll use it. Boopy prefers to cross her legs and wait until she gets to wherever she is going or until we stop overnight at a hotel.

Food: differs from animal to animal, if you feed Bilbo on a break in a journey he'll throw up as soon as you start moving again but can quite happily go 9 hours without food whereas Boopy can eat whilst the car is moving with no problems at all. I never withold food before a journey.

Water: I usually just give them a bowl of water each time I stop and leave the car door open whilst I have a drink and bite to eat in the car so they can get some fresh air. If your cat can fit their head in one of the little anti-spill bowls that fits onto the door of the carrier then it would be a good idea to get one of those so they can drink on the go if they want to as well.

Stress: I'm very lucky that mine just settle down and go to sleep in the carrier unless both Dave and I are in the car and then Boopy squeals as she knows I worry and knows that I will sit in the back with her and she can curl up and go to sleep on my lap. Might sounds cruel but I've found if you ignore the squealing they soon stop. Might eb an idea to try Feliway spray although I have never found it to make any difference.
Also start leaving the carrier out in your house and putting treats/toys/food in it so that your cat associates it with nice things rather than horrible things like the vets as that will help with their stress levels as well.

I always make sure I've got baby wipes, kitchen roll, nappy bags, spare bedding/blankets, big bottle of water, some wet food and bowls in their travel bag.

[Sabrina (Auferstehen)]

Every once in a while we take the cats over to my in laws, which is an hour away.

Normally meowing from Lirael is heard through the whole trip but that's because she's not allowed out of the carrier. Smoke sleeps and Penguin just looks confused the whole time. This past Chrismas we had 5 cats taking the trip and all did well, even Lirael managed to shut up for a few minutes

See how it goes, sometimes they do go to sleep but keep papertowel's ready and food & water.

Penguin took the 4 hour trip from London to Leeds last May in a huge carrier with food & water and had no problems (this was after an 8 hour flight & 3 or so hours in customs).

[Tiggy's Mum]

The longest I've done with the boys was an hour when I went to collect them, the first 10 minutes they were a nightmare mewling their little heads off but after that they just settled down and went to sleep.  I sprayed Feliway in their basket, can't say if it was effective as have never not used it so don't know what they'd be like without it but it definitely can't hurt. There's at least 3 people on here - Lottie, Carol M & swampmaxmum - who have travelled abroad (driving) with their cats so hope they see this and can offer any tips.

[hOrZa]

250 miles (4.5 hours)

Drive faster

Can you buy carriers with food/water/litter compartments

Yes

should I be stopping every hour or so to offer her these?

I would do this too at least to calm her down abit, that said my kitties meow like crazy from the get go as well and they seem to manage ok, never tryed 4.5 hours though.


hth

[Lily]

I'm hoping to move house in the next few months but I'm worried about driving 250 miles (4.5 hours) with my new kitty.  She sometimes meows when I take her in the car to the vets (10 min drive).  I don't know how to cope with food, water and litter on this long a journey.  Does anyone have any advice?  Can you buy carriers with food/water/litter compartments or should I be stopping every hour or so to offer her these?

Thanks.