|
My wife and I took our four 2-3 year old cats from near New York City to Northern Michigan on a car ride of about 17 hours total. We left at 11am and decided to drive straight through. We had individual cat carriers for each of them that I'd guess were 1 1/2 times the length of the cat in length and about 1/2 of the cat's length in width with a very soft and cushy fleece panel in the bottom. They were the soft kind like a duffle bag with large mesh windows on top and partway up the sides and soft padding all around. We had left out for a number of days before the move so they could acclimate to them. We had a large four-door sedan with a folding back seat that led directly into the trunk. The size of the opening into the trunk was maybe 3 feet. We had the cats in their carriers on top of the folded back seat where they could see out the windows and see both my wife and I. We also did not medicate them in any way prior to the trip, though we did take away the food and water a couple hours prior to the trip so they hopefully wouldn't have to go until when we got there. We (my wife, actually) would drive for 4 hours or so and then stop for food, bathroom, and gas. We would take turns hitting the bathroom, and then the last one to go would grab food (if needed) while the other gassed up. We would then pull off to the side of the parking lot where it was quiet. While we sat there resting, the cats were allowed to roam free inside the car. We placed a small litter pan in the back corner of the trunk with some privacy, and would take out two small bowls which we could fill with water and food. We would usually give them about 30 minutes to roam, during which we would check on how each one was doing. We'd then coax them back into their carriers with treats or people food, and then get moving again. They were almost completely quiet the entire way, until the last 90 minutes. They started crying in turn: first Loki, then Tyr, then Freya, and finally our smallest (and normally quietest) girl Aurora, until they were all meowing in unison. I tried talking to them calmly, but it wasn't cutting it. The biggest cat, Mr. Loki, started to get really restless inside his carrier now. At that point, I took each of them, in turn, onto my lap where both my wife and I would talk to them and reach inside the carrier to pet them. That seemed to calm them down quite a bit, so I kept rotating them like that until we finally got there.
|
#
¿
Aug 16, 2014 18:36
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 21, 2024 05:16 |
|