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I have a cat "Nikki" who is about 13 yrs old. She has lived in the same house since I adopted her when she was a kitten. I had to leave her because I joined the Navy and was shipped out. When I returned from my first deployment (which was almost 10 yrs ago now) I went to get her but, I was allergic (really weird since I had been around cats all my life) and so, I left her there at my parents. She NEVER went outside... I mean.. NEVER until she was probably around 7 or 8 yrs old.. except for the trip to the vet to get her "fixed" Anyways, my family is now moving from that home to various places and so, they gave Nikki to one of my sisters and my sister thinks that she is very stressed by the situation.. and we think it may be best for Nikki to come live with me again because I just separated from the Navy and am a homemaker with no pets currently so, I will be here to help her adjust. The only thing is I live 16hrs away. And we are moving from here in June.. driving to California to visit family then driving to Maryland.. to stay. Everyone in the family is worried about Nikki traveling. Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks,
Chasity

Can you get Nikki from point A to point B without detouring? If you break the 16 hours into 8 8 or even 5 5 6 she should be just fine if she is in a carrier firmly strapped in the car. Of course you will want to let her out for a litterbox break, but keep all the doors closed. Actually, our kitties are survivors more than we realize. Unless there is some physical problem Nikki should come through this just fine, although she may be somewhat stressed.

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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

Thanks so, much. We will be traveling w/out detouring any at all. We will just make sure we stop more frequently than we normally would.

I would just like to add one thing to what Madame has said because she gave you excellent advice. You might want to get some Feliway (www.feliway.com) online or at a local pet shop. It is a spray that mimics the cats "happy pheromone". You spray it inside the carrier about 15-20 minutes before you put the cat in and it helps to calm them. I noticed it helped a great deal for my cats when taking them to the vet. They hate the car ride, but using Feliway calmed them fairly well.
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Purrs,
Munchie

Thanks! I have never heard of it but, I will definitely look into it. It looks like I may be making this trip sooner than planned. My grandfather is very ill and they don't expect him to make it very much longer. That's going to make the trip more stressful but, hopefully we'll make it through it safely.

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandfather. Wishing you both the best of luck.
One more tiny tip...
If you regularly play music in the house, make sure you don't pack up your favorite tapes or CDs. Bring them in the car and play them while driving. If your cat enjoys music, this will be a great help. Also, it'll add another hint of familiarty to the car ride. So the music he's used to hearing at home may be more comforting that simply having the radio on.

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PHCurious
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