# How to transport cat in car?



## geezopeez (Oct 13, 2009)

My cat hates being in his carrier. He almost never meows—in the last months I've only heard him meow twice in our apartment—but when he's in his carrier in my car, he lets out constant meows and is jumping all over the place. In fact, when I transported him from his original owner's place when I adopted him (about a six-mile drive), he even let out a really stinky poop in his carrier and was jumping around so violently that he got poop all over his coat.

I am leaving town for three weeks for the xmas holiday, and I plan to leave my cat with my parents, who live about forty miles away. I am not looking forward to the carrier+car situation. I am thinking of getting tranquilizers from the vet, but, on the other hand, I'm not a huge fan of unnecessary medication.

Any tips?


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## hoofmaiden (Sep 28, 2009)

Get a larger carrier/crate and put a small litterbox in one end, a comfy bed in the other. Hopefully if he has to poop he'll use the box. I avoid sedating cats unless absolutely necessary, and it's esp. risky when you are travelling w/ no access to a vet.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

My cats always have an absorbent towel in the bottom of their crate when we travel. This helps absorb any liquid waste and can be pulled over solid wastes to help keep the kitty as clean as possible.

We have had ONE cat who grew increasingly worse to crate, he would turn into a spitting, growling, hissing, yowling chainsaw of a cat and it became dangerous for us to try to physically put him in a crate. On the odd occasion, we were able to set the crate on the floor and open the door (and crazily enough) he would walk inside to sniff and investigate, and I'd just close the door behind him, then he'd sit and glower. When we could NOT crate him, I began to use a harness and leash and he was allowed to be free in the car, and that worked for us with this particular cat.
I do *not* recommend cats riding loose in a car for several reasons: vomit/elimination, fright, cats can squeeze into some inaccessible places in a car, dangerous places: under brake/accelerator pedals, driver distraction if the cat becomes crazed, the very high risk of losing a cat through an open window at the drive-thru or open door at the gas station and finally, in case of an automobile accident where windows are broken or doors wrenched open ... the unrestrained/uncontained cat can now become loose in traffic AND a strange area.

If I can get a cat safely into a carrier for a road-trip, they'll just have to yowl, because I know they will be safe. It's only 40mi, I wouldn't medicate, but I would try my best to make him comfortable and remove as much visual stress as I could for the kitty.
Good luck!
heidi =^..^=


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## whiteghost (Apr 24, 2005)

Well with my cats this is what I do.

Panther, Chloe, Buttercup, Pixel, Tinkerbell, & Mellodie all are put in a carrier (Obviously NOT the same carrier). They all hate it and meow but they are fine.
Macy- She is like a person that's claustophobic (sp?) Her breathing gets really fast and she gets freaked out if put in a carrier so I just put her on my lap and put either a towel or shirt over her so she's "hiding".
Scooter Bug- He sits on my shoulder. lol


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