Cat transport- 5-6hrs- Am I Overthinking It?
Discussion
Hi all
In a month, i have a pair of Maine Coon kittens to collect.
They are a long way away, somewhere between 4.5hrs - 6hrs depending on traffic forecasts.
The cats are about 13 weeks old, and are males, brothers from the same litter.
My car is a hatchback Mondeo, so a glass angled hatch, and folding seats but does not have a flat floor when the seats are folded.
I'm trying to figure out how's best to transport them and I flit between two extremes.
Borrow a dog crate, put them in it with a bed, kitten litter tray, water etc and finding one that looks big enough for the cats, but also fits in the boot section of the car is proving to be a challenge. Plenty of stops on the way back.
The other extreme is both of them in a large cat carrier (probably a fabric/soft one, some of them have extendable 'runs' on the side which might help), no litter tray etc and just blast back with minimal stops.
On one hand its a long time, on the other hand its just a morning.
What have people doing similar trips done? Did it turn out alright? Would you do anything differently?
In a month, i have a pair of Maine Coon kittens to collect.
They are a long way away, somewhere between 4.5hrs - 6hrs depending on traffic forecasts.
The cats are about 13 weeks old, and are males, brothers from the same litter.
My car is a hatchback Mondeo, so a glass angled hatch, and folding seats but does not have a flat floor when the seats are folded.
I'm trying to figure out how's best to transport them and I flit between two extremes.
Borrow a dog crate, put them in it with a bed, kitten litter tray, water etc and finding one that looks big enough for the cats, but also fits in the boot section of the car is proving to be a challenge. Plenty of stops on the way back.
The other extreme is both of them in a large cat carrier (probably a fabric/soft one, some of them have extendable 'runs' on the side which might help), no litter tray etc and just blast back with minimal stops.
On one hand its a long time, on the other hand its just a morning.
What have people doing similar trips done? Did it turn out alright? Would you do anything differently?
Edited by StreetDragster on Monday 6th January 18:31
Just closing my own thread off incase anyone finds it in the future in a search.
Ended up getting an expandable soft cat carrier, which extends out to 90cm fully extended.
Both kittens got in it no problem and could have easily done the trip in a 60cm one without any drama.
Stopped for a break halfway and gave them a litter tray and water bowl. They had a little water but didn't use the tray.
Drove the entire trip fine, quiet, and seemingly slept most of the way. Easy peasy
Ended up getting an expandable soft cat carrier, which extends out to 90cm fully extended.
Both kittens got in it no problem and could have easily done the trip in a 60cm one without any drama.
Stopped for a break halfway and gave them a litter tray and water bowl. They had a little water but didn't use the tray.
Drove the entire trip fine, quiet, and seemingly slept most of the way. Easy peasy
StreetDragster said:
Just closing my own thread off incase anyone finds it in the future in a search.
Ended up getting an expandable soft cat carrier, which extends out to 90cm fully extended.
Both kittens got in it no problem and could have easily done the trip in a 60cm one without any drama.
Stopped for a break halfway and gave them a litter tray and water bowl. They had a little water but didn't use the tray.
Drove the entire trip fine, quiet, and seemingly slept most of the way. Easy peasy
Reading this with envy. Mine spends 10 mins in the car for a vet visit and yells obscenities at me all the way in both directions.Ended up getting an expandable soft cat carrier, which extends out to 90cm fully extended.
Both kittens got in it no problem and could have easily done the trip in a 60cm one without any drama.
Stopped for a break halfway and gave them a litter tray and water bowl. They had a little water but didn't use the tray.
Drove the entire trip fine, quiet, and seemingly slept most of the way. Easy peasy
Beautiful.
We moved an adult indoor sphynx and Persian from Belfast to Cumbria a few years ago, in the back of a van (in a hard cat carrier) filled with my now wife’s possessions. They were fine (and we’re still married), and that included a ferry trip. Think they just crossed their legs!
Putting them in the car to go to the nearby vets, however, that’s a whole other story…
We moved an adult indoor sphynx and Persian from Belfast to Cumbria a few years ago, in the back of a van (in a hard cat carrier) filled with my now wife’s possessions. They were fine (and we’re still married), and that included a ferry trip. Think they just crossed their legs!
Putting them in the car to go to the nearby vets, however, that’s a whole other story…
The one thing I learned was to always have a large plastic storage box that you can put the cat carrier into so you can contain the inevitable lake of piss that the cat will deliver when it wants to express its displeasure at being in what’s essentially a large hold-all with mesh sides. Everything wipes-clean or machine washable and a reasonable number of dreamies to buy them off at the start of the journey.
Either way, if the cat’s not happy, expect the mother of dirty protests.
Either way, if the cat’s not happy, expect the mother of dirty protests.
Did you get them from a breeder and if so what made you choose Maine Coon?
My neighbour has one she got from a ‘breeder’. Whilst he looks a little MC like and is bigger than your average moggy, I don’t think he’s full MC so I’m somewhat dubious of breeders
I’ve just lost my slightly diluted Ragdoll, didn’t even know that was what he was until the vet said as he came from CPL.
My neighbour has one she got from a ‘breeder’. Whilst he looks a little MC like and is bigger than your average moggy, I don’t think he’s full MC so I’m somewhat dubious of breeders
I’ve just lost my slightly diluted Ragdoll, didn’t even know that was what he was until the vet said as he came from CPL.
solo2 said:
Did you get them from a breeder and if so what made you choose Maine Coon?
My neighbour has one she got from a ‘breeder’. Whilst he looks a little MC like and is bigger than your average moggy, I don’t think he’s full MC so I’m somewhat dubious of breeders
I’ve just lost my slightly diluted Ragdoll, didn’t even know that was what he was until the vet said as he came from CPL.
I did. My neighbour has one she got from a ‘breeder’. Whilst he looks a little MC like and is bigger than your average moggy, I don’t think he’s full MC so I’m somewhat dubious of breeders
I’ve just lost my slightly diluted Ragdoll, didn’t even know that was what he was until the vet said as he came from CPL.
I had a shortlist of bengals, ragdolls, maine coons and Burmese. Had a look around and they were all similar money from recognised breeders. So got the ones i liked the most from the selection available at the time.
I took a little bit of comfort in the price of the breeder animals in that you at least have some hope of reducing risk of genetic conditions by knowing the family tree. However, it's not a certainly.
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