From: sue@dracut.keps.com (Sue Klimowicz)
Subject: Re: Traveling with cats?  A good idea?
Originator: sue@dracut
Organization: Eastman Kodak 
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 06:10:42 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.162037.6817@julian.uwo.ca> koops@gaul.csd.uwo.ca (Luke Koops) writes:
> 
> Hi.  I have two kittens (one is 8 months old; the other is 3 months), which
> I was planning on leaving at home during the holidays (I'm planning on 
> leaving for about a week over the Christmas-New Year's season).  I'll be 
> making a 5-hour car trip to get to my destination (my wife's parents place),
> and I've been toying with the idea of taking the cats along instead of 
> having someone visit them once a day to feed them, change litter, etc.  I
> have some questions about this, but first, a few facts:
>   * the car trip will be 5-6 hours long.
>   * the place I'll be visiting has _no_ pets.
>   * the two cats get along quite well.
> 
> My questions are:
>   * Is taking the cats with me a good idea?
>      - will they get too stressed-out by the trip?  (I'd bring a litter
> 	box and food with me for the car trip of course)
>   * Should I isolate them in the "new" house with their litter and food
>     for a while, so they can locate both?
>   * Should I count on having to re-acclimatize the cats to my own house
>     once I return?

I don't know if the following will be of any help but I can tell you my
experiences with my cat.

When I moved to NH I went from a job that required no travel to one that
put me on the road alot!!! I had adopted my cat from the North Augusta, SC
Humane Society when she was about 10 months old. I took her over the other
cats because the son of the Keeper was patting the cats head like a
basketball and the cat just kept on purring. She is a very affectionate
cat who demands alot of attention and will be in your lap before you can
sit down completely. Just allitle background to give yo an idea of the
cats personality.

When I leave for the trip I put the dog in the kennel but keep the cat at
home. I have observed the following consistently.

          1. She puts on weight.
          2. She gets bald spots around her legs
          3. She is very possessive of my attention when I get back
          4. Her fur was very dull and rough

One time I had to leave for 3 weeks and decided it was best to put her in
the kennel with my dog. Never again. She totally freaked out (the kennel
is an excellent place, run and maintained by the owners who love animals).
It was raining and I was going to carry the dog to the car since it was
muddy and the owner was going to carry the cat. The cat was struggling so
hard to reach me that the owner took the dog and the cat grabbed me around
the neck with her paws and wouldn't let go. When I got home the cat ran
into each room to make sure they were still there and then did a complete
inspection of each room before settling in my lap. Yes, the cat lost
weight, acquired bald spots and dull fur.

The next trip that came up was for five weeks and I had a friend come into
my apt. to take care of the cat. The cat may have lost weight etc. but she
wasn't "psycho" when I came back.
 
This is a long winded way of saying it all depends on your cat. My cat
can't handle being left alone but I know other owners who don't have this
problem at all. If you take the cats in the car make sure they travel
well. You can get some "car sickness" pills from the vet which knocks them
out (less stress).