We are potentially moving. 12 hour drive to new home. Our 11 year old cat is an issue. I would like to hear people’s thoughts.
She is a rescue, got her as a kitten. She has a “challenging” personality. Wants everything her way, will act out if she doesn’t get what she wants. For instance, if she wants attention during the night or when you are trying to go to be she will simply dump everything on your nightstand on the floor. Lamp and all.
She is very wary of people she does not know and is definitely imprinted on me. She rarely acts out to get my attention because she knows it won’t work. He can be very loving and is great company. Despite her challenges I love her to death.
The issue is that she cannot ride in a car. Even a 20 minute ride to the vet or kennel results in shaking, very heavy breathing, etc. basically a feline panic attack. It’s bad.
We would have to drive her 12 hours. Given that she’s 11 I’m not sure she would survive the trip. The alternative is to find her a new home. Not sure how she would adapt.
I would ask your vet about some sort of tranquilizer for your kitty. There are also homeopathic drops that I’ve used successfully on my 16 yo cat, cant think of the name just now, and also cat pheromone sprays that mimic a calming scent.
We have to sedate one of our dogs when we go on long drives. The vet can help you find something that will work for your cat. One piece of advice I’ll share is to try it out prior to your 12 hour drive just to make sure that it’s effective. You don’t want to be mid-way and have an issue with the rest of the trip.
We sent an older cat - 14 - back to school with my d. He needed more attention, they are very attached and he is helping her a lot with her anxiety. To get him back and forth we tranquilize him about 30 minutes before putting him in a soft cat carrier. When you get to the new home put him somewhere small, like your bathroom. Make him the first priority when you first get there - set up food, water, litter box.
I definitely think a vet would be able to help with this move. A twelve hour drive is a long time, so she’ll probably need the equivalent of kitty Zanax the entire trip. Poor thing. You’ll need to give her a lot of physical affection and reassurance while you’re on the road, and perhaps even while you move into your new home, given the fact that cats don’t generally handle environmental changes easily. Good luck with your baby. Moves are stressful for everyone. Treat yourself with care as well.
We did a 5 day move with a kitty who freaked out in the car. Car = instant poop in the crate and endless howling.
Due to the duration, drugs were not really an option so here is what our vet suggested - we followed the advice and it worked out great.
We got a large dog crate so the cat had room to move around, the crate also had a kitty box in it. We took some stiff foam board and added a loft into the crate so kitty had room to move as well as a place to lounge.
We put the crate out a few weeks before the move - we put cat into the crate, covered with a dark sheet and sprayed the sheet with Feliway (supposed to be soothing) we did this several times and left kitty in crate for an extended amount of time (12-18 hours) so that kitty got used to crate.
Then we loaded crate into the car and took kitty on rides - we started with short jaunts and then took kitty everywhere we went - again, just acclimating - note crate was still covered with sheet and sprayed with Feliway.
When we were 3 days out from the movers coming - Kitty went into crate and stayed in crate until we arrived at our new home 10 days later.
By the time kitty was loaded into the car for the 5 day road trip, kitty had acclimated to the crate and the car - no more pooping the minute kitty went into the car and the howling was minimal.
The covered crate and Feliway I think really made a difference along with the time we took to get Kitty acclimated and used to the new situation.
Good luck, I would never ever give an animal away due to the circumstances you describe, while I hear your angst, I think this is something that would easily be dealt with - I would work with my vet and invest some time in conditioning and take kitty along to the new home.
Please, please do not consider giving away an animal that has imprinted on you. Having a pet means solving things like this. I love @SnowflakeDogMom 's ideas.
Do talk to your vet. We once moved a 14 year old cat from Texas to Massachusetts, so I know it’s doable.
I agree with the above. I could NEVER give away a pet who is so attached! Eleven is still young for a cat; I don’t understand why you think it wouldn’t survive the journey, even if he was stressed.
Please talk to the vet and try some of the suggestions above.
We’ve talked with her vet and have given her the max dose of the medication she prescribed as a test. You might as well try to stop a charging rhino with a piece of tissue. Does not calm her down at all!
We’ve tried the pheromones when she was younger. No impact.
So at this point we are really trying to decide which option would be better for her in the long run - rehome or the 12 hour trip. The last thing I want to do is rehome her. It would break my heart! But the vet is not sure she would survive the trip either. Her anxiety level is off the charts.
I don’t know what they gave you for your cat… I used benedryl once and it worked—after the cat ran around foaming pink foam at the mouth like a hummingbird for five minutes. Trip is MUCH better than rehoming.
What did vet prescribe? We had similar problem with our cat (a very large Maine Coon) . Vet prescribed two things: one to settle stomach and one to calm her. Worked like a charm.
My parents had to fly their very anxious dog and he got xanax that we gave him just before getting in the car to the airport. Man that dog was never so loving. Did great on the trips (but thirsty on landing).
Our cat was wild in a car–she needed a box–totally enclosed “her space” (just a cardboard box with a closed lid) where she seemed totally content and chilled out. Being enclosed was key. Not too big. Happy to be invisible and ignore the outside world.
After the move to a new home find a room that can be “her space”. We parked our cat in the laundry room (a bathroom will do–whatever is food and litter box friendly) and closed doors to everywhere to first limit her explorations. Cats are territorial and new big spaces are just too overwhelming. Don’t let her have the run of the house at first. They feel like they need to “own” everything at once (I relate very well to that feeling). One room however small is enough to start. It will be her “safe space” to retreat to when she gets scared.
We went through hell for a couple days when we first moved to the point that I thought I’d have to get rid of my cat before my sister came up with this advice. I literally locked my cat in the laundry room for a couple days so she “owned it” and was the best kitty ever after. She was cautious but knowing she could explore a bit and have a safe retreat was great. And she definitely owned every square inch of the house eventually.
On one long trip with our senior cat, the vet advised that the shorter time flying would be less stressful than driving, but that was a three day trip.
One thing we did discover was that our girl traveled much better out of her carrier. We kept her in a harness with a leash and she would curl up in my lap or at my feet. We did put her into the carrier whenever the car door was going to be opened.
Does she panic in a parked car or only when it’s moving? Does she panic in the carrier if it’s not in the car? Has she only been on short drives to the vet? I like Snowflake’s conditioning process; maybe you can figure out what actually triggers the anxiety and see if there’s a way to avoid it.