Everyone knows moving with a cat can be difficult. You have to think about how you are going to transport your furry friend and most importantly how you can keep them calm.
Kitty, my 12-year-old cat, has been through a few moves with us in the last four years. We’ve actually been through four moves with her. I realize that sounds crazy, but we’re young and adventurous. I, of course, feel bad for our senior cat as she has to put up with our ways.
Our first move was from Lincoln, NE to Saint Paul, MN. It was just me and Kitty in my little red car. I got her a brand new mesh pet carrier and thought it would be great. It was also a certified/approved carrier for cats that you can also use to take cats on airplanes. I thought it would be great! . . . It was not great. My cat is not huge – maybe around 10 lbs and she barely fit! The drive is bout 8 hours, so I of course felt bad and let her out of her carrier. I let her out thinking she would just sit comfortably on my blankets… I was wrong.
*Disclaimer* DO NOT LET YOUR UNTRAINED CAT OUT OF THE PET CARRIER WHILE DRIVING ALONE* – I was going to say there are exceptions, but honestly they are a distraction.
I let Kitty out and she immediately began walking all over the car. She even tried getting by my feet (yes, while I was driving). Finally, she decided to sit on my lap whilst driving. It was all lovely… until she peed on me. Yuck! Of course I didn’t have any spare pants to change into and at that point we had three hours left until we got to our new home. I still hadn’t eaten lunch, so I pulled off on the next exit and went to Dairy Queen and scrubbed my pants with soap and water and tried to dry with paper towels.. Humiliated – I went back out to my car and went through the drive-through to avoid people.
Back on the road – after three hours we finally arrived at our new home and all was well. I was able to finally change and kitty was reasonably happy to get out of the car.
I’ve learned two major things from that move with Kitty. 1) Don’t get a small pet carrier (even if it says it’s good for airplane rides, etc.) If you’re moving cross states – get a hard-shell dog carrier that has plenty of room for your cat to walk around. 2) Don’t let your cat out of their carrier. It’s not worth it, unless you have someone else riding with you or if your cat is trained to ride with you in the back seat etc. – but really it’s all around more safe to keep your cat inside her carrier.
Here is a carrier I found on Amazon that I recommend. It’s a hard shell carrier and it’s only $40. If you want you can also find some like this one at Fleet Farm or Menards on sale occasionally.
Click here!
Forever Now 