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I’m sure if you’ve read this blog before, you know that I love to travel, but you might not know that I am the human to three cats as well. One of which, my little calico, Calliope, has separation anxiety and has even been hospitalized for it when we have traveled in the past. Luckily, we have a rock star pet sitter that knows how to handle her, but her refusing to eat during our three week Europe trip this summer added some stress to what was otherwise an amazing, life changing vacation. We wanted to take one more trip before I went back to work in August, but we didn’t want to put her through that stress again, so we decided to take a trip with the cats.
Travel with dogs is common, but cats are not as easy to travel with and some accommodations need to be made to make sure it is a successful trip for everyone involved. Here are some of my tips if you ever want to travel with your feline friends:
- Know your furry friends. How do they handle new environments and travel in a carrier? Our black cat, Velvet, gets car sick, so she stays behind with family. While Callie has separation anxiety, she has no issues in new environments so she makes a good traveling cat. Roary is super easygoing and has gone camping with us several times.
- You need a carrier that your cat is comfortable in. It is not safe for animals to be running free in a moving car. There are lots of different types of carriers: hard-sided, soft-sided, backpacks, etc. Hard-sided carriers can be difficult to get cats into so I prefer soft-sided carriers that open from the top.
- Keep the travel time as minimal as possible. It is difficult to set up a way for cats to use the litter box or drink water while traveling so keep the travel time short and don’t leave animals unattended in the car.
- Find accommodations that allow cats. Many properties on Airbnb will come up as pet friendly but then when you read the description it will say no cats or dogs only.
- Make your cats comfortable. I brought their pet beds and favorite blankets and I sprayed it all with calming spray. I brought some of their favorite toys and some treats too! Consider using a pheromone diffuser like Feliway. Bring a familiar litter box and put it on a hard floor, if possible.
- Keep their food and feeding schedules the same. Traveling is not a time to try a new food or routine. Save that for when you’re back at home. Make sure to bring any of their medications with you as well.
- Bring cleaning supplies. I brought urine remover spray just in case and covered the floor around the litter box with puppy pee pads. A lint roller was very useful and I wish I had brought a small dust buster vacuum to clean up all the fur. If possible, put any light-colored linens out of reach of cats, or cover them up. This Airbnb didn’t have much that was light colored, but one of the cats did vomit on the white bath mat which was not fun to clean up.
While it took more cleanup to travel with the kitties, I was glad to be able to take a trip without having to worry about little Calliope. I look forward to more trips with them in the future.
Thanks for stopping by! To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. To read campground reviews check out my Michigan Campground Reviews page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.
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