Hi everyone....I'm a cat lady

[Rhiannon]

Hi everyone. My name is Rhiannon. I've always had pets...Cats, dogs, horses, mice,. rats, snakes,ducks you name it. Just about. Right now I have 5 indoorcats and I take care of 2 ferel cats. I think they are brother and sister. The female I caught and had spayed. The male is not as friendly and avoids the trap. I have one of her kittens and my nephew has another one. He's beautiful. Semi long haired black and white. He has a perfect circle the size of a dime under his chin. And his tail is long and bushy. It reminds me of a skunk tail. He's so proud of it. If you call him he raises it straight up in the air. My eldest is 3 and a half. A gray tabby, her name is Ruffian.(named after a famous horse) Then 2 I got from the pound. They are a week apart agewise. Maximus is also a gray tabby. Ozzy is a huge ragdoll cat. Black and white. Gorgous long hair. His paws look like baseball mits. He's 2 and a half and weighs 18 pounds. He's so gentle and sweet. Then my nephew gave me one from upstate New York. He's an orange tabby named Titan. What a character he is. Oh, Stray's (thats what I call the ferel female and her brother is Phantom,cause his markings look like phantom of the opera) name is Buster. I'm rambling on about my babies but I love them soooo-oooomuch. I'm worried about Stray, she's really close to me lets me pet her and loves to be mooched. I live in NY and i'm moving to Fl;orida next year. I want to take her but she's so happy living wild around here. Any advise about driving my other cats down. They are not use to the car at all. We plan on stopping a a pet hotel in the Carolina's on the way down. Should I not feed them in the morning. Should I make stops and let them out of the gages on the way down? How often should I stop. Someone I know mentioned drugging them, but that is out of the question. I don't want to hurt them in anyway. Should I drive straight thru and forget the hotel? Any info will be much appreciated thanks all ....Rhiannon

[Amanda]

Hi and welcome! Sounds like you have a very happy family. I have 3 cats (all indoors) and the oldest one is 20 yrs old. She's my special "baby girl". Her name is Sheeva and she is awesome ... even at her age. When I moved 7 yrs ago, I took my cats with me on an 8-hour drive. My cats HATE riding in the car and no matter how short the trip is (even a 5 min. car ride), they would get nauseated and vomit. My vet advised me to give them a small dose of children's gravol to help with the nausea. I cut the pill in half and gave it to them 30 minutes before the trip, and about every 3 hours after. I think it helped them during the car ride because they didn't vomit. I'm not sure if the gravol stopped the nausea all together because during the trip, they kept meowing and howling in their cages. Anyway, giving them the gravol was a better alternative to "drugging" them, in my opinion. Maybe you can ask your vet about giving your cats some children's gravol and see what their advice would be.

[eth_ng]

maybe you should try to get them used to it before you leave. like sit inside with them for a few minutes and when you take the cat for a car ride go to fun places.

[Jenny]

Welcome Rhiannon! I have two cats, the first one who doesn't like car rides at all. She hides under the seats and won't move a muscle during the entire ride. My other cat is always "missing" on vet days, and other than that there's no need to take her in the car anywhere. From the few rides that she's been on though in the past, she didn't seem to mind a bit- think she enjoyed the extra attention actually.

[Squawksx3]

Hi Rhiannon and welcome :)

I have 3 cats and none of them like car rides. They just as soon keep their paws flat on the ground!.

Good luck on your move. Its hard to say what would be best for you. When my sister-in-law moved from CA to Idaho, she took her 3 cats... put them in separate crates in the back seat of her car. Fed them small amounts of food/water twice a day and never let them out until she got to a motel room. If they get loose, I dont know if you would be able to find them again. She did have to stop a few times along the way and clean the crates... but its better than losing them ;). Best of luck.

[Loves Cats]

Hi Rhiannon,
My cat Mr. Toes and I welcome you and your family!