Traveling and Boarding...

[fiddledee]

Because both my boyfriend and I will be away from our apartment for the entire week [starting this Friday] until Thanksgiving day; and I'm not allowed to bring Milo to my parent's house nor any other family's house that I'm visiting during the holiday. My boyfriend can keep him until Tuesday, so we are boarding him at the vet I used to work for in my hometown from Tuesday until Thursday.

I completely trust this facility since I have worked there for 5 years. Plus, it's a vet so if he comes into any difficulties while there I have a trusted veterinarian to take care of him. I would like a few tips on what to do as far as transport and other things.

The trip to my hometown takes about 3 1/2- 4 hours. What is a way to placate him until he gets there? I've never had him in a car for more than 30 minutes. I don't know if he'll stress out or not, and I want to minimize it.

Also, how should I treat the food situation at the vet? I feed Milo both wet and dry in measured amounts, and the vet is good about giving him food according to my preferences as long as I supply it. Should I just give them the dry, since it will only be for about 3 days?

Thanks for the help.

 

[GoldyCat]

Every cat is different. I have two that sleep all the way as long as they're together in one carrier. Another complains most of the drive, and the others give me different reaction every time.

How does Milo do on short trips? That may be an indication of how he'll do on a longer drive. Be sure to put something with a familiar smell in his carrier: blanket, cat bed, T-shirt you've worn and not washed. Have them keep the same thing in the cage where he's boarding.

You can try something like Rescue Remedy to help keep him calm during the drive. You're supposed to put it in his water, but that only works if he actually drinks all the water. You can also rub a couple of drops on his ears and paws. It works better and faster for me that way.

I would go ahead and take both the wet and dry food with printed instructions about feeding schedules and amounts. The fewer changes you make in his routine, the less stress. Are you going to be able to visit him every day while he's in the kennel? That will definitely help decrease the stress.

Good luck with your trip. Sorry your family won't take your kitty along with you.

 

[fiddledee]

Thanks for the help!

Milo travels okay...he sometimes looks slightly scared, but I think that's more from him not knowing what's going on more than anything. I already plan to give him a towel and a shirt with my scent on it so he feels more comfortable in the cage at the vet.

I'll just write down his feeding schedule, it's not too hard to follow.

Also, the vet has a little "room" with windows where they let out a cat to play during certain times of the day. So he should do okay. Also, I should be able to see him at least 1 out of the 3 days he'll be boarding.

The only reason I can't bring him to my parent's house is because during the break I'm going to be going all over the place, so it'd be too hard on him to transport him between three or more homes over the course of 5 days.