Travelling Cat.

Knight's Cat

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I have to take my 7 months old male cat to a mandatory trip, consisting of a 15 hour train ride from 6 pm to 9 am.
He is familiarized with his carrier yet when travelling in the car he meows a lot.
Any tips for the travel?
I read online about sedatives and anxiety calming tablets.
P.s I tried asking shelters and boarding facility along with asking my friends but was left with no other option but to take him.
 

vince

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How long have you had him traveling for? It's been my experience that cats usually quiet down in an hour or less and sleep most of the time. Mine have all cried for a while, but stop in a half hour or so.

Take him out at stops and give him a little water once in a while. I don't know how you'll deal with elimination on the trip, though.
Make sure he's fed when you start and don't feed him while on the train, if possible. That will help with vomiting if he has motion sickness. Also, keeping his carrier covered will help keep him quiet, and include a cloth that smells familiar inside (the familiar smell won't hurt for the cover, either).
 

missymotus

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Cats should not be sedated for travel. Feliway sprayed in his crate may help along with other natural remedies such as Rescue Remedy applied to his ears or orally.
If allowed out of his carrier he may be more comfortable on a harness sitting with you for some of the journey. Otherwise keep his crate dark to help soothe.
Cats generally won’t eat, drink or use the tray on journeys but they should be offered (we routinely fly kittens and cats on 3-30 hour journeys)

hopefully he’s been well socialised with visitors, trips to petsmart, taken in the car a lot for short trips leading up to the trip.
 
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Knight's Cat

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Well, for trips in car, when kept in crate he meows but when kept outside he breathes heavily as well as meows lot.
He has gone on short trips of about 40 mins - 1.2 hours.
And he only has a problem when the car moves.
 

imaginewizard

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Would he be happier out of his carrier or with his carrier open? River (my car) will complain if he’s trapped in his carrier, but if I leave the carrier open, so he can see outside, he’s fine. I have River in a harness and on a leash so he’s restricted as to where in the car he can go (anything from not being able to leave the carrier to only being able to sit on the back seat).
You can even get cat car seats which restrain them in a box kept on a seat but otherwise lets them be in the car, which he might prefer.
Personally, I don’t feed my cats at least 12 hours before any travel (even an hours) because they have and will defecate their carrier. When I’ve not fed them they don’t and they’re not the worse for it (I believe cats in the wild can go days without food naturally, so being starved half a day before the occasional bit of travel won’t harm them).
 

Ashanti

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That'll be a bit rough but he should be ok. As it's an overnight train. Try to get a car to yourself if you can so you can open his carrier and let him walk around if he wants and eat a SMALL amount of food and drink a bit if water use the box and such. He may settle in his carrier after a bit and just sleep too. Try to find out if you have a straight through trip or if it'll include stops so you can better plan. As stops where everyone has to leave or switching trains may mean it'll be best to leave him in his carrier as to avoid a fight trying to get him back in. Make sure you have at least access to water and dome paper towels just in case he has an accident.
 

iamcritic

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I have to take my 7 months old male cat to a mandatory trip, consisting of a 15 hour train ride from 6 pm to 9 am.
He is familiarized with his carrier yet when travelling in the car he meows a lot.
Any tips for the travel?
I read online about sedatives and anxiety calming tablets.
P.s I tried asking shelters and boarding facility along with asking my friends but was left with no other option but to take him.
Hi! How did the trip go? I'll have to do a similar trip (6h train) with my young kitten in a month, and I'm trying to find the best way to do it. My old cat just needed the carrier to be covered, used to sleep for hours and never soiled himself, but he was already 1 year old when we did this trip the first time.
 
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