toroidalcore

I drove about 3 hours and 20 minutes back to my house from my parents' house today, and brought George along. I have a plastic pet carrier that I think was made for a dog, which is slightly larger than what I normally see for cat carriers. (I do have a canvas cat carrier which is smaller, and which I use to take him to the vet.) I put a towel in this for some padding, and then I set it on the back seat and loop the seat belt through the handle and buckle it. Finally, I drape a blanket over the top, to muffle some of the noise.

George does alright in the car, especially considering that he was a stray for the first four years of his life (as far as I know). He isn't a fan of being stuffed into the carrier, and makes his displeasure known with some mild struggling. But for the most part he settles down for the trip, aside from occasionally meowing.

On one hand, I kind of hate to put him through this – while he's an easy-going cat, I know he would prefer not to travel. That said, he enjoys visiting my parents. I do what I can to minimize stress, and I think it's good for him to see other people and other cats (he gets along with them except for one, but luckily there aren't usually any conflicts, and if we suspect there might be we will separate them if leaving the house). I also want him to be used to traveling, in case I need to take him somewhere for some other reason. Usually, he's home unless visiting my parents or going to the vet.

I someday hope to get a dog, which will add another dimension to these trips. I'm going on a small sample size recounting peoples' anecdotes as well as my own experiences traveling with our dogs growing up, but they seem to do a bit better in the car.

Obviously, it depends a lot on the individual animal, and you need to assess the situation. But I think that introducing the cat (or dog) to the car ride when he or she is still young is a big part of it. My brother often took one of his cats to visit our parents when she was a kitten, and she was pretty decent while traveling.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town