My Mom decided to join us in this adventurous lifestyle so we packed up her 2 bedroom apartment, sold/donated mostly everything she had, and she and I drove from Ohio to Washington State. Just over 2,500 miles towing a Uhaul trailer with a 30-pound cat in the car with us was one exhausting trip!
How do you travel with a cat and a cat litter box? Short answer..... DON'T! My Mom wanted to get a large dog crate so the cat could be contained and have enough room for himself and his litter box, so I did. It took up the entire back seat, but the litter box and the cat fit in it quite well. About 30 minutes into the trip the cat hasn't stopped crying but decides to go into the litter box and kick it everywhere! Yep, it made it into the front seat too. I quickly did some research to see how long a cat can "hold it" and I was VERY surprised to see 24 to 48 hours was the answer, although that was way longer than I needed it to say. We weren't traveling more than 12 hours a day so the next day the litter box was gone! We brought it into the hotel room at night with us and all was well, at least regarding the litter.
We knew traveling with the cat was going to be rough so we asked the Vet for some meds to help keep him calm. I swear she gave us the equivalent of cat meth because he was never calm he just kept meowing, well until about 3 hours before we were done driving each day but then again all night! So neither the cat nor I got any sleep on this trip!
Each night, I'd unload the vehicle get Mom (with her walker and oxygen) in the room then go back out in the freezing cold to put the cat (in the large doge cage) on a dolly (yes a dolly) and then reload it all again in the morning.
We had 5 nights in hotels! I booked each night online a few hours before we were ready to call it a night and enjoyed most of the rooms along the way. We only ran into one issue regarding cat-friendly hotels and that was because the app I used didn't allow me to specify what type of animal I had or that I had an animal at all. My advice, if you are traveling with a pet call before you book online to make sure the hotel allows your type of pet. If you book online I'd call after you book too because some of the hotel booking sites don't allow you to note that you have a pet, so make sure the hotel knows you're coming so they can confirm that your reservation is in a pet-friendly room. One of the hotels we booked said it was pet-friendly but when we showed up they said no cats. I usually call before and again after just to make sure they save the correct room for me, of course, this was one time I didn't. Fortunately, the manager refunded the fee and there was another hotel just down the road.
Overall, the trip went very well! We had a few laughs, no one peed their pants and no car accidents. We were VERY thankful it wasn't a repeat of our last cross-country trip (just Mom and me) which ended in a totaled vehicle, a few concussions, and a broken neck. I also learned I'd rather travel with my puppies any day of the week versus a cat. Sorry Momma I'm just not a cat person. 🤣
Have you traveled with pets? Tell us your story.....