Question for all experienced Car Travelers

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Louie

I love my mama!

Purred: Sun Nov 26, '06 4:06pm PST


	Hi my name is Louis and I am worried. My crazy mother has decided to up and move to Manhattan (she thinks she's cool). Well I have a sister and boy is she mean! Neither of us have ever gone anywhere and we are not wanting to go on a car trip from Texas to NY. My question is how are we supposed to use the bathroom? We aren't dumb dogs who can use it outside...or can we? Help!

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Arthur (Miss- You!- '93-'09)

Bucket of Fuzz

moderator

Purred: Sun Nov 26, '06 6:38pm PST


	My sis and I have been on a few relatively long car trips (maybe not quite that long, but pretty long!), and what our mom usually does is put a small litter pan on the floor of the back seat, and periodically during the trip she'll stop and let us out of our carriers to let us use it if we need to. If we do, she'll scoop it into a baggie, toss it, pop us back into the carriers and the we're off again! So, how long is the drive going to be??

Roxanne- (kitty- heaven)

Jacques' one and- only

Purred: Sun Nov 26, '06 6:50pm PST


	My Mommy moved once, driving a total of 20 hrs (12 one day and 8 the next). She just put my covered litter box on the back car seat in case I wanted to go. The thing is, I never used it! I just stayed in my covered kitty bed on the other side of the back seat - but then, I was pretty scared and was happy to stay out of sight. Someone told Mommy that cats can hold it a long time, which I did. I did use the litterbox in the motel on the night between legs of the trip. Mommy read that people should put cats on a leash and take them out of the car at rest stops like they were dogs - ha! Mommy knew I'd try to escape, get lost in the woods and possible get run over on the interstate in the middle of nowhere. She'd rather deal with a smelly car than lose me that way.

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Louie

I love my mama!

Purred: Sun Nov 26, '06 7:04pm PST


	Okay, I think I'll tell my mother these great tips. She was completely lost on how to take us...I'm excited about our move because I'm brave, my sister is going to have a fit though...she's high maintenance and a bit of a diva! Thanks again friends!!

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Rits

entrepurrneur

Purred: Sun Nov 26, '06 7:12pm PST


	I have the very luxurious travelling litter box model. Well, actually it's just a regular covered litter box. And my owners put that in the backseat off to one side. And me on the other side. Except I'm not in a carrier. Nope. See, my owners have a chain leash that they keep attached to those clicking seat belt things. You know, those things that you click the seatbelt into? That thing. The handle of the chain leash is some sort of imitation leather stuff. And they put that part through the opening in the material attatched to the seatbelt thing that goes click. Is this making sense? And then with the handle of the leash sticking through they put the other end of leash through it and pull it through. It kind of ties a knot except it's not knot a not...i mean not a knot. Anyway, that is how the leash is attached to the car. And while I'm wearing my lovely harness they take the clip end of the leash and attach it to my harness. They also have this trick of taking up some of the leash since it is so long. They have to do that because I love climbing into the front and they say it's not safe. Anyway, so I love travelling. I have the backseat to myself. And anytime I have to "go" I just walk over to my covered litterbox and climb in. They keep a cardboard box over the covered litter box to keep the smell down. Most of the time when we travel I like to get in my litterbox and sleep. I just started this most recently. I have a picture of me around here somewhere of me sleeping in my travelling litterbox. Goodtimes! Did everything that I explained make sense? Cuz it's very difficult to explain. by the way, this ideal only works if you have some extra room in the back seat. Cuz you have to have room for a kitty to lay around and have fun and stuff and room for the kitty's litterbox. meow meow, Rits

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Smokey

I am the QUEEN!

Purred: Mon Nov 27, '06 6:21am PST


	We don't like to travel at all. We are very very scared. But we also moved twice and mommy drove us to the new place. She likes us to be in a carrier so we don't do anything stupid while she is driving. She stops about every 2 hours or so to offer us food and water and comfort us a little, but we are too scared to take it. We also just hold it and don't go to the litter box. The longest ride so far was about 12-14 hours. It worked out okay. We got to relax and eat in the hotel at night. It worked out okay.

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LuLu - Now an angel

Prettiest eyes- on Catster

Purred: Mon Nov 27, '06 9:26am PST


	I drove with mom and my sister Furie from Atlanta, Georgia to Portland, Oregon not once but twice. That is a long way and took us 4 days. Mom put our really big carrier in the back seat and made sure it wasn't in direct sun. My sister insisted on being out and slept in between the two front seats. I stayed in the carrier. Mom had food and water out for us as well as a small litter pan on the floor. We never used it. We would wait until we got to the hotel. One tip on the hotel stay if you stay in one. Try to block off any openings for under the bed if possible. At the first hotel I ran right under and mom had a hard time getting me out. After that she learned to block it off. Good luck on the big move.

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Scooter ~- Our Angel

It's all about- 'The Scootster'

Purred: Mon Nov 27, '06 12:28pm PST


	Good tip about the hotel room, LuLu. My first time in one, I was so scared that I found a little hole in the fabric on the side of the box springs and I crawled inside the box springs -- and went way into the middle. Not all places allow pets, either, so be sure to check ahead. If they do allow pets, there's usually an extra charge. Lucy and Zory have reminded everyone to "buckle up" the carriers so they don't go flying if there's an accident or even a sudden stop. And, keep in mind that if you're NOT inside a carrier while in a car (or hooked in as Rits described), and there is an accident, YOU could go flying. If you survive that, it's likely that doors or windows will be broken or opened up -- or someone will come and open a door of the vehicle, not knowing you're inside and "loose". You will be frightened and could run off and get lost, or worse. When I was younger, I didn't usually use the litter box in the car while traveling. As I got older, though, I was mighty glad it was there. So I would also advise having it available. And, Mom and Dad always take lunch with them (theirs and mine) or resort to fast-food drive-thru's because they won't leave me in the vehicle to go into a restaurant.

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Rits

entrepurrneur

Purred: Mon Nov 27, '06 6:18pm PST


	I know for a fact that all of the Motel 6 places allow pets...unless they've changed it or something. meow meow, Rits

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Sasha

Big Kitty

Purred: Tue Nov 28, '06 2:21pm PST


	Ooo, car travel, my least favorite thing in the ENTIRE world. I hate it. Short trips, long trips, all trips in the car. However, mom dragged me back and forth from Austin to Dallas, TX, more times than I can count. Grammy's house was on the other end of the car trip, so that made it slightly better... But I went through a process of meowing, paws sweating, throwing up, and going to the bathroom before I settled down, each and every time, in that order. I only went on one long trip, from Dallas, TX to Los Angeles, CA. It stunk. My carrier was situated on one side of the backseat, and my covered litter box on the other. If you decide on this arrangement, you can strap the carrier and the litter box in with the seat belts, and other straps if necessary. I tried to stay in my carrier most of the time, and used the bathroom every now and then. As Scooter said, being inside the carrier is much safer than not, if you happen to get into an accident. Maybe you could put the litter box on the floor, and have two carriers strapped in, since there are two of you... We stayed in a hotel room one night, and I managed to find a very small area under the bed, behind some boards supporting the bed, to hide in all night. [For your mom, definitely, without a doubt, give the room a once or twice over to block any of these small areas. I promise you don't want to try and dig a kitty out of one of these spots...] Otherwise, everything was ok. (not) It was awful. But, we made it. Good luck! Purrs, Sasha

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