[LiteraryLark]

I need advice on what to do with my cat. I am planning a road trip in 2018 and I need to know what to do with her. When I was gone for 2 weeks, even when I did come home for a few minutes at a time, she was absolutely out of her mind. It was very traumatic for her, and she bled on my bed for a while. I will be gone for a minimum of a month. I think she'll go insane if I'm gone for that long and I don't want her to suffer or feel abandoned or lose her trust in me. I'm debating on taking her with me on my road trip. She hates her crate because she knows it means the vet. I'm worried about her well-being by leaving her in a crate for hours on end. I'm traveling all across the country and I think it'd be traumatizing for her to stay in a crate all day every day for a month or longer even if I let her loose in a hotel room. And then there's the factor of finding a pet-friendly hotel. I have no idea how to go about that.

So there's the traumatic experience of being alone without her mumsy for over a month, and then there's the traumatic experience of being in a car for a month. It doesn't seem like either is the best solution. If she stays at home my parents will care for her, but she will be traumatized if I'm gone for over a month as we are very attached to each other. But I don't think she'd be happy being in a crate for a month. And I realize that if I kept her loose in the car there's the possibility of making a pit stop and her hopping out in the middle of east jesus nowhere and losing her forever which would be horrific and I can't risk that.

Does anyone have any experience with traveling with a cat? What is your advice?

[Nammu]

My guy is an excellent traveler. When on long trips he has a harness and leash that's hooked up to the rear seat belt. It gives him some freedom of movement. His covered litter box goes on the floor behind my seat and his crate goes on the passenger side back seat with his bed on top where he sits and watches out the window. On the floor behind the passenger seat is water and dry food although he only eats after we've stopped. Hotels/ motels that accept cats are very easy to find. I've never had a problem with that. But doing that for a month would be very hard on your cat. Take her favorite toys and make playtime at the motel/ hotel a priority. I'd suggest taking an overnight trip several hours away for a weekend to see if your cat would even be comfortable with a trip.

Considering that you're going to be going to museums and other places and leaving the cat in the motel/ hotel or car alone I'd seriously think of leaving him with mom and dad.

[Yoda]

Start feeding your cat high value food (wet food or treats) in her crate so she doesn't only associate the crate with trips to the vet.

[lucozader]

It's not appropriate to take her on a road trip, particularly if she is easily stressed out. Book her into a cattery or hire a house-sitter or cat feeder - there are some great ones out there who will really make an effort to spend quality time with her as well as the feeding.

[LiteraryLark]

I agree that taking her would be too traumatic for her. My parents will be able to care for her while I'm gone.

[laffer75]

I take my dog to the pet resort... she loves it

[cakeladie]

You have enough time to get her used to being in the car and traveling. Feeding her in her crate is an awesome idea because she will think that it's not only for going to the vets.

We have someone come in and take care of our animals while we are gone. The reason is we rescued a cat from the pound. It was the best cat ever. He was a main coon so he was big and that is why his owners go turned him in. He was just to big for them. He was 25 lbs. anyway we never had any problems with him when we went away until we booked him into the pet hotel at pets mart.

We didn't have a choice. While we were gone we had our hardwood floors redone so all the animals had to be out of the house. We had 2 cats we paid extra to have them housed together and I took their favorite blanket. Our dog also went and she's easy going and had no issues.

When we went to pick up the animals coal our main coon was very different. He didn't want to stay in the house anymore he wanted to be outside all the time. He also wanted to sleep in the flower pots and poop in the dirt. We took him to the vet and she said he more then likely had PTSD from the time his first family gave him up and he was caged. He was caged for over 3 months before we adopted him. When we put him in the hotel I guess it brought up bad memories. We lost coal a few months later. We are not sure if he was hit by a car or shot by someone. My husband was taking me to the hospital to check in for chemo when our son came out of his room and said he had to show us something. It was coal dead at his door. We had coal cremated. I feel we failed him

So you have time think what is best for your cat.

Good luck