Road Trip

[Setsunaela]

Okay so due to unforeseen issues that I am not even going to BEGIN getting into..
Hubby, myself, and The Doctor (cat) are going to be road-tripping from my home in Virginia to his parents' home in California.
We've already sort of almost kind of sorted out the details.. we'll be taking I40 pretty much the whole way, as my mom and stepdad have done most of the trip (they go to Reno which is about a 4 hour drive from his parents' home) several times and recommend this as the best way to go in my car. We will have roughly 1200-1300 dollars squirreled away by the time we have to leave (26th september of this year) and my mother will be providing roughly another 300 when we arrive at her home which is the first stop on the trip.
I'm looking for advice on making this work. I know how to road trip generally, but I've never made a 4-6 day trip with a cat before and was wondering if anyone had any tips, or even tips for the trip in general as I've only ever done a 2 day trip.

[Dasota]

Depends on the cat. My dad has made the trip at least 3 times with a cat(s). The first time was in '97 when my dad and I moved to New York from California. The two cats went into a big crate thing in the back of the truck, and we had a cockatiel in the back seats of the cab between my dad and I. 4 days it too, and I think he just had a litter box and food and water in the back that he checked throughout the trip.

The other two times were driving a u-haul, and Felix was a real mellow and laid back cat. My parents popped him into a harness and he chilled on the dashboard and in the cab of the u-haul with them.

It all depends on the impermanent of the cat. Chill and laid back? Keep in in a harness and take him for "walks" every couple of hours so he can use the bathroom, and let him chill out in the open in the car. Neurotic cat that freaks at anything that is different? Get kitty Valium and a cat carrier if he gets to be too tweaky, and still keep him in the harness and take him for walks to use the bathroom if you are only taking a car and not something like a pick up truck with a cap on the back that you can stick him in a cage for the duration of the trip

[Lyse]

If your cat doesn't travel well try dabbing some children's liquid Dramamine on his paw. He'll lick it off and be calmer. I drive from Scranton to Portland with a cat that got carsick and would cry on short trips. Before I left I asked the vet about a sedative and he recommended the Dramamine.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

... my sister's poor cat... did not do cars. The Valium wore off once... we couldn't stop (construction, Yellowstone-- never trust google maps without secondary references, or at least not in 2000~)
poor Isis's throat got hoarse from all her crying. Mom and I were nearly crying from insanity.
My advice: make sure you can pull over when you need to, or soon after.
EDIT: ... why the mention of money? Afraid the car's going to go tits up?

[Setsunaela]

The Doctor has been pretty mellow on the few car trips he's been on in the past.. Maybe I'll take a few test-drives with him in harness on leash to see how he does..
@Teh... quite frankly yes. It's a '96 Camry and it can be touchy on some of the steeper hills here, so we are a little concerned about the trip. We know that ONE of the sets of parents can/will pull us out and get us to our destination, but the thought of being stranded while we wait for whichever coast we're closer to to get to us is a little nerve-wracking.

[Lyse]

I seem to recall 40 as being pretty level once you get a little further west - I didn't have any problems in a 84 Daytona. Of course, that's until you hit the mountains into California. My poor old car was never exactly happy on the round trips from Nevada to Sacramento.

[Seshat]

Take it as slowly as the car needs on the uphill.

Remember to use engine braking on the downhill. Set your gear to 3rd (if a stick shift) or 2nd or 1st as needed (either stick or auto). That way the engine and the gearbox do some of your braking for you, and you don't risk burning your brake pads.
Do not keep a constant foot on the brake pads. If you find you're doing that, you're in too high a gear. Shift down. (There should be no road section that's so steep that 1st is too high - road designers should have taken care of that.)

On downhill stretches, there will be an occasional runaway truck ramp. Use it if you have to. (Then try to push your car off it and onto a different part of the verge - you really don't want to be on it if a truck needs it.)

Runaway truck ramps may well be numbered. If you contact a tow vehicle or a car club for help, and give them the ramp number as well as the highway name, they should know exactly where you are.

Get your mechanic to give your car a full service and check before you leave. Spending a few dollars on that now may well save you a lot later, and will give you peace of mind.

[Mikkel]

Keep the leash on the cat, even if you are just opening the window to order at a McDonalds. If the cat runs and hide, you probably won't find it.
I always have one of these on my cats, even if we are just going to the vet and they aren't supposed to come out of the crate.

[Setsunaela]

Harness will probably not come off for the duration. I'm putting it on him now, to get him readjusted to it (he'd worn one before but I took it off) and will start doing a few test drives with him before we do it for real