Any tips for calming Grace on car journeys.

1928 Views 19 Replies 5 Participants Last post by popace, Jun 16, 2012

popace

Discussion Starter · May 31, 2012

Hoping some of you can give me some help. Our Grace hates travelling in the car. We usually have both her and Poppy in the one large cage. Every time we take her to the caravan, a 90 minute journey she screams the place down !
At first she didn't seem to mind travelling but she's getting more upset each time we go away now.Once she goes into the caravan she's fine.
Have already tried the Feliway spray and Zylkene tablets but they made no difference to her behaviour. We tried to put both cats in separate cages which did no good at all. We also tried to black out the cage with a blanket, again no good.
Apart from when she's in the car she's a bouncy happy confident cat.
Any ideas what I could try next. We're at our caravan right now and going home on Monday. The way I'm feeling I think I will be taking the Zylkene tablets to calm me down !:fust

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catloverami

· #2 · May 31, 2012

You didn't say how old your cat was. Best time to train a cat to travel well, is to start when they're kittens and take them on short rides (to the store, to visit a friend, etc.), then they don't always associate travel with a visit to the vet and needles. Unfortunately, you've done most of the things already I would have suggested, such as covering the carrier, tho I not a fan of using medication to calm a cat for travel. If the cat loves catnip, you could rub a lot of catnip into a few toys for the carrier, and also if you have fresh catnip give her some to eat. Some cats tho just start howling as soon as they get in the car, and unfortunately not much you can do about it.

popace

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 14, 2012

Sorry to take so long to thank you for your reply.
Grace was just hysterical on the way home, hid for two days once we got home so we have taken the sad decision to sell our caravan as she clearly won't travel and we have nobody to look after her.
I so wish the person who gifted me them had thought about what she was letting me in for!
Sorry if that sounds sharp but I never wanted them in the first place !
As they are now part of our lives we could never ever part with them especially as they were rescued.
Life adjustments now starting............

kty78

· #4 · Jun 14, 2012

Is a caravan like a motor home or travel trailer type thing?

popace

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 14, 2012

Its a static van 34ft x 12xft in size. Tried posting a pic but failed miserably !

hoofmaiden

· #6 · Jun 14, 2012 (Edited by Moderator)

popace said:
I so wish the person who gifted me them had thought about what she was letting me in for!
Sorry if that sounds sharp but I never wanted them in the first place !

Um ... :shock: Wow. Nice.

My only suggestion would be to hire a petsitter to care for the cats when you go away. Cats are homebodies--very few of them enjoy travelling and the few who do were trained to enjoy it as kittens.

popace

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 14, 2012

kty78 said:
Is a caravan like a motor home or travel trailer type thing?

hoofmaiden said:
Um . . . 8O Wow. Nice.

My only suggestion would be to hire a petsitter to care for the cats when you go away. Cats are homebodies--very few of them enjoy travelling and the few who do were trained to enjoy it as kittens.

Well its easy to say Wow Nice in what I assume is a sarcastic tone when you cut my post short !

I did go on to say ........As they are now part of our lives we could never ever part with them especially as they were rescued.
Life adjustments now starting............

I only want the best for Pops n Grace....they initially enjoyed their trips in the car I just want to understand why they no longer do and any suggestions that would help them as, once they get to the static they love it !!

Unfortunately I didn't have the luxury of having them from kittens so I'm assuming thats where the travel issues are coming from !

hoofmaiden

· #8 · Jun 14, 2012

I did see that. I just cannot imagine EVER saying that about someone I love. Sorry, but it kind of appalled me. I wasn't being sarcastic--believe me.

IMO the cats would be happier at home w/ a petsitter checking in on them. Personally I would never take my cats on trips w/ me--they are much happier in their own environment. It is a very rare cat who enjoys travel.

popace

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 14, 2012

hoofmaiden said:
I did see that. I just cannot imagine EVER saying that about someone I love. Sorry, but it kind of appalled me. I wasn't being sarcastic--believe me.

IMO the cats would be happier at home w/ a petsitter checking in on them. Personally I would never take my cats on trips w/ me--they are much happier in their own environment. It is a very rare cat who enjoys travel.

Yes I get that, What I'm saying is our cats did like to travel initially. Nothings changed but now one of them goes off in a seriously hissy fit !
Sorry you feel appallled, I could not love my kitties more but being an only child with terminally ill parents and a seriously ill husband, the person(who knew my situation) who gave me these young cats really should have known better!
I was mearly trying to find a "cure" for their travel problems to allow my Husband and I and our beloved kitties the chance of some quality time together!
At the end of the day, I will always care for my gorgeous kitties !
Maybe the Scots/Yanks divide has lost something in translation !

hoofmaiden

· #10 · Jun 14, 2012

Have you asked your vet about a sedative?

MowMow

· #11 · Jun 14, 2012

popace said:
the person(who knew my situation) who gave me these young cats really should have known better!

Im not sure what you expected. Cat ARE homebodies. The majority of cats do NOT like to travel. Granted, there are exceptions but as cats get older they get MORE set in their ways. I'm doubtful this person duct taped you down and put the cats in your house before escaping to their get away car. If you didn't want to care of animals that usually prefer to be at home, you should not have taken them and gotten some kittens that you could train to travel with you.

That said, what about hiring a cat sitter. A few people have suggested it. Just hire someone to come in and care for them while you take your trips.

popace

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jun 14, 2012

hoofmaiden said:
Have you asked your vet about a sedative?

Yes, he says regular sedation for a non essential reason (in his mind!) is not advised as a Vet would need to be present at the other end of the journey, sadly can't afford that.

hoofmaiden

· #13 · Jun 14, 2012

That's a little ridiculous. Folks do it all the time. As long as the cat is in good health, a little Ace to take the edge off does not require a vet on the other side LOL. I think you might need a new vet.

popace

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jun 14, 2012 (Edited by Moderator)

MowMow said:
Im not sure what you expected. Cat ARE homebodies. The majority of cats do NOT like to travel. Granted, there are exceptions but as cats get older they get MORE set in their ways. I'm doubtful this person duct taped you down and put the cats in your house before escaping to their get away car. If you didn't want to care of animals that usually prefer to be at home, you should not have taken them and gotten some kittens that you could train to travel with you.

Well, it was my 50th birthday, the giver thought I wanted a replacement for my cat that died 7 years ago. My father TOLD her I did not want another cat.
What should I have done, let her return them to the bad home from which they came from?

I think I'm doing the best that I can and now wish I had never mentioned the fact that I would rather not had had them !!
Another fact clearly lost in Scots/Yanks translation :fust

popace

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jun 14, 2012

hoofmaiden said:
That's a little ridiculous. Folks do it all the time. As long as the cat is in good health, a little Ace to take the edge off does not require a vet on the other side LOL. I think you might need a new vet.

Probably being a bit thick here but what is Ace ?

hoofmaiden

· #16 · Jun 14, 2012

Acepromazine.

popace

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jun 14, 2012

Taking Poppy (the calm kitty) to get her claws trimmed tomorrw so I will enquire about ACE. Thanks for the suggestion.

hoofmaiden

· #18 · Jun 14, 2012

There is always some risk w/ sedatives--don't get me wrong. You need to be careful. But there is absolutely no reason for the vet to have to examine her on the other end. She won't be anesthetized--just a little loopy.

popace

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jun 14, 2012

Thanks for that info, will ask tomorrow. I would love to see Grace a little loopy8-O

popace

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jun 16, 2012

Bit of an update.
Asked my vet about Ace (apparently its called ACP here) and the answer was no ! Phoned another 4 vets in the area, two declined to comment as Grace wasn't registered with them, the other two both said they would not dish out Acepromazine just so I could have a break whenever I felt like it !
Didn't feel the need to divulge my personal circumstances so I left it at that.
On the advice of a local cat breeder, I have taken Grace in the car for three short journeys today (about 10 minutes each ) and she seemed a little bit calmer.
I'm now going to try and stretch the travel time to get her used to the car as I really want her to be able to go to the caravan.
Its the only way both she and Poppy can get a harness on and go for a little walk in the big outside world which they really enjoy.

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