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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / May 2007Moving across country with 3 cats, suggestions?
I will fly (Indiana --> California), and one option is to take the cats as "checked luggage". Problem is that most airlines only accept 2 carriers, and do not allow 2 pets/carrier. Another option is to ship the cats separately as air cargo, but I'm not sure how expensive that can be. A pet moving company not an option because they're too expensive. If anyone has any suggestions or tips, I'd be very grateful. Thanks! |I will fly (Indiana --> California), and one option is to take the cats | as "checked luggage". Problem is that most airlines only accept 2 [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] | | If anyone has any suggestions or tips, I'd be very grateful. Take the two on the plane and pay whatever extra it costs for an extra "bag". Probably the cheapest way. > |I will fly (Indiana --> California), and one option is to take the cats > | as "checked luggage". Problem is that most airlines only accept 2 [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Take the two on the plane and pay whatever extra it costs for an extra > "bag". Probably the cheapest way. You mean take one as carry-on luggage and the other two as checked luggage? | > Take the two on the plane and pay whatever extra it costs for an extra | > "bag". Probably the cheapest way. | | You mean take one as carry-on luggage and the other two as checked luggage? That hadn't occurred to me but it might work. What I was thinking was that you could buy a ticket for the third cat and have it go on the same flight. But your solution seems even better. > I will fly (Indiana --> California), and one option is to take the cats > as "checked luggage". Problem is that most airlines only accept 2 [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > A pet moving company not an option because they're too expensive. > If anyone has any suggestions or tips, I'd be very grateful. Ask a student who's going home for their holidays to take one for you? ============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 Are you traveling by yourself? Each person can take a cat as carry-on if the carrier fits under the seat. There is a maximum of cats per cabin so you have to check that in advance. I know people who did not want to check their animals in the belly of the plane, so they flew back and forth to Alaska about 4 times with them as carry-ons until all animals were delivered. Rhonda > I will fly (Indiana --> California), and one option is to take the cats > as "checked luggage". Problem is that most airlines only accept 2 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Thanks! > Are you traveling by yourself? Yes. > I know people who did not want to check their animals in the belly of > the plane, so they flew back and forth to Alaska about 4 times with them > as carry-ons until all animals were delivered. sh.t, that's expensive as hell. Might as well pay a professional service to do that for you, it'll cost less (I was quoted $1400 for 3 cats!) >I will fly (Indiana --> California),.... > If anyone has any suggestions or tips, I'd be very grateful. > Thanks! Hi, George, In the last year, we have moved from the East Coast to the Northwest, where we stayed until the end of February of this year. Then we moved from the Northwest to Texas. Our two cats, Cinder and Rosie moved with us. For each of these moves, we rented a car with a one-way, unlimited mileage contract. Each cat has her own large size hard sided travel crate, big enough for a small litter box and additional room for the cat to move around. We went to a few key chain motels and picked up their directories, which let us know what was in each town where we might stop and that accepted pets. Then, we signed up for the rewards programs so we could get points for a free night or airline miles. Also, ask if they have any discounts, such as AAA or AARP or whatever memberships you might have. Oh, yeah, ask for a first-floor room so you won't have to climb stairs. The downside was that some places charge extra per pet, so it's a good idea to call ahead (if you have a cell phone) when you are pretty sure where you will stop so that you can get the best deal. Most places (even the "budget" type chains) have what they call a continental breakfast. It's not much, but you can get coffee, juice, cereal, packaged pastries, sometimes fresh fruit, sometimes a fresh waffle. It's free, so we saved some money on breakfasts. Ask at the desk if they have a baggage cart you can use. It really helps to transport the crates and your luggage between the car and the room. Good luck with your move. Annie > >I will fly (Indiana --> California),.... > > If anyone has any suggestions or tips, I'd be very grateful. > > Thanks! We're moving our 4 halfway across Canada in July. We did it four years ago, too, moving the opposite direction. We elected to drive, so that our animals would be in our care at all times and not entrusted to airline or train or bus personnel. We were able to stop to give them food, water and litter box access when they needed it, not when it was convenient for the travel company. We used the net in advance to find out what hotels would let us stay overnight with our cats, we put the litter box in the bathroom, and we swept up well after ourselves. Smokey got a large dog carrier so he could have a litter box 24/7 (cars make him have to go.) The kittens were just 6 weeks old on the last move and so they got water in a bottle to nurse at gas stations pretty much every hour so they wouldn't dehydrate in a hot car in the summer. Nocturne hates the fuss of a car trip and she just wants to be left alone in a small box, then given some privacy with a litter box in the hotel at night. I would ask a lot of questions of an air carrier. Myself, I don't think I would be comfortable entrusting my cats to air personnel. --Fil Thanks Annie, but I'll have to fly. IN->CA is only a 6 hour trip. > Thanks Annie, but I'll have to fly. IN->CA is only a 6 hour trip. Maybe you should consider driving, given the issues with flying the cats. Jill >> Thanks Annie, but I'll have to fly. IN->CA is only a 6 hour trip. > > Maybe you should consider driving, given the issues with flying the cats. I think that the cats would too stressed by a 3-day drive. I'll have to find a way to fly with them. >>> Thanks Annie, but I'll have to fly. IN->CA is only a 6 hour trip. >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I think that the cats would too stressed by a 3-day drive. I'll have > to find a way to fly with them. You've obviously never met Harri Roadcat :) Seriously, his human was a trucker for a while and that cat went everywhere with him! There are a lot of people here who have travelled long distances with cats in the car. Annie even had hers on a boat for a while. Jill >>>> Thanks Annie, but I'll have to fly. IN->CA is only a 6 hour trip. >>> Maybe you should consider driving, given the issues with flying the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > of people here who have travelled long distances with cats in the car. > Annie even had hers on a boat for a while. But they'd have to be caged when in the car, right? That's 10-12 hours/day on a cross country trip. And then when you get to a hotel there are more headaches, the clerk will surely not like to see you walk in with 3 big cages. | But they'd have to be caged when in the car, right? That's 10-12 | hours/day on a cross country trip. And then when you get to a hotel | there are more headaches, the clerk will surely not like to see you walk | in with 3 big cages. When I traveled cross-country with cats (up to 4 at a time, and once with six tiny babies in a box as well) I never kept them in cages. We were in a minivan. They would take turns sharing laps and hiding under the bed in the back, or snoozing on top of the bed, or laying in the breeze coming from the vent on the floor. We rarely stopped at motels but if we did, the cats would just stay in the van overnight. At any other stops we'd look for a shady parking spot and leave the windows down about 3" and the screened windows in the back wide open. We tried to spend nights in spots where the cats could go out for a while at dusk and dawn each day. After the first few hours of a trip, the kitties settle down and enjoy the adventure. > | But they'd have to be caged when in the car, right? That's 10-12 > | hours/day on a cross country trip. And then when you get to a hotel [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > back, or snoozing on top of the bed, or laying in the breeze coming from the > vent on the floor. I was told that it is dangerous to have freely moving animals (or humans) in the vehicle. A sudden brake or a collision will send them trough the windshield. I am nervous at the thought that one of the cats may decide to crawl under my feet and block access to the brake pedal or something. | I was told that it is dangerous to have freely moving animals (or | humans) in the vehicle. A sudden brake or a collision will send them | trough the windshield. I am nervous at the thought that one of the cats | may decide to crawl under my feet and block access to the brake pedal or | something. Mine all tried that. It's pretty easy to teach them not to do it. I would just reach down and push them off to the right side with a very firm "NO!!" A bowling ball might go "through" a windshield, but a cat sure wouldn't. I've had to brake suddenly many times while riding with loose cats. Usually they dig into whatever they can and don't get moved at all. They're pretty smart, for the most part. But if it really makes you nervous, just put them in carriers when the car is moving! ...> But they'd have to be caged when in the car, right? That's 10-12 > hours/day on a cross country trip. And then when you get to a hotel there > are more headaches, the clerk will surely not like to see you walk in with > 3 big cages. Hi George, First, I want to say that you don't owe me any explanations of how you choose to travel. It's easy to see that your first concern is the comfort of your cats and nobody knows them better than you. Also, you may have time constraints on you or maybe you just don't want to drive such long distances. But, you might want to ask yourself some questions before you make your final decision. Such as: How many hours a day do your cats normally do nothing but sleep? Maybe close to 10-12? Do you have enough time so that you could drive shorter distances and one more day? As long as you let the reservation desk know that you are traveling with three cats, you will not have any problems walking in with 3 big cages. As I said before, we collected directories and used our cell phone to call a couple of hours ahead to reserve a room. We always told them we were bringing cats in. Believe it or not, some of the motel clerks are cat lovers, too. It is important, though, to leave the room clean. A small hand-held vac, a whisk broom and a dustpan are handy for getting that tracked litter. Not only have we traveled with our current cats, we moved from Washington state to Texas with three cats. We were amazed how adaptable and what good travelers cats can be. Anyway, however you choose to go, I wish you a safe and uneventful trip. Annie > But they'd have to be caged when in the car, right? That's 10-12 > hours/day on a cross country trip. And then when you get to a hotel > there are more headaches, the clerk will surely not like to see you walk > in with 3 big cages. No, actually they don't. We just finished moving from California to Iowa with 6 cats. 5 of them rode in the van with my wife, and 1 of them (usually Harri Roadcat) rode in the big rental truck with me. We had carriers available for all of them, but didn't have to use them often. We stayed mostly at Super 8 motels, and almost all of them allow pets in the room. We had a litter box, food dish, and water dish in the back of the van, and the cats were free to wander the back of the van. They weren't thrilled about spending 4 days traveling (we had some issues that slowed us down a bit), but they handled it ok. Dan >> But they'd have to be caged when in the car, right? That's 10-12 >> hours/day on a cross country trip. And then when you get to a hotel [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Dan And there are a LOT of pet friendly low-cost motels, by the way. I've been doing some searches for a friend and Motel 8, Hotel 6 and most of the Econo-lodges and some Days Inns allow a couple of pets at no extra cost. Get on towards 4-5 pets, then you're talking a nightly rate for the pet. They have no idea if your cat/dog is going to spray inside the room, etc. so that's only fair. Jill ...> Get on towards 4-5 pets, then you're talking a nightly rate for the pet. > They have no idea if your cat/dog is going to spray inside the room, etc. > so > that's only fair. > > Jill It would be fair if smokers were charged extra, too. Or, if the pet charge was refundable if the room was clean when vacated. Annie > ...> Get on towards 4-5 pets, then you're talking a nightly rate for > the pet. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Annie There are differences. For one thing, when I check in they know I want a smoking room; you have to request one in advance. For another, they don't inspect the room upon check-out. They have no idea if the pets made a mess, liquid or otherwise, or chewed up all the cushions or bedspread or whatever. Jill > There are differences. For one thing, when I check in they know I want a > smoking room; you have to request one in advance. For another, they don't [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > whatever. > Jill It's really not different. You also have to let them know in advance that you will have a pet (or pets) in the room. They set aside a certain number of rooms where pets are allowed and others where they are not allowed. This makes sense when you consider that some people are allergic to pets and would not want to stay in a room after someone had been there with a pet. We always include a no-smoking room in our request. A room where smoking is allowed can be expected to have a distinct odor, combined with the perfumed spray the motel uses to try to cover up that odor. Either of those items will cause both Jim and me to have headaches and to cough up phlegm. Not conducive for a good nights' sleep or comfort in traveling the next day. So, as those with pet allergies would not want to stay in a room used by pets, we leave the smoking rooms to the smokers and request a non-smoking room. We can always tell if someone has been smoking in a room, but we never have had a problem with pet odors in a room where pets are allowed. As for inspecting the room, we stayed at one motel that would refund our pet charge if we left the room clean. They said that the cleaning crew reported the condition of the rooms if they found a pet problem when they went in after the people checked out. If there was no problem, the motel would take the pet charge off our credit card, which they did. However, they did not charge smokers extra in advance or afterwards for the extra cleaning it takes to maintain those rooms. My point is not against smokers, but rather that it is can be assumed that smoking will have an effect beyond normal wear and tear, while pets may, but most likely won't cause excess damage. I believe that it costs the same to clean or replace drapes, for example, that have been sprayed by a cat as it does to clean or replace drapes that have absorbed smoke. If someone tears up a room, or allows a pet to do so, that person should be held responsible for damages, regardless if they smoke or not. A non-refundable pet deposit gives the motel the opportunity to jack up the price and make more money from pet owners with pets that do not cause damage. I believe that the potential for damage is not greater for pets than it is for people. Perhaps someone here is in the motel business and can refute what I have stated. Annie I heard of a guy who put a harness on a dog and took him on as a "seeing eye dog". But I doubt you could do that with a cat. College student going home for vacation sounds good. Got to be someone out there about to drive the distance.  SignatureChristopher A. Young You can't shout down a troll. You have to starve them. . : I will fly (Indiana --> California), and one option is to take the cats : as "checked luggage". Problem is that most airlines only accept 2 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] : : Thanks! |
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