Is traveling with your cats on long vacation bad or good for your cat?
Have you ever wondered how your cat handles the road? The truth is, it doesn’t. Your cat hates travelling and finds it hard to adjust to new surroundings, which is precisely why every vet will advise you to either find a cat sitter or leave it with someone they’re familiar with.
Even though your cat will experience lots of stress during the time you two are apart, taking them along with you is still not a good idea. This is mainly due to the health issues your cat is likely to experience when on the open road. Why is it so, and what exactly travel does to your cat? As we conducted our research, we came across some interesting facts, so we decided to share it with you, in the hope, they’ll help you understand and deal with the issue
Why is traveling bad for cats and what are the other options?
The cause and the health issues
The core of why your cat hates the road lies in the fact that they spend most of their time home, living in certain surroundings, and they find it hard to adjust to something new. The only time they ever leave home is when you take them to the vet, and just like we hate visiting the doctor even when an incomplete state of health, cats hate it too. https://geembi.com/
Visiting the vet triggers anxiety, which means they associate every ride with stress. Your relaxed trip may not be as pleasing or as relaxing to a cat, and there are several health issues associated with it.
One of the worst is definitely motion sickness, and even though you may think it isn’t that common with cats, it is. Putting your cat in the crate doesn’t change the fact you’re not simply driving them around the corner, and as we know cats aren’t that dumb. However, some owners did try a technique of slowly adjusting the cat to a ride, simply by taking them for a drive in a neighborhood. (Drgrossman.com)
Even though it does require patience and lots of time on one’s hands, if you’re looking to train your cat, this just might be the way.
However, if you’ll be taking your cat on a plane, here is a video to help you out.
Other options
On the other hand, if you’re not going to take a chance on your cat when traveling, there are plenty of options for you to explore like cat sitters and even kennels. While most of the owners shy away from the kennel for different reasons, we bring that out as an option to let you know this too can be a solution. Let’s take a look at all the options to secure cat’s safety while you’re traveling.
Cat Sitter
With a variety of online options, owners get to choose a cat sitter with an experience, for the right price of course. Online platforms are a great option if you’re looking to get yourself someone who knows how to do it, but on the other hand, if your cat isn’t that social, you should probably avoid it, given this too may be too much of a change.
Some cats take it normally, yet some can develop an apathy towards a new sitter, and protest by refusing to feed. This is to be taken into consideration if your cat is a spoiled one.
Yet, there’s always a budget-friendly option, leaving your cat with someone they know and trust. This is a common practice among owners, as it guarantees a safety and health maintenance, especially if a home of the person your cat is to stay with is close to yours.
This is the reason why owners tend to ask their neighbors for a favor, a cat is not only familiar with a neighbor, but also adjusted to the surroundings, making them less likely to attempt escaping the house. Definitely, an option if you’re short on cash, right?
Boarding kennel
Another interesting option, Boarding Kennel is a facility where your cat will not only be safe but also treated right. Most of the kennels have a staff dedicated to cats 24/7 and a vet at service, in extreme cases. While kennels may be risky if your cat is not as social, it still is a place where she’ll be cared for. Cats do take longer to adjust, but with the toys and entertainment offered in kennels, they to give in quite soon.
Conclusion
At last, cats are complicated yet wonderful creatures, worthy of our attention and care. So, whether you’ve found your cat can be trained, or you’ve decided to explore options like boarding kennel, we believe we’ve answered your questions. If not, please leave your additional questions in the question section below, and let us know what you think of the options we offered, and if there are better ones out there.
In the end, here is an overview of options we’ve explored within this post:
- Cat training
- Cat Sitting
- Boarding Kennel
SOURCES: https://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-behavior-travel-cats-in-cars
https://www.catster.com/lifestyle/can-my-cat-handle-the-trip-or-should-he-stay-home