Pet Travel with a Cat
Traveling with a cat can be challenging. If your cat is typical, it is not as comfortable outside of its normal surroundings and may have tendencies toward nervousness or anger when put into a travel carrier or crate. Unfortunately, this nervousness or anger manifests itself in either a lot of meowing or in hostile behavior.
One way to help deter this type of behavior is to prepare well in advance of travel. Training a kitten to be in a carrier is a lot easier than training a full grown cat.
If you are traveling with a cat who has not been in a carrier before, turn the carrier on its side and encourage your kitty to go in its carrier even if you are not going anywhere. Reward them with treats and lots of attention when they go in their carrier without a fuss. Put a catnip toy in the carrier so that they will associate the carrier with a good feeling. Also, put something of yours in there too so they will have your scent near them. It may help when they settle down. Practice a LOT; it will pay off on travel day.
Get a pet pad for your carrier. A nervous cat may be prone to urinate, and it will be difficult to deal with the unpleasant odor. A good pet pad will protect your carrier and keep your cat smelling fresh during your trip.
When you are leaving on your trip, put the privacy flaps down on the carrier. It will give your cat a secure feeling. Hold them close to you if possible so they can feel your body move. Be sure and stroke them through the side of the carrier. Do not partially unzip the carrier as they can jump out quickly.
If you have done all of this, or don't have the time to prepare well in advance, we would suggest an all natural cat calmer. There are no drugs in these products, only natural relaxers. This may take the edge off and quiet your cat down for several hours. It helps to give them the treat before you put them in their carrier.
Solving a problem.
The good news for traveling cat owners is that your cat was small enough to fit under the seat on the airplane during your 5-hour flight.
The bad news is that you missed the connecting flight and now you are stuck in the terminal for 5 hours and you know that your cat needs to go to the bathroom or at least certainly will before you reach your destination and get to a litter box.
Here is a solution. Take along portable litter tray, and several small bags of litter in zip lock bags. (It's a good idea to put a small amount of litter out of the at home liter box so that he or she will recognize the smell.)
Take your kitty into the restroom and set up his or her portable litter box and fill it with the kitty litter.
Chances are your cat will jump right in and take care of business.
Toss the kitty litter in the trash and wash out the litter tray. Be considerate of other travelers and do not rinse litter down the sink.
If you use a folding litter tray, the whole set up takes almost no room at all and can be placed inside the carrier.
We carry excellent in-cabin bags for cats. We suggest the SturdiBag pet carriers as they are airline compliant.
