The Most Important Thing to Remember When Traveling with Your Cat

Generally speaking, cats aren’t very good travelers. This is because they are creatures of habit, meaning that a set routine makes them feel safe and secure. In contrast, when something disrupts that set routine, that can make them feel very uncomfortable to say the least. As a result, interested individuals should consider leaving their cat at home under most circumstances, which can save them as well as their cat a lot of stress.

Unfortunately, there are times when cat owners will have no choice but to bring their cat with them when they travel. For example, they might be moving, meaning that they will need to bring their cat with them to their new home. Likewise, they might not be able to find anyone to cat-sit their cat, meaning that they will need to bring their cat with them to make sure that their cat will be cared for. Due to this, interested individuals might want to look into the various preparations that can be made to smooth the process as much as possible.

Here are some important things to remember when traveling with a cat:

Consult a Veterinarian

One of the first things that interested individuals should do is to consult a veterinarian. This is because there are medications that can help out with the various complications that can show up because of travel. For example, there are some cats out there that get car-sick, meaning that it might be a good idea to consider medication for car-sickness. Likewise, there are some cats that react even more poorly to travel than most of their counterparts, so much so that it might be best to sedate them beforehand. In any case, when interested individuals consult a veterinarian, they should use it as a chance to ask about other travel-related matters as well because said individual should be one of the best sources of expertise and experience available to them. Moreover, they should make sure to ask about ways to feed medication to their cat because even the best prescription won’t help if they can get it into their cat.

Check the Requirements for Flying with a Cat

Sometimes, interested individuals won’t have a choice but to fly with their cat. Should this prove to be the case, they will need to check the requirements for flying with a cat so that they can make the appropriate preparations. One example would be getting a cat carrier that can fit under their seat. Another example would be getting the paperwork that they need to fly with their cat, which can include vaccination records as well as other medical documents. In some cases, interested individuals might be told that they can’t bring their cat with them but will instead have to put their cat in the hold. Speaking bluntly, while this can be tempting, this should be avoided as much as possible because this is not a good idea.

Get ID Tags Plus Microchip

When traveling, cat owners are going to want to take steps to maximize their chances to recover their cat in the event of them losing their cat. This means ID tags plus microchipping, which is important because ID tags can be lost. As for why this is so important, the reasoning is twofold. One, there is an increased chance of cats running off. After all, an agitated cat is also a cat that is likelier to strike out, which can cause a cat owner to let go of them at a very inopportune time. Something that should encourage them to put their cat in their cat carrier as much as possible. Two, finding a lost cat is going to be much more complicated if that cat happens to be lost in a strange place rather than somewhere more familiar, meaning that it is best to prevent it in the first place.

Put the Cat in a Cat Carrier

Cats have a well-earned reputation for squeezing themselves into small spaces. After all, it satisfies their need for warmth as well as for security, which is important when they are predators that can be predated upon. Thanks to this, there are a lot of cats out there that feel better when they are ensconced in a cat carrier. Something that can help interested individuals make traveling with a cat that much more manageable. However, it is important to mention that this isn’t a universal reaction, which is why cat owners will want to run some tests beforehand to see whether cat does better in a cat carrier when traveling. For that matter, they might need to familiarize their cat with the cat carrier, which is something that can take a fair amount of time and effort in its own right.

Bring the Cat’s Most Used Items

Traveling makes it impossible to bring the whole of a cat’s normal environment with them. However, it is possible to bring certain elements of that normal environment with minimal effort, which can have a huge effect when traveling with a cat. Generally speaking, this means the items that a cat uses the most, with examples including but not limited to their bed, their blanket, and their favorite toys. Due to this, particularly far-sighted individuals might want to consider providing their cat with soft, flexible, and simple-to-transport versions of these items beforehand to ensure the easiest time when traveling with their cat. Otherwise, it could make their preparations more complicated than it had to be.

Don’t Leave the Cat in the Car

On a final note, cat owners should never leave their cat in a car on their own. The fundamental issue is that cars can become very hot very fast, with the result that there are a lot of cats that have come to harm because their cat owners left them alone for a short while. Some people might think that it will be fine because their car has air conditioning, but it is important to remember that both air conditioners and car engines can fail, meaning that this isn’t a perfectly reliable solution. As for open car windows, that is even worse because they don’t help that much while also being a potential escape route for either agitated or curious cats.