Conference misery::feline_v1

    Susan,
    
    I would suggest using a travel cage and the size would depend on
    how big your kitten is.  If you have a big enough car and can locate
    a carrier from a friend that is the most comfortable and safest
    way to travel.  Four hours without use of a litter pan should not
    be a problem and the kitten will probably sleep most of the way.
    Leaving your kitten loose in the car is not a good idea and very
    dangerous for both you and the kitten.
    
    Good luck on your trip.
    
    Nancy

    I agree with .1    Always use a carrier.  So much can happen in just a
    few seconds with a cat loose in a car.  Look at what 15 seconds did to
    California.  My vet is only 5 minutes away and I also use my carrier.
    
    Thunder has ridden for 2 hours in her carrier with no problem. 
    Actually she has ridden 4 hours with an hour spent at Tufts outside of
    the carrier.  She survived nicely and so didn't I.  
    
    Sandi mom to Thunder, Lightning, Storm & DejaVu too
    
    

    I drove from Morgan Hill, CA to Portland, OR with 5 cats in the
    car in their carriers.  That is about a 12 hour drive.  We stopped
    twice to let them use the litter box.  They did great.  Just about
    twice a month I take several of my cats on the six hour drive to
    L.A. for cat shows, everyone makes it just fine in their carriers.
    I have found that the noise of the engine is a constant sound, and
    actually helps put them to sleep, but once off the highway, they
    wake up real quickly.
    
    Jo 

    
    Sorry,but I suppose if someone is going to disagree with the 
    carrier Idea then Itll be me.. ;-)
    
    I let my cats(past and present) loose in the car,it lets them
    stretch legs and things,and they normaly sleep anyway.
    
    I stop the car every 2 hours or so for them to use the littertray,
    and away we go again. Only one of them insists on travelling the
    entire way on my shoulder,wailing in my ear!
    
    Phil,,,.

    Keep the kitten in the carrier, and pad the bottom with something
    comfortable for her to sleep on.  Stop once or twice for litterbox
    duty, and try to stay on the highway as much as possible.  Mine
    hate twisty turny roads, but the steady drone of the engine and
    the relatively smooth highway roads will usually put them to sleep.
    
    Mary-Michael

    
    
    I let my cats loose in the car when driving - for the simple reason
    of I don't have a carrier!  It works out okay, unless one of them
    gets restless and starts walking around under my feet!  (whoops,
    brake, no don't brake, whoops, did I step on her! 8*)) My opinion
    would be a carrier is safest, especially if you aren't sure the
    cat won't walk around the car when your driving!
    
    F.

    re: .6 - BUY A CARRIER!  They aren't that expensive if you purchase
    one at a show.  You can get good deals.  There is at least one
    note (Pee-wee) about a cat who escaped from its human's arms on
    the way to the vets and has NOT been recovered.  I also know of
    a woman who lost BOTH her cats because she was using one of those
    card board carriers.  The bottom fell out, both cats took off and
    she never found them.
      Please do not let this happen to your cats.
       Nancy DC

    
    
    I second the carrier idea.  I never used to have one, and would
    let the cats loose in the car.  Until I was a witness to an accident
    where the children in the car were not in car seats or seat belts.
    These poor little kids took quite a trip in that car.  Noone was
    seriously hurt fortunately.  Just think what a sudden stop could
    do to a little kitten who is not restrained.
    
    If you don't want to purchase a carrier use two clothesbaskets.
    We used to do that for one of our kitties.  Since your little one
    is still small, a large basket should do it.  Just put in a blanket
    and maybe a favorite toy.  Put in the kitty and tie the two (top
    and bottom) together with some strong string/twine.  Please
    make sure the plastic does not have any sharp edges to it to hurt
    little paws.  
    
    Just a suggestion!
    Mi

Hi,
I think it depends on the cat, but always play it safe.
I frequently make 2.5 hour trips(about every other weekend) and Tsunami
goes with me.  I carry her in a carrier until I'm in the car with all
doors closed, then she demands to be let out.  She sleeps on my lap while
we're on the freeway, and sits on the dash in the city.  She knows not to
go down on the floor where my feet are.  I make sure she is
secure in her carrier before I open any doors/windows.
Again, it depends on the cat.  Can you take the kitten on short trips first
to get her used to the idea and see how she'll react.
If she doesn't "freak out" you could hold her on your lap part of the time.
If you're worried about it though, just keep her in a carrier, she'll be fine.
Becky

    Do you have any idea what happens to a cat, dog, or other pet that's
    unrestrained in a car when you have to stop suddenly or you get
    hit?  The animal goes flying (almost literally) through the window,
    into the dash board, against the back of the front seats, etc. 
    This can cause severe injury to the animal and even death.
    
    Brat always rides in his cat carrier, which I put on the front seat
    so he can see me.  I loop the seat belt through the handle of his
    carrier and around it, thereby giving it some added stability.
                         

    I agree with the others...ALWAYS travel with the cat in a carrier...and
    I feel they should NEVER be let out unless the car is not moving.  
    
    As others have said, if you have to stop fast, or if your in an
    accident, there is just too great a chance of them getting injured. 
    You wouldn't travel with a baby riding on your lap would you???  Why
    would you travel with a cat on your lap???  
    
    Just My Opinion...
    cin...
    

    If you really don't want to carry your cat or dog in a carrier,
    I saw a pet seat belt/harness in the Pedigrees catalog (I think).
    This harness restrains the animal and hooks onto the car's seatbelts.
    If you want more info let me know and I'll go look for the ad.
      Nancy DC who straps Dundee's carrier into the front seat when
    we go to catshows.
    

    Not to dwell on this topic, but...
    Two years ago, I was involved in a serious 5 car accident on the New
    Jersey Turnpike in which the Honda CRX my husband and I were in was
    totaled.  My cat was in the carrier between us in the front seat.
    I feel sick when I think how, if he wasn't safe there, he could have
    escaped on the turnpike (exit 2, in the middle of nowhere!)  And,
    it's another story about how we had to take him in the police car,
    emergency room, sneak him in the only hotel around, and then 
    take a bus back to Boston with him!  What if we didn't have a carrier!
    I realize this is an extreme case, but something to think about...
    

    
    re: .13 and others -
      I don't think that any of us would deny that the cat is much
    better off in a carrier than free in the car during an accident.
    I think that what happens is that many of us are guilty of a
    very human bit of rationalization:
    
      "It won't happen to me"
    
    How many of us have been involved in car accidents during our
    "Driving careers" - how many of them were due to "mistakes" or
    due to someone else's mistake or to fatigue.  It can and DOES
    happen to us and if the cat is in the car when it does........
    
    I hate to lock them up too, but if we had an accident and any
    of them were hurt or killed I could never look at myself in the
    mirror again.  Sometimes you have to "be cruel to be kind".
      Nancy DC
    

    one more of the same...
    
    my cissy was in a terrible van accident with her previous person. she
    sustained very bad cutz under her chin, (which required several
    stitches),  lost her two tiny kittenz in the melee (when the two kittenz 
    were thrown out of the van), and was absolutely **terrified** of all 
    moving vehiclez in all the yearz we were together.
    
    but it could have been worse.... 
    
    and driving with the cat in one'z lap???  i think not.
    
    diane, stella & stanley
    

    
    Your kitten may benefit from a tranquilizer.
    Try a test drive to see how it responds.

    Well, the kitten (Ditto the Wonder Cat) 
    is practically a cat at this point; it
    seems that he was malnourished as a tot and he has grown
    spectacularly.  We will not be transporting him to Vermont
    until the Christmas holidays.  It seems virtually unanimous
    from the point of view of the people who responded that we
    should use a (heavy duty) cat carrier.  That makes sense to me for all
    the reasons stated.  At this point I think he is
    secure enough to stand the sensory deprivation (quite a 
    cuddler, as I said).  ;-)  Certainly his safety is worth being
    caged for a few hours.  I imagine that, as with other trips,
    and the other small trials of his pampered life, he will complain
    mildly for awhile, then resign himself for the duration.  That's his
    nature.
    
    I have heard of cats "bolting" before, but Ditto's response to
    stress (like the vet) is to cling like a leech to 
    whatever he is on at the moment (a person, a couch, a carpet).
    It is quite difficult, for example, to get him out of the
    carrier to put him on the table at the vet's.
    Of course we will not take any chances, but I do not think there
    is a high risk of losing him.  I almost expect him to follow us
    home, except that he likes his future slave (my father-in-law) a lot.
    Literally and figuratively, he is a very WARM person.  
    
    Anyway, I will write in about the trip after Christmas.
    
    Thanks for the input,
    Susan 

    Susan,
      I may have said this already - Put a catbed in the carrier.  That's
    how I transport Dundee to and from the shows.  He just sits in there
    and patty-paws the catbed.  it also provides him with a secure "seat"
    so he doesn't get unbalanced when I go around curves etc.
     Nancy DC
    

    Well, FELINE-ers will laugh when they hear that, due
    to the delays caused by my father-in-law having trouble
    getting the house he wanted, we had plenty of time
    to fall in love with our kitten and decide to keep
    him.  So now there will be no trip to Vermont.  And
    two kittens, instead of one, will be adopted (one
    now-unknown kitten in Vermont for my father-in-law,
    one beloved kitten here in Massachusetts).
    
    :-)
    Susan
    

    Way to go, pussycat! :-)