When I packed up my life last year to move from California to New York, the only way I could think to get my cats from point A to point B was to pack them up in the car with me and drive. I maybe could have figured out a way to fly them, but my little cat has such bad anxiety that I didn't think she could handle it.
Commence road trip!
We made it from California to Ohio to my parents' house before we threw in the towel. Everyone was sick of being in the car and just wanted to stop. I made the executive decision to leave the cats to chill for a few days and drive them to New York later.
Fast forward almost a year, and my cats are now seasoned pros at taking long road trips, thanks to several trips back and forth between New York and Ohio. Do they like it? Probably not. Can they handle it? Yes, and this is how.
For me, planning a road trip is always pretty exciting. The impending trip across the entire country last year sounded so amazing, and who better to share it with then my two best pals, my cats? It was going to be a blast!
OK, so I don't really drug them up, but I do give them calming treats. Do I think they help? Not really, but we try. I give them the treats the night before we leave if we're going in the morning or a few hours ahead of time if we're leaving any other time of day.
The cats don't suspect anything when I give them the calming treats, but once I put them in their carriers, they know something is up. And once I put the carriers in the car? Yeah, that's when they start yelling at me. They are very, very vocal when we first leave.
I have learned that as long as I keep talking to my cats in the backseat, they will keep talking back to me. If I completely ignore their meowing, they will eventually calm down and stop.
They will eventually do what they do best, and that is sleep. Let them sleep as much of the trip as possible. You will all be happier this way.
After arriving at the destination, all intact and all happy (or just not mad), there's no way other to feel than relieved. My cats are usually very excited to get out of the car and very content with completely ignoring me for a few hours.