Moving with Our Pets

[savingdogs]

Rescue remedy is a great idea, dragenlaurel. I've never used it on cats but it can be wonderful in certain dogs. It doesn't work on all of them but it isn't an expensive thing to get and have on hand.

I would also make sure the dogs and cats were microchipped and current on all vaccinations especially rabies as it is required in some states and you never know what could happen. I'd also carry a photo of each one with you in case they were lost. Animals jump out of vehicles, people steal cars with animals in them, you never know what might happen.

 

[framing fowl]

When we moved cross country Spokane to Lexington, it took us 6 days. We only had the 2 dogs though (Aussie mix and pit mix). We just stopped every couple of hours and made sure they stayed hydrated. One rode in the cab of DH's truck and one road in the front seat of my car.

Ditto having paper towels, old blankets or towels, some enzyme spray to control odor of messes just in case. We didn't have problems luckily but it's a good thing to do. Our dogs pretty much refused to eat much. They drank a lot but ate less than 1/2 of what they normally ate.

Maybe it was dumb on our part, but we "crated" them in DH's truck cab in the evening at hotels. We just put down their towels on the bench seat, gave them a final run for the night, put their bowl of water in there and their chew toys. We'd crack the windows so they had fresh air. Then in the mornings we'd take them on a run before hitting the road.

The thought of staying in "pet-friendly" hotels just gave me the heebie jeebies.

 

[cabinchick]

Thanks All

Our journey will be 1011 miles. Do you think I'm allowing enough time to get there?

The cat, Dauschund and Cocker will all be crated, as will be the chickens. All my animals are good travelers (even the cat!) with no car sickness issues. But obviously this will be a lot longer than our usual outings. I always protect the inside of my SUV with light plastic sheeting, headliner and all. The harness idea on the cat and doxie are great - they do need excercise and both are young, I don't want them to bolt when we stop. I think I will visit the vet for some meds (maybe the doc for some for me too) to help the dogs stay calm. I think the biggest pain will be the Saint - he is always trying to get into my lap when I drive and I haven't been able to find a pet barrier that fits my SUV. Any idea on how to rig one up?

 

[savingdogs]

I've used leashes hooked up to something in the car to keep a dog in the section I desired, when they were too big for a crate to work. Give them enough lead to turn their head to rest and lay down, but not enough to leave the seat or spot you want them in. In the back-back of a SUV, I'd try to hook it near the back door hatch so they can't jump over the seat. This also helps for when you open the hatch, so they cannot dart out before you grab their leash.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I agree with SD. Carseats/restraints of some kind for the loose animals.
DH stopped to help with a rollover just past our house in the dead of winter, and even though the family was fine, their little dog which was sitting on the dash was thrown from the care and could not be found

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Thanks All

Our journey will be 1011 miles. Do you think I'm allowing enough time to get there?

The cat, Dauschund and Cocker will all be crated, as will be the chickens. All my animals are good travelers (even the cat!) with no car sickness issues. But obviously this will be a lot longer than our usual outings. I always protect the inside of my SUV with light plastic sheeting, headliner and all. The harness idea on the cat and doxie are great - they do need excercise and both are young, I don't want them to bolt when we stop. I think I will visit the vet for some meds (maybe the doc for some for me too) to help the dogs stay calm. I think the biggest pain will be the Saint - he is always trying to get into my lap when I drive and I haven't been able to find a pet barrier that fits my SUV. Any idea on how to rig one up?

Can you get a car seat tether installed at your local dealer? If so, then his leash can be hooked to the tether.

 

[savingdogs]

Thanks All

Our journey will be 1011 miles. Do you think I'm allowing enough time to get there?

The cat, Dauschund and Cocker will all be crated, as will be the chickens. All my animals are good travelers (even the cat!) with no car sickness issues. But obviously this will be a lot longer than our usual outings. I always protect the inside of my SUV with light plastic sheeting, headliner and all. The harness idea on the cat and doxie are great - they do need excercise and both are young, I don't want them to bolt when we stop. I think I will visit the vet for some meds (maybe the doc for some for me too) to help the dogs stay calm. I think the biggest pain will be the Saint - he is always trying to get into my lap when I drive and I haven't been able to find a pet barrier that fits my SUV. Any idea on how to rig one up?

Can you get a car seat tether installed at your local dealer? If so, then his leash can be hooked to the tether.

Great idea! My car is a subaru and it has a hook back there,not sure what it was meant for, but it works great with a dog. Sometimes those pinch-to-open metal ring clips are good, and metal leads if your dogs chew their leads. But the most ideal would be dog seat belts and to belt them in. We have had some dogs really like them as it helps steady them as the car shifts around curves. Other dogs would rather hang their head out the window, but I never roll it down more than a crack as I've had dogs JUMP out of what I thought was WAY too small of an opening, on dog got stuck and almost hung himself before we were able to roll the window down. So now I only roll down the window enough for "nose".

 

[Dawn419]

cabinchick,

Just wanted to share our move with you.

The trips we made from TN to AR (before we moved out here) took us from 7 1/2 - 8 hours (depending on weather and traffic).

When we made our final move to AR, we used the camper we're living in as a U-Haul. We had the bedroom area and the livingroom/kitchen table areas loaded with our personal belongings and used the floor for our two wire cages of chickens and the cat crate. Things were loaded so that nothing would fall from these areas onto the cages/crate.

I had just enough floor space that I could pull the cat crate out and then make sure the chickens had water and fresh greens whenever we made stops (which were fairly often). Our flock are used to regular waterers and rabbit bottle waterers, so we wired rabbit waterers to the cages for the move (we laid down a tarp and newpapers on the floor before adding them in their cages).

All of that worked fine but we didn't take into account how heavy our load was, plus it rained our whole drive out to AR and both of those factors turned a relatively short trip into 12+ hours. Doc and I were stressed out by the time we got to my Mom's place but the critters were all fine.

Make sure to give yourself extra time for those little, unexpected things that could happen! If they happen, you're covered and if they don't...then you're ahead of the game!


Dawn