HELP: Tranquilizers? transporting felines 1250 miles

[Ilkka and Tom]

Hi all,

I mean of course not that we will need tranquilizers -- which is certainly the case -- but that I am trying to understand whether and how it will be possible to accomplish the transport of "x" number of cats about 1260 miles, TX to VA.

Back story: I've never been a cat person, but when we came to Houston some 8 years ago, we did have one pet, thanks to my wife's kindness and instincts. He is as it turned out a great cat, Tom. He became diabetic (2009, Levemir -- have not updated his chart for a few months but he is doing ok), I became his caretaker, hence our connection to these boards. Since moving into central Houston 6 years ago, we have adopted 2 more cats and a dog (rescues, literally off the streets). But that is not the problem. We also adopted, as caretakers, a colony of 16 semi-feral cats living under a since-demolished house across the street. After the couple who were feeding them moved out, we inherited the responsibility, and we got them all spayed/neutered, shots, vet care, even microchips. Several have been adopted out, others died or were lost.

There are six left (in addition to our own three), they are family; we don't know whether to leave them to their own devices or bring any or all of them with us. It is not an all-or-nothing thing. We have about 8 days to make this decision and prepare, along with the insanity that is moving. Maybe we should not displace them from their environment; maybe we should. We just don't know -- we have been debating this for two YEARS because we knew we were going back east one day.

Question:
If we decide to bring them, or any of them, in addition to our own three (plus small dog), is it possible to tranquilize them for a 22-30 hour trip? How? On a recent trip to the vet one of these cats, a beautiful siamese mix, was so upset in the carrier she lost an incisor trying to bite her way through the metal door. Up to 30 hours will be an adventure, no matter who takes her and how.

Any thoughts, suggestions, experiences -- all appreciated.

 

[carolyn & jesse (GA) & spock]

When I moved from Southern Utah to Oregon (2 days and nights), I used valium with my 13 cats. It's based on the cat's weight. A lot of them slept, others it just made mellow; except for Wizard who fought the drug and meowed approx. 30 times per minute! I does effect every cat differently - it effected Kenny much stronger and he was so asleep the 2nd morning I had a hard time waking him up.

No advice on whether or not to take the kitties with you. I also inherited a semi-feral colony when I arrived in OR 5 years ago. Sadly, only one of them is left. The only thing I can advise is to not get them into a shelter. I witnessed way too many sheltered ferals that couldn't stand the confinement.

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Oh wow, what a dilemma. I don't have any experience in those areas, but I think I would try like crazy to find someone local who would be willing to take over their care. Even if you were able to transport them successfully, there are so many factors that seem dicey with relocating them - where they would live, how they would adjust to their new territory and a different climate, etc.

I don't know if you remember us, but a couple years ago when I was struggling to get Bix regulated I posted on the Lev forum for suggestions, and you, along with Terri & Lucy, gave me some great advice that thankfully I heeded, and I was able to get him regulated within a couple weeks after that. I will forever be grateful to you for that.

Sorry not to be more help on your current questions.

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

I did a quick web search and see at least one site that might have useful info, if you haven't already checked out stuff like this:

http://www.forgottenfelines.com/v4/colcare.shtml#not they have a note to email them for information on how to relocate a colony, so maybe they could answer some of your questions?

here is their relocation guidelines article: http://www.forgottenfelines.com/v4/relocation.shtml not sure how much it helps...

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

When I moved from Southern Utah to Oregon (2 days and nights), I used valium with my 13 cats. It's based on the cat's weight. A lot of them slept, others it just made mellow; except for Wizard who fought the drug and meowed approx. 30 times per minute! I does effect every cat differently - it effected Kenny much stronger and he was so asleep the 2nd morning I had a hard time waking him up.

No advice on whether or not to take the kitties with you. I also inherited a semi-feral colony when I arrived in OR 5 years ago. Sadly, only one of them is left. The only thing I can advise is to not get them into a shelter. I witnessed way too many sheltered ferals that couldn't stand the confinement.

Ok, thanks Carolyn, valium was suggested by my wife also - we will put that on top of the list of candidates -- just have to figure out where to get the drug. I agree with you about shelters, but thanks for reinforcing that view. We considered getting this particular colony into various adoption programs but it just won't work. While they are extremely affectionate, astonishingly so, with me and with each other, they are just a little too undomesticated to be in a cage for possible adoption.

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

Oh wow, what a dilemma. I don't have any experience in those areas, but I think I would try like crazy to find someone local who would be willing to take over their care. Even if you were able to transport them successfully, there are so many factors that seem dicey with relocating them - where they would live, how they would adjust to their new territory and a different climate, etc.

I don't know if you remember us, but a couple years ago when I was struggling to get Bix regulated I posted on the Lev forum for suggestions, and you, along with Terri & Lucy, gave me some great advice that thankfully I heeded, and I was able to get him regulated within a couple weeks after that. I will forever be grateful to you for that.

Sorry not to be more help on your current questions.

Hi Joanna !

I do remember, so nice to see a reply from you on this.. Very glad to hear things worked out for Bix. I too owe a great debt of gratitude to many folks on these boards -- amazing the knowledge that is out there if you know where to ask.

Tom, btw, came out of remission this past Feb but he is responding well to Levemir, still. I have been so busy I keep missing shot times by hours and it has not been ideal for him, but we are trying our best.

As to this "colony" -- I detest that term, makes them sound like pests - we have been distressed more than I can say by the thought of having to leave them. I still have no idea what to do and time is getting short.. I am tending to the idea of leaving them, heartbreaking as that is, because I think displacing them is just too dicey as you say. If I bring any with us, I will take Carolyn up on her suggestion of valium, probably, as I recall my vet also suggested that though I will recheck w/ him this week.

Many thanks!

 

[maryjoandsmokie]

Ohhhh, you can't leave your Family :sad:

There are some folks here who have relocated cats.
Melissa&Paul-Kyle have if i'm not mistaken.
JOJO and Bunny have.

I have used the Valium and it works.
I'm sure Vet would give it to you if you explain your situation to him.
Relocation is possible!

 

[Carol & Yoshi]

No experience with what you are asking but in addition to your others, six sounds potentially doable especially if you have a safe place for them to go once you get to Virginia. That would be my bigger concern. Once you make it through the trip to VA, where will you live?

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

Once you make it through the trip to VA, where will you live?

We own a home in the Shenandoah Valley -- in a small town, not out in the countryside, more like a little suburb with rolling hills. The lot is not fenced in, so cats can certainly wander off to wherever.

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

Ohhhh, you can't leave your Family :sad:

There are some folks here who have relocated cats.
Melissa&Paul-Kyle have if i'm not mistaken.
JOJO and Bunny have.

I have used the Valium and it works.
I'm sure Vet would give it to you if you explain your situation to him.
Relocation is possible!

Thanks - Melissa and JoJo are among my favorite folks here .. will PM them on this.

 

[Karen & Smokey(GA)]

Where in Texas....nearest city ? (Oh HOUSTON---never mind).


Have you check with Alley Cat Allies....perhaps they have someone who
can take over caring for the colony.

Wish you had started asking for help earlier.
One week is not much time to muster the troops.

 

[Squeaky and KT (GA)]

We own a home in the Shenandoah Valley -- in a small town, not out in the countryside, more like a little suburb with rolling hills. The lot is not fenced in, so cats can certainly wander off to wherever.

THIS part is certainly a monkey wrench. I successfully moved 4 of my group with us from California to Texas then Texas to Oklahoma. They rode in carriers for the long move - well, all except 'Mama' but in the covered back of pickup in early spring Tx to OK. THAT was a mistake - they were terrified. I already had an 8' privacy fence and building waiting for them each place. I didn't use anything to relax them but wish I would have.

I'm afraid yours will take off immediately and since they don't know the area AND it's populated with scary beans and cars, they'll not find their way home safely....

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

I'm afraid yours will take off immediately and since they don't know the area AND it's populated with scary beans and cars, they'll not find their way home safely....

There are some good tips on the Alley Cat Allies site and also the one I posted a few posts up (Forgetten Felines). Apparently the idea is to have a large caged area set up and keep them there for a month so they imprint. It's an interesting read if you click on the link up a few posts!

The Shenandoah is beautiful - I grew up in VA in the DC suburbs. Hope you really enjoy it there!

btw Bix passed away in January ... but not from diabetes complications!!! He had a good year of being well-regulated and his IBD under control, and I don't think he would have had either of those w/o the switch to LC canned and of course getting regulated, so it was a blessing to get that extra time of good health for him.

 

[maryjoandsmokie]

Here are some very good ideas on cat enclosures.
There are several links in some of the posts that have good ideas and some seem
easy to build...


viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2135&p=19660#p19660

"Apparently the idea is to have a large caged area set up and keep them there for a month so they imprint." (while you get the enclosure built)

 

[Lana & Yoyo]

30 hours is a long trip. My cat, Yoyo, does not travel well. I haven't tried tranquilizers yet but it sounds like a good idea. On the 4 hour trip to visit my family, he would poop and pee all over himself and the carrier and I would have to wash him with a garden hose when I got to my destination. I've started putting him in a harness with a leash, tying the leash to give him a little room to move around. I put a litter box in the car where he can get to it. By the time I've gone 35 miles, he has already pooped four times! but at least he poops in the box. I don't know if such an arrangement would be workable with multiple cats or not.

Lana

 

[maryjoandsmokie]

I can't get that address to work.
In the search bar at the top of this page; just type in: "Cat containment systems"

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

30 hours is a long trip. My cat, Yoyo, does not travel well. I haven't tried tranquilizers yet but it sounds like a good idea. On the 4 hour trip to visit my family, he would poop and pee all over himself and the carrier and I would have to wash him with a garden hose when I got to my destination. I've started putting him in a harness with a leash, tying the leash to give him a little room to move around. I put a litter box in the car where he can get to it. By the time I've gone 35 miles, he has already pooped four times! but at least he poops in the box. I don't know if such an arrangement would be workable with multiple cats or not.

Lana

Right.. that is part of my concern, with multiple cats, and I can't handle more than three in a car just logistically.

Eight years ago I drove here from Virginia with Tom. He was perfect -- calm, minor meowing in the first 20 minutes, then not a peep. He was in a carrier on the passenger seat, and there was a litter in the footwell. After a few hours on an empty stretch of highway, at speed, I opened the door of the carrier, he clambered out, down into the footwell, went immediately in the litter, covered it up, climbed back into the carrier. Can't get any easier. Wendell, on the other hand -- the most feral of our three inside cats -- wets himself in the first two minutes of a 6 minute drive to the vet. So he needs to be tranquilized -- I don't think I can even get him into a harness without that -- and I have one larger carrier into which I will put a litter for him so I don't need to let him out if the harness does not get put on. Luna, the white angora, can also get nervous and she is stubborn. And none of this deals with six cats who have been in a car a few times, never calmly, and only for a few minutes as our services are nearby...

oh boy...

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

I can't get that address to work.
In the search bar at the top of this page; just type in: "Cat containment systems"

Thanks - will check that out

btw the reason the address did not work is that only the second part of it was included -- the part that comes after "php?" - so here is the whole address

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2135&p=19660#p19660

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

I'm afraid yours will take off immediately and since they don't know the area AND it's populated with scary beans and cars, they'll not find their way home safely....

There are some good tips on the Alley Cat Allies site and also the one I posted a few posts up (Forgetten Felines). Apparently the idea is to have a large caged area set up and keep them there for a month so they imprint. It's an interesting read if you click on the link up a few posts!

The Shenandoah is beautiful - I grew up in VA in the DC suburbs. Hope you really enjoy it there!

btw Bix passed away in January ... but not from diabetes complications!!! He had a good year of being well-regulated and his IBD under control, and I don't think he would have had either of those w/o the switch to LC canned and of course getting regulated, so it was a blessing to get that extra time of good health for him.

Joanna - so very sorry to hear about Bix !! so sad - my condolences...-- glad he had a good last year.

As far as the Shenandoah, yes it is gorgeous & that is where we came from before we reluctantly sold our place -- actually before that we lived in DC for 25 years or something.. a long time in any case. We've had yet another house there (the Valley) for two years now with full intent to move and are finally getting to it. I had been hoping for a miracle re these cats and two years ago went through the various rescue / alternate caregiver resources, but with no real success. The neighbors here are oil industry execs, and I don't mean that they are therefore unfriendly to felines, but it is hard to see how anyone who does not have a house within a block of mine could feed them without in effect colonizing someone else's property. So they have to be left here on their own, or relocated with all the dangers and issues with that.... I have become fascinated from a human interest and a quasi scientific interest in the culture of these cats, their habits, gifts, customs, requirements but that knowledge also makes me uncertain about a successful transplant. I am not sure any relo would work but I am pretty sure it would be expensive to have third party transport which assumes the valium etc... Once I leave here, no one is going to get them into a carrier, that is for sure. Not even me, because step one of getting them to a carrier is to get them in my garage and closing the door...

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

We own a home in the Shenandoah Valley -- in a small town, not out in the countryside, more like a little suburb with rolling hills. The lot is not fenced in, so cats can certainly wander off to wherever.

THIS part is certainly a monkey wrench. [.. clippety ..}

I'm afraid yours will take off immediately and since they don't know the area AND it's populated with scary beans and cars, they'll not find their way home safely....

Right !!! - that is part of the problem.. however let's say we had more time and could consider the enclosure .. You don't think they would try to dig out underneath? these cats are escape artists.


many thanks..

 

[maryjoandsmokie]

Lots of people use the enclosures and it doesn't sound like the cats get out.
Scroll down and look at the different ones.
Wouldn't a large one be nice.
Talk to some of the folks who have them.
If you could find Melissa i know she could help with ideas to build one.

And the cats know you. And to leave them...

I know an MD who lives in the country near here and he built a "cat house."
And he built a real high (i don't know how to explain it) platform way up over 10 feet high by the cat house.
And steps led up to it from both sides and it was enclosed with wire. This way the large colony of cats he had could go up high and eat without being bothered by other animals.

 

[maryjoandsmokie]

Oh, i forgot to mention.
My neighbor down the street has one of those portable buildings she got from Home Depo
for her cats. She has their beds in there and all the things they need.
A rescue lady told me that lots of folks have those cute little buildings for their cats.

 

[MommaOfMuse]

Well as someone that has travelled with 11 cats most of which were ex-barn cats and thus semi-feral from Colorado to Maryland....This is how I did it, don't know if it will work for you guys should you decide to take the whole gang, but.....First went to the vet's and got valium for the cats, then with hubby driving the moving van and I driving our truck we load up the kitties into a extra large dog crate...not the carrier type but one of the wire ones complete with litter box, and large rodent water bottles attached to the outside with the tube inside the crate, so I didn't have to open the crate to give fresh water. Then we bungee corded a tarp over the top of the crate to give them both shade and protection from any weather we might run into. Then off we went...My husband had the dog, 3 rats and 2 snakes with him in the cab of the moving van and I had our 4 house cats in the cab our truck as well as the 7 ex-barn cats in the big kennel...yes we were a traveling zoo...lol.

When we got to our new house in Maryland, at first the 7 semi-ferals lived in the garage until we got a big cat confinement place built in the back yard...which was basically a larger version of a dog run. We used chain link for the walls, and then chicken wire for the bottom and top, and wired it all together so they could neither climb out or dig under...the bottom mesh we covered with straw....wasn't pretty but we all survived the relocation, with most of our sanity intact...lol Or with as much sanity as you can have moving 11 cats, one 75lb wolf-hybrid, 3 rats & 2 snakes. :roll:

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang

 

[Melissa&Paul-Kyle]

Hi Illka,

My inclination would be to bring them with me, build an enclosure to house them until they get used to the area and then if it won't disrupt the neighborhood, after a fashion of time goes by, allow them to run as free as they did in TX? Or keep them safely in enclosure if they are happy...

If you'd like info on enclosures that have a free feeling, I seem to be becoming the queen of them, having just built a 75' long, 25' wide, 12' high enclosure for my humane society to house some 70 cats ( free access to in/out) and also have my own 1200 sq ft enclosure at home.

Trying to post pics of outdoor enclosure just finished. The one at my house is much smaller- 30' long, 40'wide, 8' high. You can make them any size.

Hope this works! Oh, and I live in WV... near Morgantown. If we are close enough, be glad to pop over and help erect the structure!

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

Oh, i forgot to mention.
My neighbor down the street has one of those portable buildings she got from Home Depo
for her cats. She has their beds in there and all the things they need.
A rescue lady told me that lots of folks have those cute little buildings for their cats.

Actually, we have one of those in our yard in VA - a "shed" from Home Depot or Lowe's -- probably a 9 x 14 room, looks like a little house sitting there.. My wife's first idea was to use that but I rejected the idea because I just can't see restricting six cats to it... however, that and an enclosure might work.

Here in Houston -- we live near the center of town and have a relatively large backyard of 25 x 50 ft -- I installed regular 14 in wide garden plastic netting resting on plant hangers nailed to the top of an 8 ft fence, to keep Tom in.. it worked.. Didn't look terrible either because the netting was green.

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

Well as someone that has travelled with 11 cats most of which were ex-barn cats and thus semi-feral from Colorado to Maryland....This is how I did it, don't know if it will work for you guys should you decide to take the whole gang, but.....First went to the vet's and got valium for the cats, then with hubby driving the moving van and I driving our truck we load up the kitties into a extra large dog crate...not the carrier type but one of the wire ones complete with litter box, and large rodent water bottles attached to the outside with the tube inside the crate, so I didn't have to open the crate to give fresh water. Then we bungee corded a tarp over the top of the crate to give them both shade and protection from any weather we might run into. Then off we went...My husband had the dog, 3 rats and 2 snakes with him in the cab of the moving van and I had our 4 house cats in the cab our truck as well as the 7 ex-barn cats in the big kennel...yes we were a traveling zoo...lol.

When we got to our new house in Maryland, at first the 7 semi-ferals lived in the garage until we got a big cat confinement place built in the back yard...which was basically a larger version of a dog run. We used chain link for the walls, and then chicken wire for the bottom and top, and wired it all together so they could neither climb out or dig under...the bottom mesh we covered with straw....wasn't pretty but we all survived the relocation, with most of our sanity intact...lol Or with as much sanity as you can have moving 11 cats, one 75lb wolf-hybrid, 3 rats & 2 snakes. :roll:

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang

EGADS, Momma.. !! Ok it is too late for me to reply at length but that is actually inspiring.. thank you ..

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

Hi Illka,

My inclination would be to bring them with me, build an enclosure to house them until they get used to the area and then if it won't disrupt the neighborhood, after a fashion of time goes by, allow them to run as free as they did in TX? Or keep them safely in enclosure if they are happy...
[... clippety ...]

Hope this works! Oh, and I live in WV... near Morgantown. If we are close enough, be glad to pop over and help erect the structure!

HI Melissa! Nice pictures, and yes, I / we'd love take you up on the "barn-raising" offer .. I've been to Morgantown -- my wife's family, she tells me, used to vacation there when she was kid (Cheat Lake?). But, you would have to make it an overnight trip, because I think you are about a three+ hour drive from our VA place.

 

[BJM]

What you may need for the trip:

Tranquilizers - it may help if some can go in the food during the trip, rather than requiring you to inject the cats individually.

A van or enclosed truck, with AC & heat; if the vehicle gets too hot, you could kill them (this happened once during the Katrina rescues)

Huge crates with room for litterboxes; double doors may make loading the cats easier as well as cleaning out boxes during transport. Done inside the vehicle, with doors closed, for obvious reasons.

Two drivers, to take turns while the other sleeps enabling non-stop transport.

Catcher's mask, denim pants and long sleeve shirt for dealing with fractious feral safely, if & when it becomes necessary.

 

[Ilkka and Tom]

Tranquilizers - it may help if some can go in the food during the trip, rather than requiring you to inject the cats individually.

A van or enclosed truck, with AC & heat; if the vehicle gets too hot, you could kill them (this happened once during the Katrina rescues)

Huge crates with room for litterboxes; double doors may make loading the cats easier as well as cleaning out boxes during transport. Done inside the vehicle, with doors closed, for obvious reasons.

Two drivers, to take turns while the other sleeps enabling non-stop transport.

Catcher's mask, denim pants and long sleeve shirt for dealing with fractious feral safely, if & when it becomes necessary.

Yes, good points, thank you BJM

 

[Squeaky and KT (GA)]

Extra flat sheet or two - good for catching 'just out of reach' ones, carry things, use as long ties as needed, mop up things and use as a bed/nest change in emergency.

I think you really CAN do this. The 9x14 'house' would be a good start since they're already used to living together and depending on each other. Just be sure of the weather and don't let them get too hot on the trip.

 

[maryjoandsmokie]

Be sure to let us know how things are going;
and later pictures if you can.

Best of luck.