Traveling with a sugarcat

[Monica and Atticus (GA)]

This weekend I'm driving about 4- 4 1/2 hours to visit my parents for my dad's birthday. I always bring the cats with me. They ride in their carriers, Miranda in the passenger seat next to me because she's whinier, and Atticus in the backseat where he can see me. They always do pretty well: they usually meow and complain for the first 30 minutes, then just chill. About every third trip Miranda vomits.
This will be our first time driving down since Atticus' diagnosis and I'm curious if anyone has any tips. I've already planned our departure/arrival times around his shot, and I plan to test as soon as we get in (of course, that number will likely be inflated by a bit of stress). They're pretty used to going to my parents' place and have their favorite spots and routines there. I've bought an insulin travel cooler. I used to just bring their canister of kibble and their dishes, but now I'm going to have to bring about 20 cans of food, and all of his testing supplies, too.
My parents have two cats of their own, Mardi Gras and Sienna. They mostly eat kibble, and I've already talked to my parents about having set feeding times while we're there so we can separate Atticus and Miranda from their cats while they eat and then take the kibble up when they're finished. My mom's diabetic, so she understands how it all works. I need to look up the nearest emergency vet from my parents' house.
Anything else I should keep in mind?

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

you're incredibly organized! i can't think of anything else, but perhaps others will. my husband & I took punkin and our other kitter, anya, from oregon to colorado to get his acromegaly treated. seems like you've got everything covered.

make sure you take plenty of supplies with you - i'd probably take twice as many strips as i think i'd need, just because i wouldn't want to have to find a place to buy them.

make sure ya bring us with you - we're good first responders if you need anything. and cheaper than the vet ER. ;-)

eta - probably take 5-6 cans of high carb & the karo with you too.

 

[Beth & Atlas]

Hi Monica,

Here is a link to some traveling sugarcats that you might find helpful


Traveling with a Special Needs Cat

 

[Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA)]

Hi Monika,
It sounds like Atticus is a seasoned traveler and I wouldn't do anything differently as far as the actual time in the car is concerned. If it were a longer trip, I would take along a small container of his food (with a tight-fitting lid) to set out when you make rest stops. Do you carry a litterbox? Rusty rides free in the car and we put his litterbox in the very back. He always uses it at least once on a 6-hour trip.
One tip on the insulin cooler: make sure that the insulin is well wrapped in newspaper or thin bubble wrap or even a little cardboard box before you put it into the cooler. Some of the special insulin coolers are very cold and the insulin could get too cold if next to the cold block (or the space-age coolant sheets). I ruined a pen this way in a new insulin cooler and have since gone back to putting Rusty's insulin into the regular small ice-chest we carry our food in (well wrapped in thin bubble wrap and additionally in a small cardboard box and the whole thing then put into a small paper bag and stored at the bottom of the cooler, away from the cold blocks). I have one of those zipper pulls with a thermometer on it (sold in outdoors stores) that I put in the box with the insulin, just so I know how it is doing. (I use my super-duper special insulin cooler for Rusty's container of traveling food--keeps it nice and cold!)

Have a great trip. I'm sure Atticus will do fine.

Ella & Rusty

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

It sounds like you make this trip relatively often. I'd suggest making a trip to the pet food store and stocking your parent's home with cat food so you don't have to schlep all of those cans the next time.