Cats take to the road.

Well, it's been a busy month, so I haven't had a lot of time to create unique and entertaining Travelbloggity posts. But, in keeping with my self-proclaimed travel guru status, I have traveled many many miles this past month, road-trip style. We moved to Pittsburgh from Bumpass, Virginia, (a seven hour drive one way), and we drove it no less than three times over the past three weeks. In trip number one, I single-handedly drove the Haunted Bus up to Pittsburgh to meet my husband for our closing. (Which went well except for when he crashed the bus into the gate as we were pulling into the storage facility.) Trip number two was with the huge rental truck, the van pulling the camper, our two girls, and a bunch of our stuff.

Trip number three was with the tiny rental truck, the van pulling the trailer, my husband, and the cats. (Luckily the kids weren't along for this road trip.) Since we have three cats, we thought it wise to separate them on the trip "for their own good." David got Sparky and Mufasa in the van, and I got to take Ross Perot, the most skittish of the trio, in the rented Penske. It was a long seven hour drive made even more difficult by the scaredy-cat who looked to me for physical protection the entire time. We started the journey sanely enough, with the cat locked up in a tiny little cat carrier, howling rhythmically. But, seven hours later, when we finally pulled into our new house, the cat carrier was splayed open on the floorboards, and Ross Perot was precariously perched across my shoulder blades, claws deep into my sweatshirt, feigning sleep. It was tough. Much of the time on the road I spent defending my personal space and trying to get Ross Perot to sit in the passenger seat like a civilized animal. The rest of the time I spent imagining "tips for successful travel with your cat" which would make a great blog entry. I thought I could easily come up with some positive, creative ways to simplify the process of moving a feline. But, unfortunately, between my husband and I, we were only able to come up with some "DO NOTs" for the next time we do a short road trip with cats. And, for anyone else's benefit, here they are:

1. DO NOT waste $30-$40 on a cat carrier unless you and the cat are committed to using it the whole ride.

2. DO NOT stuff cat number one and two into cat carriers right before cat number three's very eyes. He is not as dumb as he appears.

3. DO NOT bother with "litter box breaks" for traveling cats.

4. DO NOT bother with "feeding breaks" for traveling cats.

5. If your cat is a free-roamer in the car (see "DO NOT" rule number one), DO NOT open your window and slow down the vehicle as you approach your destination.


And, finally, number 6. DO NOT travel with cats unless it is absolutely necessary.