I moved an older cat from SF Bay Area in CA to NORTH DAKOTA! Long road haul of 5 days. I had him in his large carrier, and in the back of my station wagon, had a large crate with his litter box in it, as well as some padding.
We made the first leg short, on purpose, San Lorenzo to Reno and although offered his kitty box at every rest stop, he refused to go. 15 minutes out from Reno he was howling his head off because he needed to go BADLY and I was telling him to HOLD IT because we were coming out of the mountains in the dark and it just wasn't safe to pull over! We hit the hotel parking lot, and I whipped him out of his carrier into the crate and he did his thing in great relief, I'm sure! THEN we checked in.
After that, he'd usually howl for a rest stop shortly after we hit the road in the AM. I'd either pull over to the side of the road or find a place to get off the interstate and let him do his thing. Then he'd usually be good for the day.
HOWEVER, during the hot trek across Nevada in summer, he refused to drink on the road. And he was getting dehydrated looking during the drive, so I had to force water him with an eye-dropper and bottle. I'd have been better off if I had one of those liquid medicine syringes from the vet. But I kept him from getting sick by stopping at every rest stop and giving him water. Then he'd drink fine once we hit the hotel.
So be prepared for anything and everything is my advice!
Next time we moved, from ND to OR, he was pretty cool with the process. It was nice that he'd let me know when he needed to go.
However, now we have three cats, and they are much less mellow than my old boy was. I'm thinking moving them would be much more difficult. Especially since one is very paranoid, sees the possibility of assassination everywhere. We'd definitely have to go with the each cat in his/her own carrier route, because I think they might well fight under stress.
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