Moving with Our Pets

[cabinchick]

Hello All

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but here we go:

I'm moving 8/1/2011. I have a male St. Bernard (about 220lbs), an Australian Shepherd (about 60 lbs.) a senior Cocker Spaniel (about 20 lbs) and a mini dauschaund pup (11 lbs). I also have several chickens I would like to bring with. And a cat. The journey by car is about 3 days - with potty stops, exercise, etc. I'll be driving an SUV with the mother-in-law but I am dreading panting, drooling, hyer dogs in my car for the drive . The father-in-law and DH will be driving a Budget Moving van. We're thinking about reserving kennel space for each stop, or maybe pet friendly motels. Has anyone ever moved a "herd" of pets? We've called about shipping the dogs, but WOW The prices are outrageous! Are there any alternatives I may be overlooking?

 

[abifae]

I have only moved with cats and the only issue was leaving space for a litter box and food and water when we stopped. I get the disposable boxes for trips. Rest stops every four hours for 20 min so they had time to eat drink and use litter. Hardest part is finding pet friendly motels.

One trip was so stressful (kids and a driver with a no loose pets rule) that i got kitty valium and dosed her both days. She was frantic and tore her claws to bleeding so i had to let her out of the kennel but keep her in my lap.

If she can run around, she travels well except for a bit of dehydration. So no trips over two days. Not sure if that helps any lol

 

[gettinaclue]

Never tried moving that many animals before. Sounds like a lot of kennels and stress. Good luck with your move. Hope you find something that will make it easier for you.

 

[justusnak]

Wow, sounds like a lot of animals to move. We moved TO Alaska, with 4 kids, me and hubby, and a Siberian husky, in a van. It was a 14 day trip. Lots of walks, pet friendly motels...and a bowl of water every few hours. Its very stressful for pets, we can't explain to them whats going on. Expect them to get edgy, and snappy. Good luck with the move...maybe you can talk to your vet about getting sedatives for the dogs and cat??

 

[savingdogs]

I've never done that, but I have experience moving large groups of dogs and cats to and fro to adoption events, and I can give you my how-to tips.

With as many animals as possible, use some sort of cage. If your smaller dogs are not crate trained I'd give them a crash course right now (let me know if you'd like the instructions for that) and with the Saint Bernard, that is probably not possible, and possibly not with the aussie, depending on your vehicle. So for the two bigger dogs, have a dog harness or seat belt or SOMETHING, even if it is just a leash (preferably a tight harness) hooked to the car and to the dog, so if a door gets opened, the dogs cannot get out and leave the vehicle until you are ready. That way you don't have a mass exodus when you open the door for potty breaks and you can deal with each one in their own time. I'd start a routine, first pottying the ones that cannot hold it and then working your way down during each potty break.

I've not had good experiences moving cats from place to place. They have tended to go potty in their carry box and in general be unhappy and noisy. I'd make sure I had some extra paper towels, zip lock bags and trash bags with twist ties handy for clean ups and I'd have a lot of extra old towels and such to line the cages with and clean up barf, etc. I'd plan to dump much of it into trash along the way, instead of laundering. So I'd take real old towels or cut up blankets.

Make sure with the dogs you allow for plenty of exercise time, it could make all the difference.

Speaking of blankets, I'd totally cover the seats of the car with a couple of thick blankets.

If any of your dogs get carsick, there is a medication your vet can give you for them that really helps called Cerenia.

If it were the right time of year, I'd try to CAMP with that many dogs unless the price doesn't matter to you. When we went camping with several dogs, we got tie-out stakes for each one at the campsite and staked them apart. We normally never chain our dogs so we should have practiced that ahead of time.

But if you stay in a motel, crate trained dogs are easier to manage and can help keep potty accidents and damage to a minimum. With your Saint that won't be feasible however.

And finally, I'd take a lot of water breaks and potty breaks, watch for drooling (that means they are gonna throw up!) and wish you tons of luck.

Let me know if you'd like me to tell you how to crash course crate train a dog.

 

[sunsaver]

Good luck on your journey!

 

[ORChick]

We moved with 3 cats, but it was *only* a 9 hour drive. We had a carrier for each of them, and I had food, water, and litter boxes available for them, but they didn't want any of it - they didn't eat, drink, or use the box (or mess in their carrier) for the entire trip - not for lack of coaxing . I asked the vet about medication for them to calm them; he said it wasn't worth it - "they will yell for 2 hours, and then will stop". He was spot on - they yelled for 2 hours, and then stopped . What I found very helpful was letting them out of their carriers (one at a time, and on a leash and harness - NOT a collar!) for a few minutes periodically. It seemed to calm them down to be able to wander about, and sniff, and look out the windows, and not be caged in a strange place, with strange motion and noises. Cats especially like to hide in small places, so make sure that your cat is not allowed free run in the car; a nice, dark, secret place is under the brake pedal! For the last hour and a half of our trip one of the cats was quite content to nap on my lap, after having been quite frantic at the beginning. Make sure that they all have leashes, collars (harness for the cat and dachshund), and a phone number attached to them somehow. And, as already mentioned, be sure they are all secured before any door is opened. Good luck.

 

[keljonma]

Big dogs need lots of breaks to stretch their legs no matter the size of the vehicle they are being transported in. and your planned 3 days could be extended for a variety of reasons, so add some comfort room into the plan.

We moved our 15-member *completely spoiled pets* chicken flock in a small moving van to a location 1 1/2 hours from where we lived. I drove, dh sat in the back with the flock so he could monitor how they handled the move. We filled the waterers and feeders, the floor of the van was covered in tarp and straw, and straw bales lined the sides of the van. We put the flock's dust bath pool in the van as well. The flock was fine, but dh said even with breaks, the ride was uncomfortable.

We said if we ever had to do it again, we'd rent a horse trailer. If you cage your flock, you might want to consider that. Put the flock into whatever you are using the night before for less stress on everyone.

We've moved with English Springer Spaniels and Great Pyrenees in our vehicles; with children, goldfish, and cats too. Longest move for me mentally was our move back to Ohio; just under 2000 miles in a Saturn with a Great Pyr in the back seat.

If you are a member of AAA, ask for a trip tik - it will save you LOTS of headaches.

Good luck with your move....

 

[abifae]

I've not had good experiences moving cats from place to place. They have tended to go potty in their carry box and in general be unhappy and noisy.

Mine all constipate instead. Ugh. And vomit. Car sickness. Double ugh. Throw up on the way there, stomach pain and constipation by the time we arrive.

 

[dragonlaurel]

The camping idea could work.
I flew with a kitty that was normally nervous about loud noises. I actually bought Rescue Remedy to dose her if she started getting freaked out. She stayed calm with 2 flights and a hurried trip through the airport.
Just telling you this because sometimes all they need to know is that you are still there. The idea of a horse trailer is good too, since that is gonna be pretty crowded.