So, planning to transport or travel with your feline kid? Well, as a cat owner it is so obvious that you are aware about the specific characteristics of the cats’ nature. It is known to all that cats are very territorial animals and love to laze around in their comfort zones. They really hate travelling or moving anywhere, not even for a short period journey. They don’t like any kind of disturbance in their daily routine. Some research reports of ASPCA and WebMD revealed that most of the time cats start acting weirdly whenever they can sense any kind of relocation is going to take place in their lives. They become aggressive and their instant responses can end up with hiding or crying etc.
But sometimes it might be necessary to move with your cat or kitten to somewhere in an emergency and make them out of their comfort zones. Whatever the reason behind, transporting kittens is a more tedious task than shipping adult cats or dogs. As kittens are very much timid in nature, there remains some chances of mishaps that may occur while transporting them. Therefore, the shipping process of kittens might be a bit trickier and to make transportation comfortable and safe you need to plan beforehand and follow necessary precautions.
Keeping all the essential facts in mind, we decided to compile a few tips that could help to make the shipping process easier for both you and your furry baby.
So, let’s go:
- The very first thing for transporting a kitten is to select a comfortable carrier according to its size. The carrier must be well air-circulated and sturdy enough with a spring lock system. Make sure that the kitten won’t be able to open the door out of curiosity. The bottom of the crate should be removable and washable. Keep alternative quick dry sheets for covering the bottom as kittens are very allergic to wet surfaces. Make the kitten accustomed to the crate before traveling. Training to stay inside the crate may ease the baby cat’s travel stress to many extent.
- Fix an appointment with an accredited veterinarian and take your kitten for a thorough health check up and also give the necessary vaccinations for traveling. Ask him how to keep the kitten calm in transit and how to deal with its other health problems while traveling. Furthermore, make all the medical and vaccination records signed by the vet.
- Train your kitty to use the litter box as it is unsafe to take it out from the crate frequently while traveling.
- As cats do not have much affinity for moving to any new place, it is better to take it for frequent short trips in order to make it familiar with traveling. Gradually increase the distance and time of traveling and observe it’sbehaviour during transportation. If you can sense any abnormality, immediately remove the kitten from the crate and consider leaving it in open air for a few minutes.
- Traveling with kittens is more like traveling with babies. Likewise, you must pack a travel kit for your kitty also that contains oral saline, foods, bottled water, flea combs, litter box, waste bags, first aids etc.
- If you are driving, keep your kitty’s crate to the backseat of your car and buckle it up with the seatbelt to save it from sliding. Never leave your car’s window open as the kittens are freaky, yours might be flew to get rid of travel hazards.
- Tag your contact details to your kitten’s neck collar and tag the travel crate also. It is not recommended to insert microchip to kittens which are aged less than eight weeks. So, you must be very careful while traveling with a kitten. Also, try not to transport kittens through any transporters as unknown ambience might make the kitten more anxious.
- Kittens are very delicate. Try to keep the inner temperature suitable for the kitty. Remember, making the kitten feel cozy and warm can make the transportation hassle-free for you.
- Book airlines in advance and get a place for your kitty also. Some airlines allow small animals inside the cabin if the crate fits under the owner’s seat. But it is suggested to fly with kittens or neither transport them as cargo holds. Otherwise, it might be fatal for the kitty.
- Just like a baby, don’t feed your kitten immediately before starting the journey. Keep your fur-ball hydrated but don’t make it exceed. Maintain a duration of 3 to 4 hours between feeding and traveling. Give the kitten it’sfavourite treats to keep it happy while moving.
- Avoid sedating baby cat’s while moving. Use pheromones and Zylkenenutraceuticals protein supplements as per vet’s prescriptions. It will make the kitty calm and happy inside the crate.
