As some of you know, last week was chaotic for most of us who live in Ventura County and horrendous for many as a wildfire raged through our area burning hundreds of homes and displacing many families. Thousands of people were evacuated and many of us did so with pets. (The fire continues to burn now in Santa Barbara County and there are still flareups occurring in the Ojai area.)
I shared a little about our evacuation experience. I can tell you that our cats were not happy evacuees. My mother pointed out that Lily’s and Sophie’s world is so limited. They live inside the house—experiencing the outside world and beyond only through windows. So to remove them from that environment is probably more traumatic for them than it is for a cat who is allowed to roam outside or one, of course, who is accustomed to traveling. And there are traveling cats.
Pet owners who have more than one home—who live in the east in the summer and west
or south in winter, for example—have dogs and cats who probably take the car or plane ride in their stride. Some cats are naturally more relaxed in any situation. I’ve written about cats who go sailing, cats who live on boats, cats who travel abroad with their families, cats who have traveled on their own back to a home their family left or to the new home, etc. But Lily and Sophie came directly from the streets to our home and the only time they leave here is for a veterinary visit. So this evacuation experience was rather difficult for them. I can tell you that they’re practically giddy now that they’re home. It’s as if they’re constantly saying to us, “Thank you! Thank you!!!”
Lately, I’ve posted pieces on traveling with your cat, pet spas, and even hiking with your cat. This did not go unnoticed. Steve at Meeowcat.com contacted me and invited me to share a link to his extremely informative post on traveling with cats. He includes everything you’d want to know on the topic—what to pack, how to transport a cat, which hotels/motels accept cats and under what circumstances, which airlines allow cats and what are their policies, about renting a car with a cat, and so much more. If you have questions or concerns about traveling with your cat via car, plane, even a boat, you’re bound to find the answers you need here: http://meeowcat.com/how-to-travel-with-your-cat/
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