Spinoff: Car Safety for Cats

Mama2J

Member
The dog thread got me thinking about cats. My cats haven't been in the car often, but I've just used a crate for each one (2 cats). Way back when I can also remember just letting a cat be loose in the car, sitting on my lap, running around, etc.

How do you cat-owners restrain cats in the car?
 
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MomToEliEm

Moderator
For the one time a year when my cat goes to the vet (only 1/4 mile down the road luckily), he goes in a crate which I put in the back seat. I don't strap him in though as it is such a short trip. The one time we drove cross country with him (moving from one state to another), we did let him roam free occasionally, but we tried to keep him from getting near the driver as I feared he would get near the feet and interfer with the gas pedels.
 

momtojoshua2002

New member
Well, I've got 5 cats in addition to the dog....... and honestly, all I can do is use plastic crates and put them back in the cargo area.

Why? Well, 2 of my cats are on the wilder side....I can NEVER get a harness on them. The others are fine but I guess laziness has prevented me from thinking outside the box.

Not saying it will never happen but we never travel with them, and if we do it's only to the vet 2 miles away.... Speed limit is between 25 - 45 mph (not saying an accident can't happen along this route).

So my vote there is plastic crate. Definitely not loose in the car! :eek:

Wow, at hte rate we're going here I have to soon start anchoring my purse to my cargo anchors too. LOL! :D (not making fun of safety, but when you think about it, people leave "hazards" out all the time in the car!! Morning commuters and their cup of coffee.... cell phones....purses and wallets....map books? umbrellas? kleenex tissues (yes, I've seen those in the back of cars). Where do we draw the line between safety and what's practical for people to deal with in real life??

I personally am a Starbucks nut, and will stop several times a week on my way in to work. But it's after I drop the kids off so I'd be the only one burnt by hot Latte. :)
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
I've always just put him in his carrier (a cardboard one) and put that on the floor in front of the passenger seat as close to the front of the vehicle as possible. I also move that seat all the way forward if no one is sitting in it. My hope is that this will create a "compartmentalization" situation where any damage done to or by the cat is minimal.
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
I put the cat in his carrier, and then (depending on which vehicle I'm driving) try to secure the carrier as best I can. In the Suburban, I tuck it in the floor behind the front passenger seat and move the seat back all the way. In the Jeep I put it on the back seat and buckle the seatbelt through the handle. Not very effective, but I'm not sure what else to do.
 

cdncasper

New member
The few times the cats actually travel we put them in plastic crates and the crates get buckled up as best as possible.
 

Mama2J

Member
Ok so the carriers are fine for the cats then. I can't remember if I've put them on the seat or the floor, but it sounds like it would be safer on the floor kind of wedged between the seats so it can't fly around. Now to get the dog a car harness for Christmas and figure out what to do with that umbrella weapon on the floor...

The special carrier you buckle in sounds neat, but we really don't travel with them often enough for that I think.
 

sirrahn

Active member
We have those soft luggage style "crates" for our cats. I generally just put them down in front of the 2nd row seats of our van unsecured for the once a year trip to the vet. I guess at least those things aren't going to be hard projectiles although I guess at the same time they're not much protection for the kitties. The long shoulder strap makes them *so* much easier to carry though when you're lugging 3 cats.
 

Morganthe

New member
I have a small soft canvas pet carrier that was clearanced at Lands End several months ago. It's awesome since I wear it as a backpack around the stores after she's been taken care of by the vet or trimmer, and no one ever notices :p

It's narrow enough to sit facing forward on the back seat in between the Regent and the door. I run the seatbelt through the handle and lock the belt into place. It's not going anywhere at all. She might get bruised up by the netting. But I doubt she'd escape, which would be my greatest fear, especially if someone opened any of the doors. She's also hooked into it by an interior clip to her harness.

IMO, it's the best way I can transport her. :shrug-shoulders:
 
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Melizerd

New member
I would never put my cats in the car without being in a carrier. They do NOT travel well. I'd be worried about them getting under my feet or stuck under the seats (it's happened).

I have HUGE cats, both 25lbs a piece and they can still squish under the seats. I put the carriers on the floor between the front and the back seats and it's fairly snug, unless the car rolled over they wouldn't be moving.

Too many times when I was at work I had to dig out cat from under seats though. That's an interesting way to start a day (lol)
 

skipspin

New member
Right now I'm watching my sister's cat. Dh and I are both tired of her. (Can we say SPOILED brat cat that's used to living with one single female who happens to be in Dublin at the moment.) The dog is still enjoying the cat.
Dh would probably vote for letting the cat sit in front of the airbag!

Sorry, couldn't resist.
 

CRS

Senior Community Member
I have a plastic carrier, i put it behind the front passenger seat and wedge it in there :)
 

keri1292

Well-known member
My 25lb cat rides in a soft sided Samsonite carrier. My rabbit rides in the same. We take her to the vet at least evry three weeks so I keep her on the floor of the passengers front seat. Seemed safest. But, I think that I'll move her to the cargo area after further thought.
When I was in college my cat (who was MUCH more svelte then :D) loved to ride in the car. He either slept in my lap or sprawled out along the shelf behind the back seat. :eek: He was always begging to go for rides and went with us to the grocery store a few times a week. It never occured to me that it was not safe. Yet another reason that I'm trying to be kind to all those parents out there making car seat mistakes. I've made my own. :eek:
 

solmama

Active member
Okay, I hate to say it, but my cats do not travel well in a cat carrier. I have 3, and 2 of them (at 12 years old), are wonderful travellers. I had them before kids and marriage and they went everywhere with me. So, they rode well, unrestrained in the car which I realize is dangerous, but the yowling was just too much to handle on a 7 hour drive. Now that I am married and have kids, the cats stay home.
 

Tiffanie

New member
I was just thinking of this today because I have to take my furry little daughter kitty to the spay clinic on Thursday :( I was going to put her in the carrier and then secure the carrier with the seatbelt. My poor furry baby :(
 

Morganthe

New member
I was just thinking of this today because I have to take my furry little daughter kitty to the spay clinic on Thursday :( I was going to put her in the carrier and then secure the carrier with the seatbelt. My poor furry baby :(

Awww, that's better though than going through hormones screaming to breed constantly + litter after litter. :love:

Mine was spayed before I adopted her -- around 8 months old. My dd is now saying that since Isa is almost a year and a 'grown-up' she can have baby kittens.
Ummmm, not happening child :p ;) :D
 

Melizerd

New member
I was just thinking of this today because I have to take my furry little daughter kitty to the spay clinic on Thursday :( I was going to put her in the carrier and then secure the carrier with the seatbelt. My poor furry baby :(

aww poor kitty. It is so much better for her health even if she never has kittens. I've done the surgery a ton of times and it's super quick and she'll be her old self in no time.
 

Suzibeck

Active member
Before kids, I had a cat who loved to ride in the car. He roamed free in the car, loved drive-thrus where he could stand on my lap and look out at people. People were always amazed to see a cat do that. He played fetch too, I think he had some dog genes in there somewhere, lol.

If I had a cat now that I'm more safety savy, I'd put it in a carrier either on the floor or buckled in. Considering that most cats don't like to ride in cars, carriers are great. I could have easily harnessed my old cat, if they make the car harnesses small enough, I'd have to look into that if I ever got another cat who loved car rides.
 

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