# Sedative pills for cats - Travel



## Itty bitty Kitty

Some of you may remember me mentioning I'll be taking my 5 year old cat with me when I move back to the states. He dislikes car rides and is terrified of them(trembles so much!). I'm concerned he'll be so stressed from the car trip ( roughly a 14 hour drive) that it may trigger a urine infection again. I'm planning on spacing out the road trip in 2 days. This will be the first big car ride he will experience other than to the vet/hospital. I'm hoping to start taking him with me to short, small mini-rides so he doesn't always associate the car with the vet visits/negative experienced. My husband and I will be taking turns on driving so one of us can stay in the back with him to keep him company. I've recently purchased a *Sleepy Pod* Sleepypod® Luxury pet carrier | Cat Carrier | Dog Carrier for him to make travel more comfortable. So far he ADORES it as his official bed so I hope that helps. This is also why I started to clicker train (or at least attempt to) him.

A consideration I am having and what was suggested to me, was giving him a sedative pill. I plan on asking the vet on my next visit about what types there are and if there are any side effects. My main concern is safety. Are pills ok for cats to take on a short term and has anyone have any experience with giving their cat pills? I know every cat is different and can react differently, and ultimately I need advice from a vet, but I'm curious about any success or disaster stories. Are pills encouraged or discouraged?

*Pro*: the sedative pill can make the ride more stress-free for him, and ideally, help lessen the chance of him getting a UTI.
*Con*: Can had negative side affects on his system and be unhealthy effect long-term. Can even cause a UTI.

What's everyone's opinion? I'm currently looking up more information about it. So if anyone has any helpful links, words or wisdom or experience, please, please share with me!


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## Kat

My only concern of a uti starting would be how you are spacing the trip out in 2 days. From experience with my own cats, I know that they dont like to use the litter box when they dont feel safe, so my concern would be your cat would try really hard to hold in his bladder for as long as he can. With stress and moving also comes (for some cats) refusal to eat. When we moved 2 years ago, my older cat wouldnt eat for two days, finally the only way to get her to eat was wake her from a deep sleep in her bed, with food infront of her, and I guess she forgot where she was because she ended up eating two bowls of food then wouldnt eat again for the rest of the day.

However, every cat is different. My male is not as stressed out about random things as my female is. 

I have to pill my older cat with clomicalm twice daily for her obsessive licking. If it wasnt for the meds she would still be ripping hair from her legs, stomach, and arms. I tried to hold off on pilling as long as I could but in the end it did help her. I would talk to your vet more about the pros and cons of giving a sedative. You can always look into a natural calmer too, they sell them at some pet stores and vets, cant remember the companies name though. They make them for travel, lightning, and stress I think. Its like a little glass bottle with a dropper. Never worked for my cat, but it might work for yours. Dose for a few days before leaving to build it up in the system. 

One thing I would suggest, if you dont already do it, is feed only canned food for a few days before leaving, just to keep water content higher in their systems because your cat will most likely not eat or drink in the car. 

I cant think of any other suggestions right now, but I hope this helps. Good luck on your decision. Keep us posted!


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## Itty bitty Kitty

Kat said:


> My only concern of a uti starting would be how you are spacing the trip out in 2 days. From experience with my own cats, I know that they dont like to use the litter box when they dont feel safe, so my concern would be your cat would try really hard to hold in his bladder for as long as he can. With stress and moving also comes (for some cats) refusal to eat. When we moved 2 years ago, my older cat wouldnt eat for two days, finally the only way to get her to eat was wake her from a deep sleep in her bed, with food infront of her, and I guess she forgot where she was because she ended up eating two bowls of food then wouldnt eat again for the rest of the day.
> 
> However, every cat is different. My male is not as stressed out about random things as my female is.
> 
> I have to pill my older cat with clomicalm twice daily for her obsessive licking. If it wasnt for the meds she would still be ripping hair from her legs, stomach, and arms. I tried to hold off on pilling as long as I could but in the end it did help her. I would talk to your vet more about the pros and cons of giving a sedative. You can always look into a natural calmer too, they sell them at some pet stores and vets, cant remember the companies name though. They make them for travel, lightning, and stress I think. Its like a little glass bottle with a dropper. Never worked for my cat, but it might work for yours. Dose for a few days before leaving to build it up in the system.
> 
> One thing I would suggest, if you dont already do it, is feed only canned food for a few days before leaving, just to keep water content higher in their systems because your cat will most likely not eat or drink in the car.
> 
> I cant think of any other suggestions right now, but I hope this helps. Good luck on your decision. Keep us posted!


Thanks for the reply! I'm trying to encourage him to drink more often, even got him a water fountain to get in the general habit of drinking more frequently. I'll keep the refusal of eating in mind. Holding in his bladder is my biggest concern. How did you plan out your move with our cat? I'll see if I can look more into natural calmers around  I'm not 100% sure if we can make the 14 hour drive in one day, but it will be a consideration. I just hope I can come up with a solution that will be best for him. He means so much to be that I'd hate to be the cause of him getting sick.

Your poor kitty girl! I'm glad the meds have helped her with her fur-ripping. That sounds horrible!


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## brandypup

Well I moved my friend 2500 mils with 5 cats a rat and a kid.  It took us 4 days from california to georgia. Her cats were all in seperate carriers and she did use a 1/4 tablet of ace before we headed out. We would drive and stop at night get a hotel and she would let them out at the hotel. Then it was the round up and pill in the am. It worked well for that trip. 

I am getting ready to drive back to california with 5 cats (please only 5 please) I have 3 indoor ferals one of which I can only touch on her terms as she has all the feralness still. I do not plan on sedating them however I will be asking the vet for some just in case. The cats will be in there own small dog crates and those will be zip tied in the corners and closed. I bought the hanging food bowls and rodent style water bottles. I also plan on lining the crates with cardboard and placing a small box for them to hide in. Since they are raw fed I will probably mix canned into the raw to entice them to eat well on the trip. I am also goign to use the disposable kitty pans. 

sigh...


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## MollyWoppy

Well, since I'd never had a cat before, I didn't really know any better, so when I got Windy, (poor cat) I thought how boring it must be for her to sit at home by herself when we go out. So, she goes practically everywhere with us in the car. Took a touch of patience for sure, but it has really opened her life up. Last year she went on an approx 5000 mile ride to IL, ME and back to FL, including a 2 mile walk round Niagara Falls with us. 

So, what I think I'm trying to say is that I think it's a great idea to start taking your little boy on drives, practically everywhere you go. Make it no big deal. They are bright and curious creatures and I don't think it would be too long before he realises that getting in the car doesn't have to mean it's vet time.
I just have a litter box in the back and Wind goes whenever she feels like it. She's learn't that she's not allowed in the front of the car and always has her harness and tags on. If she gets bored on a long trip, the other half is under orders to stop his DVD and play with her. She rarely drinks or eats in the car, but when we stop overnight she makes up for it then.

Anyway, I don't know anything about cats, maybe I got a specially amiable one, I don't know, but I think that this is what I would try to do.....if you've got enough time.








Niagara Falls


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## xellil

I think Windy is an unusual cat!

When the vet tried to give me clomicalm once, I asked about it here and it seems lots of people think it's good with few side effects. I didn't use it but it didn't seem to be an awful product.


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## brandypup

That is frinkcing adorable... swoon... 

I have one that was leashed trained but gets scared whent he wind blows. And the my Bones, well seh was always with me everywere. sigh... 

I may start leash training my fosters in case just in case they are not adopted out. (please no, I can't take 8 darn cats)


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## xellil

my daughter in law walks her cat. But she has another one who would probably have a heart attack if she tried to walk him.


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## Kat

xellil said:


> I think Windy is an unusual cat!
> 
> When the vet tried to give me clomicalm once, I asked about it here and it seems lots of people think it's good with few side effects. I didn't use it but it didn't seem to be an awful product.


The only side effect that I have seen my cat, which does bother me, is it causes urine retention. She literally only goes pee once a day, and if im lucky twice a day. And I feed mostly canned food, so its a lot of pee. I wish that wasnt a side effect, especially with a cat thats had urinary issues in the past, but a month after all her hair is back I am going to take her off the meds again. And, Im moving in the summer, and my mom agreed to keep the cats with her, so I wont have to worry about her ripping her hair out anymore, as Im certain it was the addition of Ruby that made her start.


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## Kat

Mollywoppy, yes, your cat is a freak out nature lol. I have never met a cat who loves going on car rides and adventures. My neighbours have a cat they walk daily around the property, but even that one isnt comfortable leaving the property. Its really impressive how you dont know anything about cats and have such a kick ass one lol. I used to take my older female outside on a harness, but she would always want to hide under shrubbery, didnt like being out in the open grass of the backyard.


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## Itty bitty Kitty

Molly your Windy kitty is so adorable! I think it's awesome you went to Niagara Falls, that's only an hour away from where I'm currently living! I also take Francis ( my cat) for mini-walks, if I can call it that. He likes to explore and roam around our front and backyard on a leash. I'm planning on getting him used to a harness instead of just his collar. Maybe with more encouraged leash walks it may make him more open to explore?

He used to be a little stray kitty I found with my sister around our neighborhood and for the first few months, we were his foster family. Of course we fell in love with him and decided to make him ours. I'm going to see if I can get him to walk a little more outside our territory, but he seems a little freaked at areas that don't belong to him, which is funny because when he was a stray, we'd still let him go out and he'd always wander around. He used to be fearless and bold with strangers and now he's timid. Unfortunately he's also a real cat fighter, so we've made him strictly indoors with some leash walks. I miss playing with him in the backyard. We feed some strays that wander around and they seemed to have chosen out backyard as a hideout. My mom and our neighbor help take care of them and try to see if we can catch em to be adopted, or at the very least fixed. Francis is never pleased to see other cats in his territory lol.


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