Travel with a Russian Blue

Question
Hello - I'm asking you this question as I see you've owned a Russian Blue!

We adopted a sweet RB female (2 yo) in March. She bonded 3 times with past owners only to be abandoned. The last couple had her for 6 mos and decided they "wanted a kid instead" and dumped her at a kill-shelter on Christmas day. When I read that, I knew we would be the ones to save her. She was also in foster care twice.

Not surprisingly, she had bonding issues at first, but now is very comfortable. She looooooves my husband and cries when he even goes out to the garage for a bit.

To get to my question: We are traveling out of state by car for 4 days for a medical procedure. Once I am back at the hotel, I will not be moving/leaving the hotel the whole time. I am trying to figure out what would be worse?  Leaving her with a friend, or taking her along with us. The car ride would be approx. 8 hrs.

My fear is that she'll think we're out of her life just like all the last. She is a very smart cat and I do know that while she was in foster care she traveled back & forth every day to the pet store for showing.

Do you think it is better to leave her in the 'known environment' with a stranger, or travel to a strange place with the ones she loves?  I'm leaning towards the latter but wanted to make sure. I had read the RB's don't like change - I just can't stand the thought that she'll think she's been ditched again. I would love to take her with, and just wanted to know if that would be the right thing.

Answer
Hi Lee,

The poor dear!  I'm so glad she was finally lucky enough to find someone to care for her.

Travel with cats is certainly a very individual decision and depends on the cat herself.  It sounds like she probably has more experience than the average cat with new environments and road trips, so she may be a great candidate to travel with you.  But I would recommend that you take her out for a test drive to see how she reacts to car rides.  If she's calm, I'd feel fine about bringing her along.  

If she cries the whole time, the stress of an 8-hour ride twice in a week may very well outweigh the stress she'd feel from having you missing.  I have a very dependent Siamese, and I have taken a couple of weeks vacation in the last couple years, leaving him at home.  My sister watches my kitties while I'm gone.  It takes him a couple of hours to warm back up to me when I come home, but I suspect this is mostly because he wants to make sure the strangers are gone.  It is very difficult for us to do things that we feel may leave our cats confused or upset.  Fortunately, you will be gone only a few days, and that confusion and unease will be completely erased when you return.

If you decide to take her with you, remember that you should plan to make a few stops along the way to allow her to use the litter box and to drink some water, and perhaps to have a bite to eat.  It's by far safest for cats to remain in carriers while the vehicle is in motion (and the carrier should be strapped in by a seatbelt), so I would recommend planning a "bathroom break" every couple of hours.  Also, be sure to locate the closest veterinarian to the hotel that offers 24-hour service before you arrive, just in case anything happens.  She's bound to explore every inch of the hotel room, and you never know what she might get into.  Recently, one of my cats entangled herself in some electrical cords by my computer and was hanging by her neck when I found her unconscious.  I thought my home was cat-proofed!  But she slipped and managed to rip some wires loose, and twisted herself up in them, all while I made myself a bowl of cereal.  I was certainly glad that I knew where my nearest emergency vet was, and thankfully, she recovered just fine.

Best of luck!

Jessica