cant leave my cats at home

Question
can I take my 12 year old cats (one has IBD and feline herpes) to a vacation home for 1 1/2 months without them freaking out!  Will they be able to adjust to the new surroundings.

Answer
Hi Babs,

I know some people who take their cats with them for week-long vacations at cottages etc. With an IBD cat of course you have to be a bit more careful about stress, but leaving him at home will be stressful too. I think it depends on the cats, but most cats will be fine with this arrangement, a little upset by the trip by car I assume) but settle in quickly. Here are some tips to help it go smoothly:

* get them used to the cat carriers or dog crate you will use in advance. Feed them in it, leave it open for them to sleep in. You can spray some Feliway in there and put an old blanket or towel in there which will collect their scent - don't wash it so it retains the smell of home and themselves.

* I have moved twice by car cross country with my cats, so I wrote this article with tips:

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/moving_by_car.html

* Bring as many familiar items of their with you as you can manage - a favorite bed, a cushion from their favorite chair, scratching post, etc. Anything that seems like "home" to them. I've moved many times and my cats are always upset the day of the move but I make sure I set up furniture and familiar items like their cat tree before I let them loose in the house, and they sniff around and then settle in fine.

* Bring water from home, or start giving them bottled water before you go and bring that with you. Cats don't like changes in the taste or smell of their water, and even if you filter your tap water the change will be detectable to your cats!

* Use Feliway before you leave, during the trip, and at the  vacation spot. You've probably heard of it, but Feliway mimics the pheromones rubbed off by cats from their cheek glands. Apply to doorways and furniture at "cat level" I prefer the spray to the plug-in, it seems to work better. Never spray it near the cats, it is solubilized in alcohol and the initial smell will freak them out - the alcohol evaporates almost immediately leaving no human-detectable scent.

* Bach's Rescue Remedy is a herbal calming remedy that helps alleviate fear and anxiety. I would add it to food (just 3-4 drops) starting a few days before the trip and continuing until they have been at the new place about a week. I used it during my second x-country move and it seemed to make a big difference.

Finally, I'd like to add regarding your cats' herpes and IBD, I am sure you've got them on treatments for these ailments... but I have some advice in that regard in case you haven't heard these suggestions before.

Herpes virus is controlled very well by adding the amino acid L-Lysine to the diet. You can buy it at drug stores and add to his food. Lysine competes with aginine in the body and arginine is needed for the herpes virus to replicate - so a diet rich in lysine effectively slows the viral replication.

IBD, my cat Tristan had IBD for several years. He was wasting away and his stools were foul smelling and soft or ranging to diarrhea. After years of spending thousands of $ at vets for tests and prescription diets etc, I stopped the diarrhea by switching to a canned grain free diet (Wellness). He was on that for a year and much better than when he was on dry, but still way underweight and smelly stools. Then I finally switched him to a raw diet in January 2007. He has gained almost 2 lbs and looks great, his stools no longer have any odor at all. Here are some before and after pics of my cats, as you can see they all benefited:

http://www.redmaredesign.com/FelineNutrition/before_after.html

More info on cat nutrition and IBD:

http://www.catnutrition.org

http://www.catinfo.org

http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

http://www.felineinsincts.com

Good luck and have fun on your vacation!