Moving- what car ride with chins

[Devynthecatwithsocks]

Hi all, so we are making a huge move from california to idaho in a few months. Itll either be a 3 day trip with one night in a hotel or a 2 day trip straight shooting it. The current carrier my chins have is really small and i dont want them to be in that carrier for 2-3 days. Fitting 2 of them and a food bowl with chews would be very tight. I was planning on putting them in one level of their cage during stops to let them stretch out, but im concerned if i just leave them in the car someone may steal them. If we made a stop for the night, it wouldnt be guaranteed that id be able to take the one level out of the car due to possible items stacked on it. Would it be a safe idea to strap down one level and stick them in the back of the suv so it doesnt move, and then put them in a carrier when we make stops and take them with me? Or would it be safer to keep them in a tiny little carrier for 3 days? I was looking at getting a larger carrier but they are pretty pricey for something ill only use for a few days.

 

[Jawramik]

I've never done anything like what you're doing, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I'd maybe keep them in the larger one-level cage in the car and then transfer them to the smaller cage to take them into the hotel/motel with you for the night. That seems like it's probably the best and safest plan for everyone, though perhaps some others on here will have a better idea.

For shorter stops (like getting gas, food, etc.) I'd probably just leave them in the car in the larger cage, though only if the temperature in the car remains safe for them, and only if you can keep the car in your line of sight, so you can keep an eye on things. Just try to keep the stops as short as possible. If the weather is likely to be too hot or too cold, you could look into getting some sort of battery-powered heater and/or cooling unit. And always try to park in the shade. Even on a cool day, if the sun is shining, a car parked in the sun will heat up pretty quickly, so just be aware of that and do what you can to mitigate that kind of stuff. If you need to make a longer stop, it might be safest to put them in the small carrier and keep them with you.

 

[Amethyst]

Unless the carrier is tiny (like too small for them to move) and/or not metal, then you might be better off just leaving them in the carrier. It also depends on what one level of the cage is like, you don't want any ledges or shelves they can go up on or anything loose that can go flying in the cage and hit them just in case you have to stop fast or are in an accident. I would definitely not leave them in the car over night unless you plan to sleep in the car with them, so they would end up having to go in the carrier at night anyway, you can let them out in the hotel room bathroom to stretch. I'm not sure what you considered "pretty pricey" but you can also just buy a cheap small cage to use in the hotel room something like this WARE Chew Proof Small Animal Cage, 25-in - Chewy.com can work for staying in over night. A small cage like that is not a bad thing to have on hand any just in case one of the chins get sick or injured and needs a recovery cage.

 

[Devynthecatwithsocks]

Unless the carrier is tiny (like too small for them to move) and/or not metal, then you might be better off just leaving them in the carrier. It also depends on what one level of the cage is like, you don't want any ledges or shelves they can go up on or anything loose that can go flying in the cage and hit them just in case you have to stop fast or are in an accident. I would definitely not leave them in the car over night unless you plan to sleep in the car with them, so they would end up having to go in the carrier at night anyway, you can let them out in the hotel room bathroom to stretch. I'm not sure what you considered "pretty pricey" but you can also just buy a cheap small cage to use in the hotel room something like this WARE Chew Proof Small Animal Cage, 25-in - Chewy.com can work for staying in over night. A small cage like that is not a bad thing to have on hand any just in case one of the chins get sick or injured and needs a recovery cage.

This is the current carrier. Pretty small and id imagine itd get hot in their. I was planning on just doing one of the critter nation levels from their cage, no ramps during the car ride (may put them up if we stop in a hotel) and strap it down in the back. The carrier u listed is perfect. The ones i was finding were smaller and way more expensive.

 

[Jawramik]

I have the Ware cage Amethyst posted, and I like it well enough. The quality is a little meh, but that's to be expected for the price. For a temporary cage, it's perfectly functional. I think it's MUCH better than the plastic cat carrier. Not only could that heat up, but they could also chew through it and/or potentially damage their GI tract from ingesting plastic. The Ware cage is all metal and much better ventilated, so I think that would be a much better choice.