Travel Cat (Part Two) by A.B. Monk
(Read Part One of A.B. Monk’s Article)
We decided to head out on our trip after we both got home from work, so we rushed through our workday and managed to finish early. When we got home we immediately began to pack and Marley knew something was afoot. We’ve gone on trips before and left her behind, so she knew the symptoms. She paced around, got underfoot, and looked upset and nervous while we loaded up the car. Finally we were satisfied that we had everything, so the next step was to ambush Marley. By this time she was used to our nightly road trips, she was ready and willing to get into her travel harness and hit the road. (My father and my aunt were looking after our other two cats, Bawb and El, if you were worried about what was happening to them.)
An hour down the road, Marley let us know that she thought it was time we turned around and took her back home. The fun was starting to wear off and she wanted her food bowl and her (meaning mine and Jon’s) bed. It was storming (wouldn’t you know it would storm just as we set off?) so Jon put her in her carrier so she wouldn’t be as much of a distraction. She eventually settled down, after making sure we both knew how offended she was at being locked away in her little bag. A combination of the weather and fatigue forced us to stop before we had originally intended in Abington, Virginia. And that is also when we realized our car was leaking in the floorboard and everything back there was drenched. We had to keep the floorboards clear, so Marley’s seat got a little crowded, which she handled very gracefully, considering she’s a cat.
We had no idea if the motel accepted pets or not, so being the naughty couple that we are, we snuck her, her litter box, and all her paraphernalia in. I figure if you don’t ask, then technically you can’t be breaking any rules, since you don’t know if they exist or not. Yeah, I’m so bad. Anyway, we got our stuff in and then let Marley out of the bag to explore her very first motel room. And what do you think she did? Went promptly to the door and told us very sternly to take her back home. After a little while she realized we were going to sleep in this strange place and deigned to explore it a little and see what it was all about. After she covered every square inch, she hopped up on the HUGE bed next to Jon and got some attention from him.
She slept with us through the night and didn’t even get revenge on us for catnapping her and running across state lines. The next morning she watched in horror as we started packing things up again, including her stuff, and headed out on the open road. (Off topic, there is this amazing bakery in Abington, VA. Of course now I can’t remember what it’s called, but if you’re in that area, it’d be worth it to just go to all the independent bakeries until you find one that is AMAZING, and then just assume you found the right one.)
On day 2 of our road trip Marley discovered first hand what a traffic jam is. It went from Virginia, through Maryland and DC, and did not stop until close to the tunnel in Baltimore. She handled it much better than I, since I was the one driving. After the first two hours I was ready to ram other vehicles off the road. Marley napped.
Because of our unexpected (what I seem to remember ended up being FOUR HOURS) traffic jam, we didn’t make it farther than Connecticut that night. And do you know that when you want a motel or hotel (or even a cardboard box on the side of the road) in Connecticut, you suddenly realize that no city there has them. Literally, there are NONE! We had to go all the way to New Haven before we found anything. I was about ready to sleep in the car at that point. But Miss Marley was cool as a cucumber and very well rested. We snuck her in again (no way I was going to risk not getting a room by telling them about our cat, I was beyond exhausted) and once again she checked out every inch of the room and then climbed into bed with Jon. We had a much smaller bed this time, hardly bigger than a twin, but we slept like the dead. At least I did. Marley jumped up and joined us. It was very cozy, to say the least.
So on day 3 of our trip, Marley was a seasoned traveler. She slept up in Jon’s lap or back in the back seat on top of her carrier the whole time. She didn’t even get excited when we pointed out Maine to her. She didn’t pay attention to anything until we pulled into the driveway of Jon’s sister’s house, where we were staying. Then she looked out the window to check out a pile of wood.
We unloaded our stuff, and Miss Marley, and took her into the house, and then we made our first mistake. We let Jon’s 4 little nieces crowd around Marley (really, we were trying to stop them, but we had our hands full and we were more than a little exhausted at this point) and, since she’s not used to children, she decided she was getting the heck out of there. Luckily she only ran under the couch and hid until all the kids went into another room. Then she tentatively came out again where we reintroduced her. She was unsure of these big, boisterous “kittens” at first, but after awhile she relaxed and put up with them. She very obviously understood they were babies.
So, to skip a good chunk of time in there, Marley spent the week with Jon’s family and learned to enjoy the girls. They made her kitty toys and let her lick the cheez doodle dust off their fingers. She even put on a dress and went to one of their birthday parties. She was having a great time until that morning we woke up and started packing up again. Then she made sure she hopped into her pink bag, lest we forget to take her. She was happy to stay there and play with the girls, but she made it very clear that we had better not expect to leave her there.
So then we were off again. This time we drove through Maine (where she saw her first ever moose), New Hampshire (first ever wooden Indian), and Vermont (first ferry) before stopping at Lake George, New York. This time we were wise and stopped way before we got exhausted. But before we got to our motel, we took the ferry across Lake Champlain. It turns out that while Marley quite enjoys a car trip, she does NOT enjoy a ferry trip. She spent the entirety of the ferry ride hiding under my seat. She didn’t even pay attention to the soggy floorboards (yep, car was still leaking. Freaking awesome.) I tell you about that because if you are thinking of taking your cat on a road trip, you might want to give thought to not taking any ferries. The throbbing of the engines tends to scare small, furry, feline creatures.
So, getting back to our motel in Lake George, New York. This time we chose an exit that had lots of motels to choose from, so we decided to be honest about the fact that we were traveling with a cat. We stopped at an EconoLodge and Jon went in to register and let them know about Marley Barley. Soon he came out and said the two ladies at the desk flipped when he told them we were traveling with a Manx and they requested to see her. Inside we went, Marley the world traveler in her pink harness and leash, me in my rumpled, gross travel clothes. The ladies demanded we put her on the counter and let her walk around and knock over whatever she wanted. Marley was fine with that, but I was a little more conservative and thought I might ought to continue holding her. The ladies fell in love with her, of course, and waived the usual $20 pet fee. They gave us a really nice room and told us if we needed anything at all to just let them know. Jon and I thought that was pretty awesome. Marley didn’t care; she just wanted to go eat some Meow Mix and use her facilities.
The next day we hit the road again and headed into Cleveland, Ohio where we were planning to spend a couple days visiting with Jon’s grandma and our good friend Ruth. And Marley got to meet Ruth’s cat, Kitty. Turns out Marley and Kitty didn’t hit it off. Kitty was so mad at us for bringing another cat into her house that she would follow us around and slap our feet and legs and yowl. Marley thought that was amusing. I know she did because she would bait Kitty and then purr when she slapped at us.
Our trip to Cleveland was brief but enjoyable. At that point I think she had resigned herself to living a life on the road. So when we packed up on the final morning and headed out, she took her usual position, sprawled across Jon’s lap, and fell asleep. We drove all day and when we hit home and our familiar driveway, she didn’t know what was going on. She was cautious at first and then overjoyed to be back home. We were overjoyed too. Until we opened the door to our house and realized that El had somehow gotten trapped in there. My aunt couldn’t find him the day after we left and opened the door to make sure he wasn’t inside. While she had the door open he seized the opportunity and ran inside and remained there the whole time we were gone (about 10 days.) That wouldn’t have been a problem with most cats, but El gets claustrophobic and then pees on everything, so he really has to go outside sometimes. Yep, we were greeted by a wave of cat pee smell. That knocked the happiness to be home right out of us. El was happy, though, since he hit the door and didn’t look back. We didn’t see him again for a few days. Luckily it turns out that El just sprayed the bathroom rugs and a basket of laundry. We cleaned it up easily, so there was no permanent damage done.
And thus ended our first ever road trip with a cat. It was a great experience and Jon and I will definitely take Marley on more trips. She was a charming traveling companion and made the driving part much more fun. Cats do that, don’t they? They keep life interesting. You can see more pictures of Marley’s trip at our flickr site (link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spinnermoon/sets/72157605001361459/). Thanks for reading!
A.B. Monk is a graduate from the University of Tennessee. She is an avid animal lover and has worked with the University of Tennessee Veterinarian School, the Knoxville Zoological Gardens, and Tiger Haven Big Cat Sanctuary. She is currently working with a nonprofit health care organization to support herself until she has the education and funds to start her own animal sanctuary and green living corporation. You can visit her website at www.spiniffy.com or her pet blog at critter.spiniffy.com. She is a regular columnist here at All Things Girl….
