Moving day
I would imagine that many people have had to pack up and leave their homes and move across country. We made that move 6 years ago now and let me tell you that moving a household is tough enough but add 6 horses, 2 dogs, 5 cats and a bird to that and you have your work cut out for you.
Moving the furniture and our household belongings was the easy part, we had a moving company take care of that, but cross country moving companies do not handle animals. We had to move the animals.
Two round trips with our horse trailer worked out great. It took almost 12 hours each way, non-stop. The horses were hydrated before the long winter trip and the cats traveled in the horse trailer's tack room, each one in their own carriers. The dogs stayed with us in the vehicle.
Some tips I would like to share for moving your pet to a new home are:
- Each pet should have their own carrier unless they travel well in cars.
- Line the carrier with a pee pad to cut down on smells and liquid spills
- Cats should remain in the carrier for the entire trip with water offered
- Avoid letting the pet eat during the trip, some animals tend to throw up their food while traveling, offer water only
- For trips longer than 18 hours one way, arrange for pet friendly overnight accommodations
