I would bet that most people who travel with pets have a canine along with them in the RV, car or plane. But there are a lot of folks who travel with their cats, birds and other pets as they head out for business or pleasure. The type of pet you travel with can have unique requirements for feeding, comfort, safety and other considerations. Birds, for example, have much more stringent travel needs than dogs. Some people would argue that cats are more difficult to travel with than dogs.
What kinds of pets do you travel with? If you travel with a dog, do you have special items such as a car seat, vehicle harness or a portable pet water dispenser you take along? Do you take a harness and leash to walk your cat when you stop at a rest area? Do your pets travel in a crate or kennel or are they allowed to roam freely throughout your RV? Have you ever traveled with small animals, such as rabbits, ferrets or guinea pigs? Do you take your reptiles along with you when you travel so you don’t have to ask someone to take care of them at home?
How much does safety play in the equation when you are on the road? Do you research emergency pet clinics before you leave so you’re prepared in the event your pet requires medical treatment? Do you travel with a pet first-aid kit and know how to use the contents?
Let’s of hear from you about the types of pets you travel with, as well as any preparations you make before you go, and the types of products you take along to keep your pets safe and comfortable as you travel together.
Happy Pet Travels!
Tom James
PetTravelCenter.com
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Brad
My wife and I travel with our one year old and two year old Golden Retreivers. They ride in the back of our Toyota FJ Cruiser and love it, although the two year old didn’t like riding in the back of the jeep, for some reason. We tow a 19′ Jayco hybrid, which gives us plenty of room, now that the kids are grown and rarely travel with us. We keep a container of Activia yogurt in the fridge and use it to fill their kong toys, then place the kong toys in the freezer, while we’re driving. It provides a nice refreshing and healthy treat for them when we stop and they absolutely love it. They come everywhere with us and the only problem is making progress when we’re walking in public, because everyone stops us and asks if they can pet them. We take them into stores and businesses (where food is not sold) and rarely have any problems. If the store owner has a problem, I simply tell them that I’ll take my dogs and my money and shop elsewhere. The owner of one of the stores that I frequent actually gets upset if I don’t bring the “boys”, with me when I’m shopping. We’re heading to the Rocky Mountains this week with them. I’ll report back about our experience. Enjoy your time with your pets, while you can.
Bev Wilson
We travel with a 16 year old Yorkie & 13 1/2 maltese.We do art shows & travel with an RV & tow a van & do about 25,000 miles a year.We have had a few problems with our generator & A/C …& with the dogs in the RV I was very concerned about the temp. if it quit again…putting my dogs in danger. After many hours searching the net..I finally found a company that has a temp. monitoring system…Just couldn’t believe after a month of having it, it called and said the there was temp.alarm was 84 degrees. The RV was parked in a campground hooked up to electric..The show was about 4 miles away…I couldn’t get the van out so I had to get a taxi back to the campground…the a/c had quit it was 89 Degrees in the R.V. And that was 1;30pm I can’t imagine what would have happened with the temp. with all the windows shut..Since then I wouldn’t leave my dogs in ther R.V. with out the monitoring system. It has called me many times, and I can call it any time to know what the temperture is in ther R.V…Their website is http://www.tiptemp.com
Nancy
We have traveled with up to seven dogs at once and they were all big dogs. One was my parents’ blind, diabetic canine that needed two shots a day. We are down to four right now. Two goldens, one blind lab and a Belgian shepherd. Total weight=300 pounds or so. The blind lab was a rescue and weighed about 50 pounds when we got her. She now weighs about 110. She gets along just fine in the motorhome and has adopted one of the bench seats as her “nest” and sleeps there. The two goldens are both drug sniffing canines as we are both retired K-9 handlers with the state police and a local PD. The Belgian is just very energetic to say the least. We have always traveled with dogs and did take a cat once. (She got on the dash while we were camped and hit the headlight switch getting up there and the battery was drained.) They are a challenge, trying to keep their hair off stuff, cleaning up their muddy prints and cleaning up after them when they get sick (both ways)…but we wouldn’t be without them. They are a huge comfort when we stop at a rest area or store lot as they do let us know when something isn’t right. They have a doggie sense when something is amiss. We began camping over 24 years and we have been in 40 states and have had dogs with us in all of them. I am a dog trainer also, and I get alittle upset when I hear people say their dogs won’t travel. Either they don’t know how to overcome this or they just need an excuse not to take them. Dogs are very, very adaptable. Look at some of the condtions they live in and they still love humans. The conditons that the blind lab lived in were horrendous, a 3 foot chain with a chair tangled in it, kids teasing her mercilously, no water and maggots in her food. And she still loves people and kids. Now she is going deaf, but she will adapt and so will we. We have had numerous rescues over the years and they all fit right in. As any animal owner/lover will tell you, anthropomorphism is alive and well. (That’s when people give animals human traits and feelings. You all know what I’m talking about there, right?) Anyway, don’t be afraid to take them along….and as a bonus-they listen better than kids.
Bruce Manley
We travel with a 75 pound golden Retriever who loves all people, but not cats or squirrels, and does not bark. All we need is a supply of “doggie bags” of which we carry a hundred or so in a roll for use wherever we go.
We carry meds etc. along with toys and a good supply of food, and the best part is she does not sit on the dashboard or my lap !!! We use an under the belly type restraint while moving as a seatbelt equiv.
Monty Grant
We travel with two cocker spaniels. They love to travel and camp! They ride in crates in the back seat of our pickup, and sleep the entire travel time. We carry a water bowl and bottled water for breaks. While camping, they love to go for campground walks! If we have to leave the campsite and can’t take them with us, we put the crates in the trailer. But we do that only for short excursions such as to the grocery store. Recently we were attending a nascar race during a camping trip, and made arrangements in advance to board them (found the kennel online) Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning. The kennel was not ordinarily open on Sunday, but agreed to let us meet them there when they came for their morning routine. We don’t leave them in the trailer for a long period of time due to our concerns about the power going out and there being no air conditioning. They don’t ordinarily wear their collars at home, but wear them the entire time we travel and camp. We keep current copies of their vet records in our camper manual. We also keep an extra stock of dog towels and dog shampoo in the camper, and have a super-absorbet towel for drying them off from the rain. Have not thought to research pet ER’s in advance, but will add that to the checklist! Will also add a copy of their prescription med (which we can get from Walgreens) to our camper manual, in case we forget to bring it. We do always carry an extra day’s supply of meds and food.
Marc McAnally
We travel with 2 veteran hounds (a Boston terriere and a Brussels Griffon) and now have added a new Boxer pup. I tow my TT and the hounds ride in the back seat (Crewcab) or in the back of the truck (camper shell). We have a crate/kennel for the dogs for in the trailer if we have to go somewhere without them but really try and limit these excursions away from the dogs. Our last trip was to Yosemite and we took our 12 year old son’s guinea pig. He was great! We really enjoy meeting the people and their pets at the RV parks. I heartily recommend taking your pets when you travel, just be courteous and responsible, everyone will thank you for it!
Jim Moe
Hi
We travel with two small dogs and two medium Parrots. I would say the dogs are easier, but I would not go anywhere whithout out pets. I always check and see if there is a vet close. Noah and Mya the parrots do take a little more work as far as I have removed a chair in the liveing room so I could fasten there cages. They take a little more thinking as far as food goes. They eat about the same as we do, but I always make sure they get all there vitamins. When ever we go somewhere all the pets are ready to go for a walk, the dogs on their leashes and the parrot on our shoulders. (We do have their wings cliped.) Good luck to everyone traveling and enjoy your pets. Jim
Rvbadger
Have travelled with a dog and now a cat. It’s been our experience that Cat’s are much easier to travel with than Dogs.