When Bandit and I first rescued him, Moggy was like most of the cats I've been the servant of--yowlingly vocal about his dislike for traveling in the SUV.
The small confines of the cat carrier and potty breaks while harnessed and on the leash--which only occasionally worked at the hotel--and never in route because the traffic noise spooked him, soon gave way to the blanket wrapped crate (which restrained scratched litter from freely flying throughout the SUV). For the comfort of His Royal Catness, one of his travel litter boxes was tucked away in the back of the crate, and one of his cat beds took up the front half of the crate. While the crate set up worked well, for a couple years, Moggy remained quite vocal.
Until I realized he really like to listen to male voices reading the audio books I checked out from the public library to pass the driving time during those multi-thousand mile road trips. This was a great way to travel...once Moggy settled down for the story.
During our last trip to the west coast Moggy decided he was having none of it. I don't know if the altitude hit him hard, if it was the cold, which he normally loves, or the fact that he realized he was religated to the back of the SUV. For whatever reason, Moggy would not quiet himself. In desperation, after trying all the tricks, I placed him in his carrier and repacked the SUV so his carrier faced me from the passenger seat. He cried briefly until he put his paw on my hand and that was the end of it. He was quiet for the rest of that long day of driving. No yowling. No crying. No restlessness. Just sweet quiet contentedness.
The car carrier became his prefered mode of transport. When he stirred and became restless, it was my cue to stop for potty breaks and I would transfer him to the crate until the next stop.
But the furthest Moggy has come in his travel routine is this: every day when I arrive home after work, Moggy has been willingly hopping into the SUV while I gather all my paraphernalia. He's been doing this for several months. This week he stepped it up a notch and refused to exit the SUV. So I've been locking him inside while I unlock the front door, check the mail box, and bring the trash cans back from the road to their storage place. Once I am finally ready to go inside, I pop up the liftgate, and Moggy plays a subdued game of King of the Inside Mountain prior to exiting the SUV.
This two shall pass--one of my Christmas gifts this year is a wearable sling-type carrier. Boy is he in for a surprise!
Update:
I started this post a couple days ago. Two nights ago, as I stepped out of the SUV, he moved to where I stepped--yep, his little paw ended up mn under my big foot. He still entered the SUV and performed his "refuse to leave" routine. When he finally came inside with me, rather than giving me a wide berth, he continued to stay underfoot. I think he's actually trying to get back at me by tripping me. 😉
That's okay, the entire Zoo piled in my bed, and snuggled close, when the neighborhood fireworks started tonight.
Looking forward to a fabulous 2021, filled with God's blessings, good health, safety, and lots of travel--have to break the sling--carrier in and get Moggy acclimated to it. 😉
No comments:
Post a Comment