New kittens - how far in the car?

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waggledance
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New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by waggledance »

Hello

I'm new here and soon to be a cat owner.

Could anyone provide some advice on how far it's reasonable to drive a kitten home from when you go to pick it up? I'm hoping to get two kittens at the start of the Easter holiday as want to use the time off work to settle them in. Obviously the further afield you go the greater the chances of getting them ... but I don't want them to be overly stressed on a long journey when they already have to deal with leaving their mother and familiar surroundings. Is a 2-3 hour drive going to be OK?

Also we may well be looking for two kittens from different litters as we are hoping for a ginger one and a black one and these don't often seem to come in the same litter ... So the kitten would likely be on its own rather than with a sibling.

Thanks loads for any advice that can be given.

Kate
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meriad
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by meriad »

Welcome to CC and congratulations on the soon to be feline additions to the household.

Sadly there is no golden rule about kittens and distances travelled. I and my sister-in-law collected a cat from up North and we had to by pass another two places on the way home to drop off another cat to another rescue which resulted in over 5 hours in the car for Merlin and he was as good as gold and slept most of the way.

When I collected one of my cats Ava, she made a huge racket for most of the 1 hour car journey

there really is no way of telling just how a cat will react.

And also, may (dare)I ask, would you really not consider two cat from the same litter if that's better for the kittens, even if they aren't the colours you want? Litter siblings tend to adapt a lot better and quicker. Is colour really that important? ;)
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Willowgill
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by Willowgill »

If the kittens are leaving their mother for the first time they are going to be pretty scared however far you're travelling. Maybe a warm cuddly beanie bag might help but as Meriad has said you would probably be better taking two from the same litter so they're used to each other. Daph was almost feral when we brought her home from London aged about 6 months - she kept crying out for the whole 3 hours but quietened down each time I spoke gently to her. Make sure they feel secure in their box and are not rolling around in it and fasten the seat belt round the box if possible (or use the elastic hooks to secure it to the seat) for added safety. We take our 3 nearly every weekend on an hour long journey - they are used to the car now and settle in their beds as soon as we set off. Enjoy your new fur babies :D
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by DollyB »

My two came from the same rescue but about a year apart. The first one, Halo wailed all the way home along with projectile vomiting and similar from the other end. The second, Zeke slept all the way. So I guess you never can tell, some travel better than others. Good luck!
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by waggledance »

Thanks loads for all the advice.

Today I found a ginger and black in the same litter and have reserved them, so excited! Not picking them up for two weeks as they're not old enough yet. It's two hours away but at least they will be together so hopefully won't be too upset.

Thanks again. x
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by Hunnybunny »

As a rescue I won't home more than 1hr away as kittens have to return to our vets for 2nd vaccs and neutering and any further isn't fair. Cats and kittens that are fully vaccinated and neutered and so need no return trips I'll go a lot further for.

I hope you have gone with a rescue and not some joe bloggs that has let their cat get knocked up by any old tom and are making money from the poor old mum cat???!!!

If it is a rescue they can't have home checked you can they and reserving kittens unseen also isn't indicative of a reputable rescue.

Sorry to question but please only adopt through a reputable rescue and no other avenue.

Blacks and gingers are common in the same litter by the way but don't get hung up on colour its personality that counts and you have to meet the little blighters to see that shine through.......
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by waggledance »

Thanks for the criticism.
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by booktigger »

I'm not a fan of kittens travelling and don't really like more than 45 mins for kittens, even adults I'd rather only do over an hour if they are hard to home. We would reserve pending a homevisit and viewing, it is amazing how many people have a kitten in mind off colour, then when they meet them they end up with something different, as personality is more important, you will hopefully have these gor the next 20 ywars.
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by KittyWitty »

So glad that you found a black and ginger in the same litter :)

We went to meet Comet purely because he was black but once I met him his colour didn't matter and I just fell in love with him, he was also from a home breeder...her cats last litter before getting neutered.

Personally I see no problem with getting a kitten from someone that has bred their cats, but only if it was in a controlled manner (Comet's mummy and daddy were both owned by the same couple and his litter was planned) and as long as they are coming from a good household. :)

How old will the kitties be when you take them home? Will you be meeting them first? How many visits will you make before 'home day'? What are the sexes? Thought of any names yet?

With Comet I met him when he was 4 weeks old, visited him 6-7 times between meeting him and taking him home at the age of 11 weeks. I really believe that those extra 3 weeks that he had with his kitty mummy is the reason that he is such a star, now I wouldn't take a kitten if they were 8-10 weeks old, at that age they can still learn so much from kitty mummy!
waggledance
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by waggledance »

Yeah, I spoke to the breeder and she seems really nice, we've seen pictures of the mother (who looks great) and the rest of the litter, it looks like a good house. She said we can visit any time but we probably won't as it's 2 hours away. They are nearly 6 weeks old at the moment, we are getting them on 26 April when they will be 8 weeks. They are both boys and seem to be together in a lot of the pictures so we're hoping they are already quite close. They are reserved subject to our meeting them but I can't imagine we won't take them home.

Do appreciate the reasons that it's better to get from a rescue and did consider it but current circumstances dictate this is a better route for us. Also a friend of mine who is great with animals and has loads of experience with them had an unpleasant time at a rescue centre who were unhappy about giving her a kitten as she worked 9-5. Which I thought was pretty ridiculous. Sure they're not all like that but that was what happened with her. She ended up getting one from a breeder she found online. I've also seen a few local rescues who wont give kittens to anyone who rents, which we do. We have permission from our landlord and wouldn't give them away if we had to move, absolute worst case they would go to my parents who have a cat (which we rescued as a stray at 5 weeks) and a big garden. I would love to buy a house with a nice garden for cats but simply can't afford it at the moment.

Anyway, no names yet. Ideas but we need to meet them and see what suits them first.

Thanks for all the help and advice, much appreciated.

So excited. x
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by KittyWitty »

We rent too, my if it came between renting dream house and Comet, he'd win every time! Very few people own their homes now a days so it is very unfair to say no to all renters.

Aw :) boys are great, I must say haha Comet is our first experience with a tom cat, we've both been raised with queens but he is a delight! Quite glad he turned out to be a he instead of a she actually - queens are such divas haha! :) ;)
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by Hunnybunny »

I assume they are moggies? In which case they are not a 'breeder' just people making money out of a dire crisis of cat over population leading to 100'000's of unwanted kittens been destroyed a year!!!!
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by Hazel »

We travelled for about an hour with our kitten who was good as gold. Our previous cats that were also good as gold on the ~30 minute journey home....but after that on any journeys (which inevitably lead to the cattery) they both wailed and wailed!

Hunnybunny I am actually shocked that people are letting moggies have planned litters! I suppose its the equivalent of these stupid "designer cross" dogs that people are daft enough to pay for, but I just assumed the hundreds of kittens to be homed every year were all from irresponsible owners not neutering or from feral/stray cats.
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by booktigger »

Hazel wrote:We travelled for about an hour with our kitten who was good as gold. Our previous cats that were also good as gold on the ~30 minute journey home....but after that on any journeys (which inevitably lead to the cattery) they both wailed and wailed!

Hunnybunny I am actually shocked that people are letting moggies have planned litters! I suppose its the equivalent of these stupid "designer cross" dogs that people are daft enough to pay for, but I just assumed the hundreds of kittens to be homed every year were all from irresponsible owners not neutering or from feral/stray cats.
I'm glad someone is shocked. Whether litters are planned or people just not neutering, they are all irresponsible and give us rescues more work. If they can't find homes, they'll expect us to step in, and how good are they going to be at making sure those kittens are neutered, and not going to someone who wants them to just have one litter? Are they going to do the necessary things like flea, worm, vaccine? The kitten that Waggle dance is getting is leaving mum too early, so definitely won't be vaccinated
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by Hunnybunny »

Hazel

Unfortunately there are many people that 'actively' allow their cats get pregnant so they can sell they on, tax free bit on the side!!

The reason this person with this litter have offered a pic of mum but not dad is because dad is unknown as any old un neutered cat could have got her!! If people feel it is acceptable to allow this to happen then they shouldn't even have cats. I don't think people understand the risks. The dad could be carrying FIV/FeLV, be a flu carrier let alone the trauma that a female is put through during mating. I don't suppose many people have seen how toms drag females about, bite, chase the females before they actually mate and this could have happened multiple times by multiple toms.......

To buy moggies from back street breeders is irresponsible and directly contributes to the deaths of 1000's of kittens. By supporting these people you are validating what they do. Admittedly your average Joe has no idea about any of these things so ignorance is usually the reason but thats why people in the know should be putting the message out there and educating people as to the reasons that it is simply WRONG to buy moggies from people like these people.......
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by Hunnybunny »

Don't even get me started on the idiots that part with up to a £1000 for a cross breed/mongrel because it has a stupid name is simply beyond me.

I walked in to the vets the other day to a rather heated conversation between one of these idiots and the vet nurse because the dog was registered as 'cross breed' and the owner wanted it to have the 'designer name'!! As the vet nurse kept explaining to him, the breed of dog is a cross breed as there is no such thing as a whatever poo it was!!!

I had to burst into laughter as it really did amuse me..... says a lot about my warped sense of humour!!!!
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by Hazel »

Well I know there will always be accidental litters (cat escapes prior to neutering appointment? or even irresponsible owners assuming all other cats out there are neutered so they needn't bother?) but yes I naively didn't know people were planning litters of moggies. Such a shame.

Actually that reminds me of a dog owner I once met who bought two litter mates and didn't get them neutered because they were brother & sister so they wouldn't mate.....Unfortunately nobody explained to the pups that incest is frowned upon! I think they ended up aborting and neutering. :roll:

Back to the car subject - we take ours to a vet in walking distance from our house in order to avoid the car, although the vet I would really like to go to is 15 miles away. I would swap but OH doesn't want to.
Also it's worth spraying the car and carrier with Feliway before you bring them back - a lot of people have had good results with this.
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by Hazel »

Oh I just read that the kittens will not have had their second vaccinations because they are too young? If the "breeder" is that good they will keep hold of them for longer and vaccinate before they leave. Sound's like they're doing it on the cheap selling beforehand for maximum profit :(

What is this thing with people wanting their pets to have 'just one litter'. I had a friend who said that about her 8 year old dog! She wanted to "give her the chance to be a mum" - I told her what I thought in no uncertain terms (she didn't do it)!
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by waggledance »

I'll get them vaccinated and everything they need. Looking forward to having them from 8 weeks old. :-)
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Re: New kittens - how far in the car?

Post by booktigger »

Hazel wrote:Oh I just read that the kittens will not have had their second vaccinations because they are too young? If the "breeder" is that good they will keep hold of them for longer and vaccinate before they leave. Sound's like they're doing it on the cheap selling beforehand for maximum profit :(

What is this thing with people wanting their pets to have 'just one litter'. I had a friend who said that about her 8 year old dog! She wanted to "give her the chance to be a mum" - I told her what I thought in no uncertain terms (she didn't do it)!
Actually, I meant they wouldn't have even had their first vaccination, that is at 9 weeks. So might not even have a vet check.
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