undergunfire
Retired Moderator
So, we might be moving to Upstate NY. We've been discussing and coming up with "life plans" over the last year...lots of duds and stuff....but this we are sure is really happening. My mom's boy friend of 7 years is dying of cancer and can go any day now. After that has happened....my mom said she would move Ryan and I out to NY and send me off to Connecticut (Hello, Alicia & Rob!!!) to attend the Connecticut School of Dog Grooming for 7 weeks.
Anyway....my mom has to buy us a new vehicle in order for us to get out there. We are either selling a lot of our furniture & throwing a way a lot of junk we don't need and renting a UHaul trailer and hitching it to the back of the vehicle we buy.....OR.....we will keep our furniture (but still throw away junk we don't need) and my mom will pay for a moving service $3k and our stuff isn't worth that much...so we don't think we'd want her to pay for that.
To the point.....the animals are all coming with us, of course. Ryan wants to stop by Kansas to spend the the day there to see all of his family/rest up/save money on a hotel room on the way through. The animals can stay with us at his aunt's house for the day, but I do worry about how the "new house" will stress them out for a whole day.
Obviously this whole trip is going to stress us humans and animals out...there really isn't a way around it.
We are thinking about buying a newer used Chevy TrailBlazer for the trip, because we need something bigger then a smaller SUV. We will have a Lab sized plastic kennel for the 2 cats to be in, the 9 (providing my oldie is still alive) rats will be in the bottom part of their cage (30" x 18"), our small dog will be secured into a doggy booster seat thingy, and the rabbits will have to be in carriers.
I was thinking Brody can ride along in our dogs carrier. He is a Holland Lop, so is this carrier large enough for about 4 days of travel? It fits our 12lbs dog, so I'd imagine??....23"L x 15.2"W x 11.8"H. So...since my rabbits are about the same size, do I need to get 2 more of those carriers, if that one is okay? Marlin (Lionhead) weights like 3lbs...so could he go into one about this size (I already have this one at home)?....19"L x 12.6"W x 10"H
Obviously I want comfortable carriers, but we are need to be "compact". We will also have a small cooler with us, plus our "travel bags" of clothes & such, and pet food.
Does anyone recommend any all natural calming "meds" for pets (not for the rats, too many/too hard to give it to them)? Are these safe to give for a few days?
I'm pretty worried about the trip...I hope we can find pet friendly hotels that will take us all in (1 cage of 9 rats, 1 small dog, 2 cats, and 3 rabbits).
Anyway....my mom has to buy us a new vehicle in order for us to get out there. We are either selling a lot of our furniture & throwing a way a lot of junk we don't need and renting a UHaul trailer and hitching it to the back of the vehicle we buy.....OR.....we will keep our furniture (but still throw away junk we don't need) and my mom will pay for a moving service $3k and our stuff isn't worth that much...so we don't think we'd want her to pay for that.
To the point.....the animals are all coming with us, of course. Ryan wants to stop by Kansas to spend the the day there to see all of his family/rest up/save money on a hotel room on the way through. The animals can stay with us at his aunt's house for the day, but I do worry about how the "new house" will stress them out for a whole day.
Obviously this whole trip is going to stress us humans and animals out...there really isn't a way around it.
We are thinking about buying a newer used Chevy TrailBlazer for the trip, because we need something bigger then a smaller SUV. We will have a Lab sized plastic kennel for the 2 cats to be in, the 9 (providing my oldie is still alive) rats will be in the bottom part of their cage (30" x 18"), our small dog will be secured into a doggy booster seat thingy, and the rabbits will have to be in carriers.
I was thinking Brody can ride along in our dogs carrier. He is a Holland Lop, so is this carrier large enough for about 4 days of travel? It fits our 12lbs dog, so I'd imagine??....23"L x 15.2"W x 11.8"H. So...since my rabbits are about the same size, do I need to get 2 more of those carriers, if that one is okay? Marlin (Lionhead) weights like 3lbs...so could he go into one about this size (I already have this one at home)?....19"L x 12.6"W x 10"H
Obviously I want comfortable carriers, but we are need to be "compact". We will also have a small cooler with us, plus our "travel bags" of clothes & such, and pet food.
Does anyone recommend any all natural calming "meds" for pets (not for the rats, too many/too hard to give it to them)? Are these safe to give for a few days?
I'm pretty worried about the trip...I hope we can find pet friendly hotels that will take us all in (1 cage of 9 rats, 1 small dog, 2 cats, and 3 rabbits).