Long-distance driving with cats

Moving with CATS - Huntington Beach to Seattle

After a 19 hour drive, the move across several states is complete. Wasn't sure how to carry Zuma and Max in the car but previous experiences in earlier parts of their life suggested that a cat carrier is not that comfortable for them and they would meow nonstop.

Inside the car

Created some space around boxes and let the cats move around however they wanted - worked out perfectly. They meowed for the 1st hour and tried to crawl around everywhere, but then slept almost the entire rest of the way. Max crawled to the back in/under boxes for an hour but later I noticed he started panting- it was hot in that section and A/C didn't reach that far back. I re-packed some boxes to make sure they are only in clear space, and with no chance of boxes sliding/falling.

With 5-6 short stops along the way, they never went to the bathroom, never drank water, and never ate. We had a hotel stop half way on the trip and that was the only time they did their normal routine.

Sneezing (upper respiratory infection?)

Zuma was sneezing the entire moving week, probably got some dust in her nose, but was fine as soon as we were in our new location. Also gave them 1mL each of childrens benadryl general store brand, since I read that could help kitties go to sleep, their mouth foamed up just a bit at first. Maybe it helped but I forgot to give it to them after the hotel and they were still fine driving without the drowsiness.

Not sure if it's legal to have a cats without a carrier in a moving vehicle but I'm happy I did that. Hopefully no long-distance moving any time soon!