Would flying stress my cats more than driving?
In a few months I will be moving across the US with 2 cats (The female is introverted and will slink away to hide when the unexpected happens. The male is a lot more outgoing, but can be unexpectedly skittish.)
At the moment I am debating between flying and driving them. My assumption of the pro's and cons of each type of trip are:
Fly
Pro: Shorter duration: 2 flights over 7 hours
Con: Higher stress environment: noisy, bustling airports and planes
Con: Once the trip starts, it cannot be stopped.
Con: More expensive: Need 1 booked person and 5 per cat
Drive
Pro: Lower stress: It's just like a really long trip to the vet
Pro: Can take a time out from traveling if needed.
Pro: Cheaper: Just Gas and hotel rooms
Con: A much longer duration: 26 hours of driving spread over 3 days
My assumption is that the driving will suck for me (but I have the time to do it), but will be better for the cats (they can better handle the lower level but longer duration stress).
Is this a valid assumption about the levels of stress of each type of trip, and in general how cats react to such stress?
Note that while Travelling with cat by plane is great for tips on that mode of transportation, my question is more about comparing flying with driving.
And Is it feasible to take cat on a 1400 mile, 21+ hour road trip? is great for the driving part.
Update
After speaking to our vet (who knows our cats and their personalities) we have decided to go with the flying option.
Our vet will also prescribe anti-anxiety drugs for the trip (even though the airlines say not to dose the cats up), and has recommended that we do multiple trials of the drugs well prior to the flights in order to gauge how much of the drug is needed on the day.
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It essentially depends on your cats personality, I traveled quite a few times with mine and it was always a big deal by plane but fine by car(almost no stress as she had more space and we could more easily interact with her).
The plane was really noisy and the personel always asked to put her on the floor but when she had no eye contact with us it was always more stressfull
My skittish cat tolerated both a cross country drive and a cross country flight similarly. So, I'd pick the one that works better for you. If you include car wear-and-tear the two costs might be similar. A couple ideas if you choose driving: Give the cats a perch to look out the window and give them a cozy hiding spot like a foot well. For safety keep them away from the drivers feet. If a cat hates your motel or friends house then them stay in the car overnight.
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