Reddit is so addictive. Every time I follow a link to the site to read one set of questions and answers, I'll get sucked in to five others and spend a good two hours clicking around. Today's fascinating "Ask Me Anything" is the story of Ted and his kitten, Pikachu, who are traveling across North America by bicycle to raise money for -- and awareness about -- local animal shelters.
This is an admirable goal, but let's just review that for a second...he's traveling by bicycle across an entire continent with a cat. Talk about the fine line between "courageous" and "crazy."
I've driven two cats from New York to Toronto before, and a good time was had by...none. The cats hated the sedative and the car, and my wingman passenger hated me 100 miles into a 500-mile trip.
But not every cat is like mine, one cranky and beleaguered, the other one relentlessly needy...and on long car trips, I do sometimes long for feline companionship, the kind of even-keeled cat who will tolerate a harness and doesn't mind using the box in the back seat of a two-door Honda Accord. That kind of cat sounds like a great road-trip companion. That kind of cat also sounds like a unicorn, honestly; Mark Waldrop, DVM of the Nashville Cat Clinic states flatly that "Cats don't like to travel," because it breaks their routines. And the New York Times's William Grimes uses phrases like "incessant cries of the damned" and "ungodly wailing and lamentation" to describe his 1,500-mile road trip with Soda and Sweetzie. (About the cats, not himself, although the latter would be understandable.)
And Road Trip America has some good tips on traveling with pets -- the "Critter Go Kit" is a particularly good idea -- but it's obvious that they apply primarily to dogs. Teaching a dog verbal cues about "when to potty" might work for Will and Mr. Eko over at Petcentric, but a cat? I wish.
Still, best of luck to Ted and Pikachu on their incredible journey. To read more about their travels, or watch Pikachu on the kitten-cam (cute!), click here.
Got a great road-trip story involving your cat -- or dog, or rabbit or bird? Share it in the comments!
