there was probably....

... no mention of the fact that there are two cats involved. The felines have done pretty well, cooped up in luxury carriers while traveling cross country. When I got to SC on Tuesday, they were already in the car, ensconced in the back seat, conversing through the mesh of the collapsible container. They are most definitely indoor cats, likely only experiencing the outside world through screening, or on the occasional trip to the vet. Content within the limits of their known world, therefore easily distressed when forced into confinement to experience the jostling movement of hours of travel.

I can imagine you would feel like a terrible parent should you even consider the possibility of providing some sort of anxiety-reducing substance to make the travels easier on all parties involved. But then - on the other hand - it would profoundly stressful to a spend hours in a vehicle with vocal felines expressing their displeasure with confinement. Remembering traveling with small children, considering the prospect of great distances with the plan of being ready to leave home, start the drive at their bedtime. Driving in the dark is no one's first choice, but the trade-off  of blissful silence in the back seat is most appealing. Less traffic after the sun goes down, and tranquility in the rear of the vehicle.

With forethought, she was equipped with drugs to sedate her feline family Prepared to squirt a small dose of liquid Rx into each one to help reduce apprehension as they travel cross country. My guess is the total drive is nearly 2000 miles - a long way for a pair of cats to be confined in travel containers in a small car. With hours of plaintive calls for rescue if they have not been given medications to make the trip  easier for everyone. It's not my 'call', but I would err on the side of providing the drugs to ease their fears and make the trip less stressful for all.

Traveling miles from home, crossing the continent as settlers in Conestoga wagons did centuries ago, it seems imperative to avoid any of the pitfalls you have the ability to envision in advance. Even with road maps, GPS, knowing the path to your destination I am all for making it as simple as possible. Like the voyagers of yore, there is still a degree of stepping into the unknown into that part of the geography labeled as: 'there be dragons here.'

Her household goods were loaded last week, left in the moving van making a ridiculous, pointless, absurd detour to Baltimore to get to Montana. We will cross the Big Muddy today, after passing though Memphis, and head northwest towards St. Louis. Following the path across the states, cruising the four-laned highways, viewing the passing beauty of America.