I found this video from Christmas Eve, two days before we moved into our current house. We saw a small dog wandering around with no owner in sight.
Frankie was remarkably calm and didn’t try to whack the dog.
Here is Frankie enjoying some quiet time on our screened patio.
We are planning on going to our home in West Virginia in a couple of months. We haven’t been there since 2021. The last couple of times we went, bringing the cats proved difficult. Since this is the first time we will be making the trip in an electric car, we need to plan for slightly longer travel times.
The good news is, there is a fair amount of room in a Tesla Y so I decided to try to find a carrier that would make use of that room while being manageable. Some of the options I considered were too big and heavy to bring into a hotel. That would have required us to remove the cats and risk one or both of them escaping in an unknown area.
After a long search, I found something that I think will work nicely. It is an Ikare Pet Carrier. (This is an affiliate link.)
It is quite large. According to Amazon, it is 38″L x 20.4″W x 20.4″H. It has two panels that unzip and expand to make it even larger. It also comes with two pads and two expandable bowls.
It comes in two parts that zip together.
Here it is with the expandable sides.
Floki is demonstrating how much room is inside.
Frankie is demonstrating how strong it is.
I put it in the car with the seats folded down to ensure it fits.
It not only fits, but we also still have room for luggage.
If we wanted to, we could carry the cats into the hotel separately.
I don’t think we will because there is not an easy way to separate it without giving the cat’s an opportunity to escape. We do plan on putting a small litterbox in the carrier during the trip. Having room for a litterbox was my goal when I started searching for a carrier. One of our cats pooped in their carrier on our last trip up there and we wanted to prevent that this time. We will need to add and remove the litterbox while in the car. That may be a little bit of a challenge, but it probably will not be too difficult.
When we get to our destination, the carrier folds up and fits into its own carrying case.
As a side note, the case can be used as a litterbox, but it would need a liner. We will just bring a separate litterbox. Since the litterbox going into the crate will be small, I haven’t decided if we should use a bigger one in the hotel.
What do you think of the carrier? Do you have any tips on traveling with cats?
Before moving, I uncovered evidence that Chris was older than I thought when we adopted him. I posted about it here in January. I found a folder with 3/10/09 printed on it. Since he was at another shelter before the shelter we adopted him from, I assume that is his real birthday or at least an estimated birthday.
I had assumed he was six months old when we adopted him, so I had been celebrating his birthday on May 14, but I will need to adjust that, not that it matters much at this point. If I had remembered, I would have written a nice post about him last Monday. I hope I remember next year.
This should be called “Photos Friday” since I have more than one photo to show you. Here is Frankie in three different trees on three different days.
Here is a post from August 3, 2016. Despite the known flaw in Frankie’s harness, I still use it today. I have just learned what I can and can’t do.
Here is Frankie eleven years ago today, on March 7, 2014. This was on top of the china cabinet, which was a popular place for both Chris and Puck, although Puck needed my help to get up there. Since Frankie had only been in our house for about a month at the time, I’m sure he learned how to get up there from Chris.
Here is a post from July 2016, when Floki was still a kitten, and Chris’s tail was another toy to play with. I bet it was hard for Chris to switch roles from annoyer to annoyee.
Two weeks after we moved into our new home, a woman moved in next door. She saw me walking Frankie, and when I told her his name, she said, “Oh, my cat’s name is Frankie, too.” What are the odds?
Her Frankie is a female tuxedo cat. She is allowed outside without a leash, although I think she spends much of her time inside. We soon learned that her Frankie is timid and retreats when humans were around.
One day, while the cats were in our screened room, I heard cats howling at each other. I walked out to see what was happening and saw girl Frankie near the screen talking to boy Frankie. She quickly retreated and watched us from a distance.
I know this is not a great photo, but I don’t have a close-up picture of her.
Can you tell Frankie loves being outside?
Bad Cat Chris 