hahahah to funny tammy!! i see old grannies on there cell phone with there pooch (dog) hanging out the window all the time

Personally I think if a cat is well conditioned to riding in the car that it would be better to have him sleeping peaceably in a lap with relaxed non distracted drivers than to have a cat in a carrier screaming and crying his head off causing the driver to be irritated, distracted and in a hurry to get to their destination. Much safer.

Quasar rides in my lap, in the car, and in the passenger's lap, in our truck.

I tried travelling with him in a carrier but the noise of his yowling was far more distracting than having him in my lap.

He learned VERY early not to go down by the driver's feet.

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~ Kyenta

Same with safari. He learned very young we take him everywhere. He's very good In car too.

Hey can't believe how much safari has grown since you first brought him home! Getting so big and just as gorgeous as ever! Glad you are back!

Mia x

Thanks! Yeah he is getting so big! Everyone always tells me how big he's getting. I wish
He could just stay small forever.

Safari sure is a beautiful cat. I'm soooo tempted to add a Bengal to my collection of Tonks ... or a Devon Rex, or an Oriental, or or or ... you get the picture. Before I knew it everyone would be crossing the street to avoid the "crazy cat lady" hehehe.

Not to start up the argument again, but Safari is obviously comfortable walking with harness and lead. Why not compromise and put his harness on him in the car, attached (closely) to the seat-belt? That way he could enjoy his freedom, *and* be safe from being thrown against the dash or windscreen in case of an accident.

People often do that with their dogs, here in Australia, and I remember when I was little and there were baby-seats weren't made yet, toddlers wore a harness that the seat-belt went through. I can remember wearing it, and then my little brother wearing it. At that time there was no law about wearing a seat-belt in the back seat, but people always put their toddlers in a harness, just in case.

Angela
www.anjaymatonks.comuf.com
Australia

THANKS and you should deff get a bengal they are great fun. i may have to look into the harness thing....i never seen anyone with it out here...maybe pet smart may have something.

Safari has gotten very big and cute...

I must admit, i cringe everytime i see a picture of a cat loose in a car. By loose i mean not contained in a carrier or attached to a harness and seatbelt. I have commented many times before, Viperkeeper knows my views on it. To me it is one risk i cannot take. My friend used to travel with her dog on the front seat next to her. He just sat there. She had a car accident where some car jumped the lights, she was fine but her dog was not. He went through the windscreen and did not make it. Her other half used to work at a research facility in the UK that looked at traffic accidents and this spurred him on to investigate pet travel. Cats in carriers secured in the car by a car seat are significantly better off than a cat not secured in the car.

They can also act unpredictably to anything outside the car which may mean they claw you or leap out of your arms etc... which could be a hazard.

In the UK you can be charged with dangerous driving/driving without due care and attention.

Just because everyone does it, does not make it right.

A kitten that is always placed in a carrier will get used to it. I can guarentee that. None of mine mind much. They like to talk to me sometimes but that is it. I leave a carrier out so that it always smells like home and they play in it and sometimes sleep in it. I actually think it's a pretty good idea to get them used to a carrier because there may be occasions you have to use it to take them to the vets etc. In the UK a lot of vets have rules that all cats must be in a carrier, every vets i've used have this rule. There are rarely cat only vets or clinics and so they cannot risk cats not been secure when they have dogs in the waiting rooms (never visited a vets where there has not been a dog present). You may have to take your cat in an emergency on your own and it isn't safe to just pop them on the seat next to you....

It is very difficult when you are taught and learn that doing this is dangerous when you see it happen in other countries. Everywhere has different laws. I have to remind my brother not to use his cell phone whilst driving when he visits (he lives in Dallas) and he reminds me that he can do what he likes with his cell phone when i visit him!!

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Lollo

This is a very controversial topic. Basil is a very vocal car rider too and he will tumble around in his carrier all the way to our destination whether it be 10 minutes, or an hour. Even when strapping his carrier in a seat belt, he finds ways to tumble his carrier under the seat belt and roll around on the car floor, and I've had to switch carriers twice because he has found ways to break them- Both a soft, and a plastic carrier. His whining makes it seem like torture.

I have driven with him loose before when he was younger once or twice, only when I have someone else in my car though to watch him while I am driving, I would not ever think of driving alone with him loose. and although he seems a lot more calm and less whinny, suddenly and quickly- as little as a horn honking sent him into a startle where he wanted to jump in my lap, or crawl under my legs/feet. He walked over buttons on the center consul, and tried to play with my lanyard to the car keys that were in the ignition. I paid note to what he was doing, and less to what I was doing- even with another passenger in the car. With that being said, I feel a lot more comfortable and a lot more safer driving with him in a carrier knowing that he will not be doing something more dangerous that can cause a distraction or accident, which is overall the best safety for him.

I do know that there is laws in the U.S. for driving a cat without a car crate. it's called negligence driving, there is no named law for "pets being in crates", but they consider it negligence driving and will ticket you for it. I've read more than 3 articles on it.
Be safe!

well thanks for the info and replies and lollo you should go look at safaris mountain pics i posted...hes growing into his rosettas so nicely

about the carrier......there is just no way i can torture him like that i know its not torture & the right thing to do but he acts like he is dying in there and i dont want him to feel like that. but i will look into the harness. i never take him to far...just 5min away to gas station or to pick up pizza. the TN trip was the longest. i dont see how they can give you a ticket for it when people have dogs all the time in cars...sometimes mulitple dogs...just hanging out the window. i mean how can the law say its ok for dogs to ride freely but cats must be in a cage? my cat acts better than half those dogs i see at work (the bank) that we give treats to... and everytime i go to vet i put safari in his carrier when we walk in. so now he knows carrier means ususally vet. but i will look it up for incase we plan on going on another road trip in future.