Holiday travel

We took Milo in the car to see my parents for Hanukkah this past weekend. We have taken him once before so this wasn't a totally new experience for him. The trip down wasn't too bad. We hit some traffic so the trip ended up 30 minutes longer than it should have, which Milo wasn't happy about. That meant a longer time in his crate. Once we got to my parents he shot underneath my bed. Last time we were there we kept him confined to my childhood bedroom for most of the time and he was very comfortable with that. After about 20 minutes he came out from the bed and ate and drank. Early saturday morning I let him walk around the upstairs rooms with me following him so he would get comfortable with the rest of the house. I can only imagine what he thinks of my parents house. It is so much bigger than our small two bedroom apartment. By the end of the trip he was pretty used to the upstairs rooms though he was afraid of the steps and rarely went downstairs. Maybe another trip. The whole time he had no accidents and as my mother said he was "good as gold." Good Milo. He also gained a new toy. My childhood cat Katie, always loved my rabbits foots and stole them. I gave one I found in my desk to Milo and he took to it right away.

The trip home was a lot quicker and we made a good time. We had always wondered how Milo would do outside of his crate. So one time when Milo was meowing to get out or that he didn't like being in the car (I wasn't sure which) we let him out of his crate. At first, he did fine. He sat on my lap and looked out the window. He seemed to like watching everything go by. Then he started getting antsy and wanted to sit on Jeff's lap. I didn't want him too since this was his first time out of his crate and I didn't want him to interrupt Jeff's driving. He eventually got very squirmy and ended up on Jeff's lap anyways. He was ok for a minute or so, but then we both decided to take him off Jeff's lap, which he did not want. I had to pull him off his lap while Jeff was driving, while Milo was digging his claws into Jeff's pants because he didn't want to get off. I finally got him off and held onto him securely for a little bit. That didn't last long and he started meowing again. I hate when he does that. It makes me feel like I'm hurting him or not making him feel right. So we decided to put him back in his crate, which was a feat. We didn't have much room in the front seat. I had Milo in my lap and the crate at my knees (it wouldn't go down on the floor all the way). In the middle of the tunnel in Baltimore I managed to get the cage on my lap with Milo still there, the top open, and Milo inside. Phew. He seemed calmer in his crate after that. I don't think we will be trying that again. We got home after two and a half hours of driving and Milo was very happy to be home. He shot under our bed again and then after we got his fountain hooked up he came out and had a drink.

Overall, I think it was a great trip. I was glad Milo could come and I was happy to see my parents. It was a very quick trip though. Down friday night and back home sunday morning. However, I think that if we go on another trip that is longer than three hours I'm not sure if Milo will come or if we will get something from the vet to calm him down a little.