cats – Messy Suitcase Travel Blog

March 30, 2022April 1, 2022

Trouble in Paradise, Part 2: Traveling with a Cat

It takes a lot of money, care, and attention to successfully incorporate a cat into a traveling lifestyle.

We travel with a very sweet cat, Kaylee. She’s a petite Maine Coon, very affectionate but also very nervous.

She technically belongs to our oldest child, Aryk, but as Aryk is still finishing grad school in England, Kaylee travels with us.

And she doesn’t like it.

It’s not easy for us, either. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Cats and Planes

Flying with a cat companion is a logistical challenge. Here are the many steps:

You have to call the airline to reserve the cat’s spot, hoping that she won’t exceed their quota of pets per plane.
You have to pay a fee; in the case of Southwest, it’s $95 each way.
You have to purchase a carrier that fulfills their requirements.
Then you have to tote her all over the airport, make sure the skittish kitty doesn’t have a panic attack, and get her through the security line without her bolting. (Hint: Make sure she’s on a leash so she can’t run, but since she can still shred you in a panic, also ask for a private screening. That’s where they take you and the cat into a small room and then take her carrier away to be x-rayed.)
During the flight, you have to listen to her cry from inside her carrier between your feet (so comfortable). If you’re lucky, the middle seat will be clear and you can put her there instead. We have an expandable carrier, and it greatly reduces her anxiety to be able to spread out.
During transfers between planes, you have to find a place for her to do her business in the portable litter box you packed (with the litter that made security red-flag your backpack as a security risk), and give her some food and water, all of which she will ignore.

In addition, to bring Kaylee to Puerto Rico, we had to get an international health certificate, which entailed finding a specific kind of vet and paying $240 for the paperwork, an extra exam, and extra shots. And then the authorities in PR didn’t even ask to see any of it! We have done this twice. I spoke to a dog owner here who did it for three dogs, at much greater expense because of their large size, and no one asked to see their paperwork, either. I know if we skip this step, though, the authorities will ask for it and send her back to the States.

Hiding Places

Kaylee can always tell when we are about to move. When our suitcases come out, she starts looking for hiding places — and we start looking for ways to keep her out of those hiding places. We once had to practically disassemble a bed in a motel when she climbed up inside the box frame.

*This hiding place in the stairway in Isabela didn’t work.*

Music and Meds

Alleviating Kaylee’s anxiety about flying is crucial, so we got gabapentin, an anti-anxiety medicine, from the vet, which has helped Kaylee endure the terrifying airport screenings and long periods stuck in the carrier. Usually. It does wear out, though. You can tell because she starts thrashing and meowing. A friend who operates a doggie daycare suggested I play a calming playlist from Amazon music. This works miracles! I just place the phone on her carrier to act as her private concert hall, and she is calmed instantly. Thank you, Cesca Ferrante Segalas!

Managing Feline Anxiety While Living as Nomad

Cats like routine, and life is always changing when you travel. We manage Kaylee’s stress as best we can, but there’s a limit to what we can do. Sometimes local cats meow outside the windows at night, or come up to the door during the day. Humans shove her into carriers with no warning, and sometimes leave her there for hours while we travel in cars or planes. Food on the road is inconsistent, depending on what’s available where we are loving at the time. The environment changes monthly, when we move to a new condo. (This is part of the reason we bought the house in Cabo Rojo.)

Kaylee’s buddy Ellie, our Russian Blue who lives at college with Gavin, may be in the house for months (over summer break), and then, just when they have finally adjusted to each other (again), will abruptly disappear with no explanation.

Once, while living in Mexico City, we put Kaylee in boarding while we took a short jaunt to Acapulco. We had to return early due to COVID, but the vet was calling anyway, saying our kitty was freaked out by another cat who wouldn’t stop yowling. We arrived to find her hiding in the kitty playroom, her body tucked deeply into the bottom tire in a stack.

Kaylee was recently diagnosed with alopecia, after she licked all the hair off one of her furry legs. The vet said this could be caused by fleas – and told us all cats in PR should be regularly treated for fleas and heartworm – by food allergies, or by stress. We are treating her for fleas, and we’ll test for food allergies this summer if her symptoms persist. But in all likelihood, it’s anxiety. So, we make her life as easy as possible, give her tons of attention, staying home some days just to provide a lap for her to nap in, and keeping up her routines as much as we can (within limits).

Finding Vet Services for Pets

Finding vets to care for cats in a place where you don’t speak the language well is a constant challenge. Their front claws must be trimmed regularly, they must be treated to prevent fleas and heartworm, and sometimes they get sick. The upside is that it’s usually less expensive anywhere else than in the States.

Our cat Equinox took ill a week into our Mexico City stay in early 2020. We found a vet within walking distance whose convenient office we had noted while exploring the city, and rushed him there. Fortunately, one vet spoke English, and he got the city’s best kitty cardiologist involved when it turned out our cat had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In humans, this condition is called “the widow maker” because often it’s often undetected until the patient, usually a man, has a sudden fatal heart attack. Alas, the same was true for our dear Noxy. He was hospitalized but only lived through a weekend, and had to be put to sleep in the middle of the night when he became agitated and had trouble breathing.

But he got excellent care. We were called in, we brought Kaylee to say goodbye to her friend, the children were called, and it was as good a pt death experience as is possible, And the cost for that care and his subsequent cremation was a fraction of the cost for the same in the States.

Stress and Health

However, the stress of traveling and then moving to a mile-high city probably contributed to his demise, and this is why I am vigilant about managing Kaylee’s stress. The vet gave us this resource for helping keep kitty stress down: https://indoorpet.osu.edu/cats/feline-life-stressors

I hope the move to Cabo Rojo in winters will give her a more settled life. Alternating between two households should be much easier than adjusting to a new home every month! And when she finally moves in with her owner, our oldest child Aryk, we will probably stick to healing aid organizations care for all the stray cats in Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile, whenever I sit down to use the computer, read a book, or watch TV, I lay Kaylee’s favorite towel across my lap and call her name. She is here in an instant, ready to cuddle while I work. In fact, she is in my lap right now!

Because despite all the stress, the most important thing I can do for my traveling cat is to give her love.

March 8, 2022March 8, 2022

Messy Suitcase has a new logo!

In support of Ukraine, we have canceled the Russian (Blue), Ellie, from our logo.

Just kidding. We may not be drinking Russian vodka, but we could never cancel Ellie!

But Ellie is living at college with Gavin now, and isn’t traveling with us anymore. Kaylee is. And it was time for her to ascend to her rightful place on the throne … er, messy suitcase.

All hail Kaylee!

November 23, 2021November 24, 2021

Switching Homes in Puerto Rico

We just spent a glorious month in the northeast coastal town of Luquillo, Puerto Rico. When we left our seventh-floor condo with its glorious view of the ocean after a month’s stay, we thought sadly that there was no way our next place could possibly be as good. Especially since it was in San Juan, a metropolitan area, instead of an idyllic beach town.

We were wrong.

The pink one on top is our house at Punta las Marias. This is the view walking back from the beach.

I Hate Halfways

I always have trouble with the concept of “halfway.” Any time I’m on vacation, I get a little depressed when we pass the midpoint. In my mind, every minute from then on takes me a step closer to the end of vacation.

So we have one month left of our stay in Puerto Rico, and that meant moving to our second residence, just 40 minutes west. When we pulled into the driveway of 6 Calle Villa Internacional at Punta Las Marias, a coastal residential neighborhood at the eastern edge of San Juan, we were greeted by John Lombardo, the gregarious American who owns this house, his friendly old dog Lola and cat Putzie. He immediately made us feel at home, giving us a tour of the property and our apartment.

There are actually four apartments in two adjacent houses united by a covered courtyard. John and his wife Sylvia live in the front building, and there are two units on the ground floor. As he led us to ours, Kaylee in tow in her travel crate, we passed several comfortable seating areas, a desk and chair, two hammocks, and a barbecue grill. Kaylee hissed at the curious cat and dog as they sniffed at her before we ascended the stairs to our apartment.

And what an apartment!

It exceeded all expectations.

First of all, the ocean is crashing against the rocks literally 50 feet from our front door. Salty breezes chase each other through the apartment. The unit is huge, with two large bedrooms, two large bathrooms, and a generous living/dining/kitchen.

The master bedroom has a king-sized bed, a sitting area, a large desk, and a huge walk-in closet.

The second bedroom, which Gavin will use when he comes home for Thanksgiving next week, has a queen-sized bed (which Kaylee the cat immediately claimed) and a desk (which Bob immediately claimed).

Kaylee also loves the little rug in the living room. When we were in Luquillo, it took her a month to relax into the place. Here she has immediately adjusted.

The piece de resistance for me is the reading nook next to a bookshelf.

Great Location

We can walk out to the ocean, turn right, and walk to Isla Verde Beach. We’re a block off Calle Loiza, a street famous for its huge variety of restaurants and coffee shops. There’s an ice cream shop on the corner and a coffee shop with the best brunches in town a block away. Even the grocery store is within walking distance. Old San Juan is a 15-minute drive.

Visiting Cat

Putzie keeps dropping by to visit. A couple of days ago she licked my yogurt bowl clean on the patio and Kaylee hissed at her through the screen. This morning she returned and peed on the pavement and rug right outside the door, marking the territory as hers. We’ll keep you posted on the kitty drama.

I think we’re going to be happy here. Kaylee certainly is. This place just feels like home.

January 27, 2020January 27, 2020

On the Road Again!

After 7 ½ months back in the States, we are back on the road again – this time, bound for Mexico City!

We left Bob’s mother Jane’s house in Mechanicsburg around 8 this morning, with a considerably lighter load than the last trip to Mexico: no Gavin, no Gavin’s luggage, no Ellie the adventure cat, and no bari sax. They have all migrated to Burlington, VT, where Gavin is in their freshman year studying filmmaking. We were also able to leave a few things at Bob’s mother’s house. She passed away three weeks ago, and we will be returning in the summer to fix up the condo and sell it.

Bob in the truck with the cats, ready to go

But till then, we are getting on with our life! And that means driving south. First stop, Athens, Tennessee, tonight! We are staying at a clean, cheap Motel 8 that accepts cats with no fee and has a number of dining options within walking distance, plus about eight cheap gas stations.

Tomorrow we will hit the road again by 7:30 or 8 AM and drive to New Orleans, where we’ll spend two nights. Then, after another day driving, we’ll spend two nights in San Antonio to break up the 40-hour trip.

The newest addition to our dashboard menagerie, an African wild dog that Aryk gave Bob for Christmas. (He needs a name)

If all goes according to plan, we’ll cross the Mexican border at Laredo, TX, spend a night at the Midway Inn in Matehuala, México, and arrive in Mexico City on Feb. 2, hopefully in plenty of time to find a bar with the Super Bowl on TV. Hasta luego!

January 21, 2019

Crossing the Mexican Border

(A look back at the border crossing experience, or Why We Were Stuck in Laredo for Two Days)

I was a little concerned about crossing the Mexican border. I knew there were several things that needed to be done in order to successfully enter Mexico, and I wasn’t exactly sure how, or where, to do them. I was particularly worried that we didn’t have the documentation we would need for our relatively new car. Finally, I was concerned about how long the lines at the border, because we had nearly a 7-hour drive to our first stop, and we had been cautioned not to drive in Mexico after dark.

I had read that most Americans heading to the Guadalajara area from the eastern US used one of the Laredo, Texas, border crossings. Many used the somewhat out-of-the-way Colombia Bridge crossing, which doesn’t have as much traffic as some of the others. It is not a 24-hour crossing, so our plan was to get there when it opened at 8AM.

The First Attempt

We arrived at the border at 8:15 AM, paid $3.50 USD to cross the bridge and we were in Mexico – almost. I had found very little information on the layout of the border crossing, but I knew we needed to visit Immigration and the Banerjcito (the import office) so we could temporarily import our car, which is a requirement if you want to take your car past the “free zone” the first 20 km or so inside Mexico. Therefore, I was ecstatic when I immediately saw the Banerjcito and an empty parking lot.

Empty parking lot

We took our paperwork and went directly to the window inside. I knew they needed the car registration and/or car title. What I was concerned about, though, was that we only had a temporary vehicle registration paper from Vermont.

Getting rejected at the window

Here’s why: Our car was totaled in August and we had to get a new (used) vehicle less than a month before leaving Colorado. Our Colorado paperwork had not yet been processed by the time we left in September. In fact, the processing was so slow that we had to get the car dealership to send it to Lisa’s brother in Virginia, where we parked our car during our European trip, and it took so long that we needed an extension. We needed that paperwork so we could either fly back to Colorado to process it at DMV, or ask someone to perform the unenviable task of going to DMV for us.

Our second option was to register the car in Vermont, where we own a couple of vacation rental properties and where we were staying for a month.

We decided to go the Vermont route for convenience sake, in early December. Unfortunately, only after they took my Colorado title did I find out that it would take them 4-6 weeks to process the paperwork and issue our car registration document. We had over 5 weeks, so I thought we were still in good shape. When it didn’t arrive, I was concerned but was still hopeful that Mexico would accept our temporary registration.

They didn’t!

Rejected at the Border: Now What?

We turned around, crossed the bridge back into the US and cleared US customs. We had been in Mexico, but not really. We left thinking we were at the mercy of the Vermont DMV, something you don’t want to be. We decided to take a chance and call, and learned that our registration had been sent to our Colorado mailing address, but the address they used didn’t include our box number, so it was returned, where it was just sitting in our file. It would have to be resent. Could it be emailed? We don’t do that, said the man in the DMV office. FedExed? We don’t do that, droned the man in the DMV office.

So what could we do for the next week while we waited for the registration to be snail mailed to our Colorado address, processed by our traveling mailbox, and then mailed to us? And where would it be mailed to, anyway? We had checked out of our hotel and our truck doesn’t have a mailbox.

Regrouping at McDonald’s

We went back to Laredo and regrouped at a McDonald’s, sitting in a corner booth with coffee and a computer. connected to the free Wifi. Looking out the window, we noticed a UPS Store across the parking lot. We dashed over, had a chat with the counter worker, and found out we could use their address to accept a Fed Ex. Newly energized, we returned to McD’s. While Lisa went online looking for a pet-friendly place to stay for a couple nights, I pulled out a cellphone and called Vermont DMV again, this time determined to talk with a supervisor.

Working in McD’s on lodging and getting that registration

However, a kind woman named Diane Hedding answered and immediately offered to help us. All we needed to do was to send her a prepaid shipping label and she would personally take our registration to the mail center and Fed-Ex it to us. She gave us her personal email address, and then sent us a note when she dropped off the package. We found a Laredo Airbnb for the next couple nights and waited for our package to arrive.

The Second Attempt

At 10:30 AM on Saturday, Jan. 11, we had our registration in hand!

Registration!

We moved out of the apartment, packed up cats and luggage, and headed to the border. After paying another $3.50 to cross the Colombia Bridge, we confidently walked up to the Banjercito window. Just one person was in front of us, and the woman at the counter remembered us! This time they told us we needed to go to Immigration first, as they needed our immigration form to process the import.

Bob filling out the paperwork

Lisa filling forms

Lexie, too

We went over to Immigration, again no line, filled out the forms, showed them our Mexican Temporary Resident visas in our passports, and were processed. The immigration form was the same one was had always gotten when flying into Mexico, but there were several boxes that needed to be properly checked. This was done and we were now on a 30-day clock to get into Mexico, get to an in-country immigration office and finish up our Temporary Resident visa requirements.

Back to the Banjercito, still no line, they processed our paperwork, took a $400 deposit, (which will be returned when we take the car out of the country), gave us a sticker for our car and allowed us to proceed.

Getting Through Customs

Next up was Customs. We knew, with our luck, we would get selected for a complete car search. And, true to form we were selected. They didn’t want to see the International Health Certificates we had for the cats, but they did question me several times regarding firearms, alcohol and cigarettes. Next, they looked at what we had in the car and decided to X-ray it, which was probably better than taking everything out. This required humans and cats to get out of the car. I drove the car over to the X-ray area, where I was escorted behind a barrier and a movable X-ray device transited the length of our car, scanning it thoroughly.

I drove back to where Lisa, Lexie and the cats were waiting, and in a couple of minutes, they told us we were good to go. After strapping the cats back in and getting our bearings, we crossed the border! Then we were officially off and driving in Mexico toward Tlaquepaque. It had taken us one and a half hours at the border crossing. That process would have taken much, much longer during busy season, so I felt extremely lucky that we were finally on our way!

WELCOME TO MEXICO!

January 14, 2019

How to Road-Trip with Cats

We have taken our three cats — Ellie, Equinox and Kaylee — thousands of miles in a 2015 Toyota Tacoma over the past three months.

These are ordinary cats who hate going to the vet. Yet they have road-tripped successfully across the country from Colorado to Pennsylvania, then PA to Vermont, then VT back to PA, then the big one: PA to central Mexico.

The ultimate destination for this marathon road trip is Tlaquepaque, near Guadalajara, which is still 250 kms away from where we are right now. (We are waiting to finish the trip until the gas shortages resolve enough for us to get the gas we need to make the final journey.)

In the meantime, as we all roost at a sweet little AirBnB apartment in Leon, I’d like to share a few tips about traveling with cats.

Tips for Traveling With Cats

Advance preparation is key
Introduce your cats to their cages well in advance so they can form a positive relationship. We put the cat cages out in the family room two weeks before the trip and placed our cats’ food bowls inside at mealtime, to give them a positive association with the cages. When it was time to leave on the trip, they got in happily. (This only works once.)

Expect them to hate it
“Put me in a cage for 8 hours and I will sit and not complain,” said no cat, ever. Expect a lot of yowling and complaining. Expect them to have accidents and to occasionally vomit from the motion of the vehicle.

Visit the vet in advance
The vet gave us ideas for reducing cat anxiety, including kitty valium and anti-nausea drugs. The nausea stuff helped Equinox but the valium made it worse for Ellie. But we also made sure they were up-to-date on their shots and in good general health, and got their claws trimmed.

The cats with their favorite handler, Lexie

Keep your expectations low
Don’t expect your feline companions to travel as long as you can. After all, humans can stop every couple of hours to stretch their legs, have a snack, and use a bathroom. Even dogs can get out of the car to exercise a little and relieve themselves. But cats are stuck in a tiny cage for the duration. No bathroom breaks. No chance to stretch, or even stand up. So don’t expect them to last 12 hours a day just because you can.

We learned this the hard way on the first leg of our journey, Colorado to Pennsylvania. Bob was trying to power-drive across the United States and the cats let him know in no uncertain terms that any more than 10 hours on the road was decidedly NOT OK with them. First, Equinox had diarrhea just an hour and a half into the first leg of the trip, which was a portent of things to come. The next day, poor Ellie, a fastidiously private litter box user, let out a long, throaty, almost otherworldly groan of embarrassment as she peed in her cage after 10 hours on the road. Every day for the first four days, at least one cat vomited in a cage.

Kaylee, the scaredy-cat at home, turned out to be a natural traveler. She never cried, peed or pooped; she was a perfect little angel in the car. She just hid in hotel rooms. (More on that later.)

So we had a family meeting and agreed: 8-hour limit, if possible. That’s nice for humans, too, because perhaps we can get a run in after eight hours on the road, or do some yoga, or move in some way to compensate for all the hours sitting in the truck.

Be prepared on the road
Here’s our advice for some advance moves to make to ensure success on the road with your cats:

Multiple stops present multiple chances to escape, and nothing can ruin an adventure more than losing a precious furry part of your family. So get your cats chipped and register them.
Get them collars with tags that have your email and phone number on them,
Pack a kitty emergency kit that includes cleaning supplies, wipes, washcloths and towels.
Create a bag of basic necessities: wet and dry cat food (with plastic lids for cans and clips for the food bag), a bottle of water, cat litter, a litter box or two, litter box bags (expensive but essential for travel), pooper scooper,food bowls, a plastic Tupperware container for water, plastic spoons for scooping out food, kitty toys and a scratching post.

Kaylee settling into a hotel room in Leon

Help them feel comfortable
Here’s what we did:

Lexie has a quilt the cats love. It went onto her bed first thing in each hotel room and gave them a sense of home.
We also threw out a couple of their favorite toys.
In the car, we made sure the music wasn’t too loud or jarring. They preferred Amazon Music’s soft pop station to rap, rock or even country.
We adjusted their food to minimize vomiting — just a little dry food first thing in the morning, and an anti-anxiety pill, if needed an hour before the trip.
Some cats like thundershirts to ease anxiety. Ellie likes to wear a harness.

Make sure they are secure
We initially had a vision of happy adventure cats wandering around the backseat, sleeping in our laps while tethered by harnesses to a cable Bob was going to run between the two front seats. But we discovered, after a little research, that that was a stupid and dangerous idea. Free-range cats can become like rockets in case of an accident.

So instead we bought two stackable, hard-plastic cat cages for Ellie and Equinox, who rode double-decker, Kaylee beside them in another cage. All were tightly secured by seatbelts to the back seat, and Lexie sat beside them murmuring words of comfort when needed.

Stacked cats

Expect resistance
Once the cats figure out that you will take them out of the car to stay in a hotel every night, and then put them back into the car the next morning to travel for another eight hours, they will try to thwart you. They will go into hiding as soon as you start re-packing your suitcases. In one hotel room, Kaylee found a spot deep inside the box springs of Lexie’s bed, and we had to disassemble the bed to root her out. In another, we came back from breakfast to find NO cats in the hotel room. They were all hiding deep in corners and crevices.

Can you find the two cats hiding in this picture?
(They are inside the trundle bed)
Note their favorite purple quilt, which was gifted to Lexie
from the Piecemakers at Evergreen Lutheran Church.

We finally learned to contain them early in the morning, before they could hide. In this photo, they are contained inside the shower in the Hotel Soleil in Leon.

Cats coralled into the shower at Hotel Soleil Business Class

Give them a break now and then
In the middle of our five-day trip to Mexico, we stopped in New Orleans for a short layover and rented an apartment with two bedrooms and lots of room to run around. They loved it!

Upon arrival, reward them
At each stop, the first priority was getting the cats out of the cages and giving them food and water immediately. Since they hadn’t had their usual half a can of wet food for breakfast, they would receive that right away, and then get the rest of the can at bedtime.

Find pet-friendly lodging
We found a website called Bring Fido that helps you find pet-friendly lodging (including in Mexico) and allows you to book through Booking.com. There are also certain hotel chains that are universally pet-friendly, including Days Inn (which also has laundry facilities), Super 8 (surprisingly nice for a budget chain), and TownPlace Suites by Marriott. For stays of more than one night, we would visit AirBnB or Homeaway and search for “pet-friendly” in the filters. Hotels usually charge an extra fee per day per pet and cap the number allowed at 2. If we were staying more than one night, renting an apartment was more economical and a lot more comfortable for everyone.

It gets easier
The initial three-person struggle to get each resisting, flailing cat into a cage became a two-person efficient system that became a one-person easily-managed task. A cat crying for 10 hours straight became crying half the time became crying just the first hour. Be patient. Traveling long hours in a car isn’t fun for anyone. Expect to be showered with affection in the hotel room, because they are so grateful to be out of the car and with you again.

Ellie still cries when she gets in the cage. But it doesn’t last the whole time anymore. Kaylee now sits like a Buddha watching the world go by out the front windshield, while Equinox, stomach calm from anti-nausea meds, just goes to sleep. We listen to more Ed Sheeran than we would like, and life on the road with cats is good.

The Buddha cat

January 10, 2019

Crisis at the Border

Today we were supposed to enter Mexico. We didn’t.

Blame the U-Haul Driver

It all goes back to a U-Haul truck that caused a horrendous car accident for Bob and Lexie last August. It merged into their car on a highway when they were going 65 MPH, Lexie took evasive action to prevent impact but hit a car beside her, and in a blink of the eye, our 2013 Toyota Tacoma truck was totaled. We got a replacement (2015) truck as quickly as we could but couldn’t get it officially registered in Colorado before we left for our cross country trip in September. With a flight to Europe scheduled for Sept. 30, we had no wiggle room.

The border building

We actually got into Mexico but had to turn around and go back out

Bob before the denial, still hopeful

So when we got to Vermont after the Europe trip, we registered the truck there (since we own property in the state), but had limited time to receive the permanent registration and tag stickers, and they hadn’t arrived by the time we had to set off for Mexico.

So we arrived at the Mexican border this morning hoping they would let us cross with the temporary paperwork, but despite our best efforts, and speaking with every single Mexican who worked there, it was a no go.

So what to do? We had a hotel and a house booked in Mexico and no way to get there.

Working on Plan B

We left the border dispirited, found a McDonald’s with Wifi back in Laredo, bought an order of hash browns for Lexie to rent a corner booth, and called Vermont DMV, only to discover they had screwed up our mailing address (omitting the box number to save space) and the paperwork we desperately needed had been returned to their office. The automobile title was still in the mail to our mailbox in Colorado, but also going to an incomplete address.

Working out PLan B logistics in Mickey D’s

We appealed to the young man on the phone to email a copy of the registration, but he said they “don’t do that.” We asked him to FedEx the registration to us in Laredo, but he said they “don’t do that.”

We started working on changing hotel dates (supposedly non-refundable) and trying to figure out where to sleep tonight. We saw a UPS Store across the parking lot and went in, asking if we could receive a Fed Ex there. The answer was yes! Bob got on the phone to DMV again, this time reaching a wonderful woman named Diane who was sympathetic to our plight and willing to go the extra miles to FedEx our paperwork from Montpelier to Texas, to arrive by 10 AM Thursday morning.

Finding Lodging

We thought about crossing the border on a temporary visa for a couple days and staying in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico — where AirBnB rates are one-third the cost of the U.S. side — but we were afraid we had too much stuff in our truck to clear customs successfully. We found an AirBnB two-bedroom rental in Laredo that allows pets and quickly booked it, then hung out over a long lunch killing time till we could get in.

Our rental for two nights

So that’s where we are tonight — hoping our paperwork truly arrives tomorrow, and then hoping the registration will be sufficient to get our vehicle into Mexico, since it could be a couple weeks before we get the title sorted. The other consideration is that we only have ten days since getting the cats’ international health certificates to enter Mexico, and we only have three days left or we will have to find a new vet and pay for the process again!

Try, Try Again

If all goes well, we plan to try again on Friday to drive our vehicle into Mexico.

We’ll keep you posted!

December 6, 2018

Adventure Cats in Rebersburg

(Written with help from Catherine Nelson, cat sitter extraordinaire)

The scariest thing about Ellie, Equinox and Kaylee’s temporary home in Rebersburg, PA, was the ferocious toddler, Audrey, age 1 ¾. Her attitude about pets was: Wow, new toys!

The Welcome Committee

When she first met the cats, Audrey flailed her arms, jumped up and down and screeched in excitement, inciting terror in three feline hearts. Equinox wouldn’t even come out of his cat crate for the first hour, and then he ran into a closet and didn’t come out for two days.

Cats in Hiding

At first, Audrey was always grabbing at cat ears. She pulled Ellie’s tail on the first day (Lexie was very protective). But over the course of six weeks of cohabitation, she learned to gently pet a rump and not treat a cat like a doll.

Audrey Helping

Observing cat eating rituals on Day 1.

Hand feeding one treat at a time to each cat, between her own taste testing. Very helpful.

Taking one bowl of dry food and pouring it into another cat’s bowl. Very helpful.

Pouring her own water into the water dish, before spilling all the water. Very helpful.

Catherine put a baby gate between the living room and the stairs to keep the baby out (and to keep Audrey from playing with the kitty litter, “which was a trial the entire time,” she said).

Clearly Noxy is not that into her

The baby gate is very helpful

Then Catherine set up a kitty oasis at the top of the steps the first day at the top of the steps.

Kitty oasis

Kaylee and Ellie hung out there, while Equinox took a corner over the closet under the stairs. Catherine spread the quilt down there for him. Then a week later she created a cat spot inside of their dog Cory’s crate under a table.

Kaylee spent the first day and a half under a couch in the living room, so Catherine would push food under the couch for her to make sure she ate. After a couple days, she discovered the spot at the top of the stairs. There was water, and a litter box, and a corner to hide in. Catherine would bring her food bowl up there as well, and just slide the food into that little nook.

But despite having a well-deserved reputation as the original scaredy cat, Kaylee was the first cat to venture out into the rest of the house. Eventually, the others came out as well, and each claimed their spot on (or under) certain favorite chairs. Equinox hung out with Mark on the back of his work chair.

Venturing out

Catherine encouraged Audrey to feed the cats treats or put down a food bowl, making her slightly less terrifying and in fact of some value to the cats. (But then she tried to eat their food.) She also enjoyed stacking cat food cans, but otherwise cohabitated with the cats for the last few weeks in relative peace (and separation by a baby gate, when necessary).

Ellie, the Adventure Cat, will finish the story.

After a long time putting up with the evil toddler – who I eventually deigned to allow to touch my butt on occasion – our Mommy and family finally arrived one day. We thought they were gone forever!

We had a joyous reunion. My mommy cried.

Reunion

They put us back in the crates in the car (I cried the whole ride, of course) and took us back to Grandma Greenawalt’s, and then up to their house in Vermont a few days later.

I really hate car rides, but I really love the house in Vermont. There’s lots of room to chase Kaylee, and there’s pretty snow outside the window, and my favorite thing: a box on top of the washing machine to sleep on.

My favorite spot

(We like it, too!)

Keep calm and carry on, I say.

November 8, 2018

Italy, Part 3: Rome

Rome was literally eye-popping. We stepped out of a subway for the first time and were immediately accosted by the enormous, imposing Coliseum. All three of us stopped and gasped simultaneously. The scale of it was, as Lexie put it, “incredible. I don’t even know how to describe it.”

That pretty much describes Rome: Larger than life.

The Colosseum

Since we only had a couple days in Italy’s capital, we decided we had no time to waste waiting in line unnecessarily. So we took a skip-the-line tour of the Colosseum, the largest amphitheater ever built, circa AD 70. (We picked the first person who approached us, but you might want to do more research than that.) Though it was partially destroyed by a major earthquake, it is surprisingly intact, and truly spectacular. We were able to climb fairly high and peered down at the space where gladiators fight and public executions were the spectacle of the day.

The Colosseum

It is flanked by the Roman Forum, which for centuries was the center of day-to-day life in Rome, and Palatine Hill, one of the most ancient parts of the city.

The Forum and Palatine Hill

Our Morning Walking Tour

The second morning, Lexie slept late while Bob and I took the subway to the Trevi Fountain, the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world Again, we got so much more than we expected. It was huge, built into the side of a big stone building, and glorious. Description, legend. It turned out we were there at the least crowded time of the day, so we were able to each throw a coin in the fountain over our left shoulders. (According to legend, one coin means you will return to Rome, two means you will find new romance and three means you will get married. We already have two and three covered.) Suddenly the 1950s song Three Coins in the Fountain makes more sense.

Trevi Fountain

We then had an overpriced breakfast of croissants and cappuccinos across the way from the fountain, basking in the location and the glorious leisure It is in a charming old section of Rome with narrow streets and no cars. We walked along, taking pictures of a large diversity of creative, small shop windows, and came along a Pinocchio shop – ah, yes, that childhood tale about Gepetto, the lonely shoemaker and his wooden doll who turned into a real boy, is Italian in origin!

Gepetto’s workshop

Our wanderings also took us through the Fifth Avenue of Rome – Gucci, Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, etc. — to the famous Spanish Steps, which we had never heard of, but they are glorious and worth a visit. It’s127 steps up, and nearby is the apartment where Keats died at the age of 29 – just a little literary trivia.

Spanish Steps

We found the Pantheon, an ancient temple to the Roman gods converted to a Catholic Church that was simply amazing. It is circular, 142 feet wide and 142 feet tall, with a hole in the roof that lets light in as well as rain, and a drain in the floor. It is one of the best preserved of all Roman buildings because it has been in continuous use and is still used as a church and to host concerts today. It was also not crowded, and had pews we could sit in to rest our tired feet.

Pantheon

The Vatican

We went back to our apartment (Homeaway did us right; our two-bedroom was gorgeous, comfortable and close to the subway, and since we booked an off-season rental only two weeks before, we were able to get the price lowered) to get Lexie, who had been sleeping late (she is 18, after all), and headed out for the obligatory tour of the Vatican. We chose a 3 PM tour to avoid the morning crowds, which Bob and I had witnessed firsthand the previous morning when we ran past the Vatican and had to dodge the lines. Again, we paid extra to skip the line, and were led through the Vatican Museums by a stylish Liberian woman whose English accent was too thick for Bob to decipher. (Thanks to time spent with a Liberian friend when I lived in New York, I understood her just fine.)

The Vatican Museum (actually, museums) is one of the largest museums in the world, featuring an immense collection amassed by popes throughout the centuries. The tour was a little too quick, but interesting nonetheless, especially the Map Room. I would like to go back in my own and take the time to linger. I also discovered the secret to seeing the Vatican without the crowds is to wait till the afternoon, a time when no Skip the Line premium would have been necessary. Here are some highlights:

The Sistine Chapel was a feast to behold, although Michelangelo’s famous creation image was surprisingly small in the center of the ceiling, and the elbow-to-elbow crowd made it challenging to view. (Sorry, no photos are allowed in the Sistine Chapel.)

St. Peter’s Square

St. Peter’s Basilica was glorious, but I was disappointed to be denied seeing the Pieta sculpture, which was behind a curtain and required a premium to view. I made sure to buy a couple of packable souvenirs and posted postcards to my brother John, who is a Catholic priest, and my stepmother, Katy. Because it was a Saturday evening, I could have gotten a free ticket to see the Pope say Mass the next morning from the nuns in the gift shop. Unfortunately, we planned to travel at the same time, so I didn’t. If you ever travel to Rome, you should know admission is free on the last Sunday of every month, so plan accordingly!

St. Peter’s Basilica

Cats of Rome

Bob stayed an extra day and visited Torre Argentina, the spot where Julius Caesar was killed, a ruin that is now a Cat Sanctuary.

Thoughts on Rome

A few thoughts on Rome:

It is OLD.
It is Catholic! I realized this, but still, it’s a surprise to see so many nuns and priests and monks in the streets of a city.
There are no footpaths or grassy places to run, though there is a path along the Tiber River, which was just a bit too far from our apartment.
Because of the density of the center or the city, public transit is limited to the edges and you have to walk a lot, on cobblestones. We skipped the Hop On Hop Off Bus because the reviews made clear the buses couldn’t actually get near the most popular sites, and stops were few and far between.
The menu is extremely limited: pizza and pasta. And more pizza. And more pasta. And gelato, gelato, gelato. It’s wonderful! But after a while, no matter how good it is, you get tired of the same menu.
There are a lot of beggars, who seemed like a throwback to another time. We saw women in scarves lying on the sidewalk with heads bowed in prayer and cup extended, and young men with gnarled legs and feet propelling themselves on skateboards, distorted hands inside of heavy boots and cups extended.
It is larger than life. From the Vatican to the Coliseum to the Fountain of Trevi, everything is so big, it takes your breath away.

Two and a half days was not enough time. We will be back!

Next up — Italy, Part 4: Solofra, and Radical Discoveries

October 2, 2018

Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, Part 7: Aunt Julie’s House

and the Monster

ELLIE SMOIT

Our humans put us back in the cages again today, and back in the big gray box on wheels. We weren’t happy. Kaylee was just getting comfortable at Grandma’s house, and Noxy had started hanging out with Grandma on the couch!

I explored while they put all the food and all the cat toys and all the litter and litter boxes in a couple of boxes and a bag. And before I knew it, we had been shoved into our cages and were back in the car.

Mine seemed a little softer now – I feel like there might be something new and soft in here – but I complained a lot anyway. The road was very windy, and Noxy threw up bigtime. (Now we’ve had the trifecta in the car: Poop, pee and throw-up. And Mommy’s purple quilt and the seat cover have protected the car seat every time.)

We weren’t in the car very long this time, thank goodness. Suddenly we were out, and in a very loud, crowded kitchen full of people.

Mow Mow. OK, she was cute. But she pulled my tail! Kaylee found a good hiding corner upstairs, so I stole it from her.

All us cats and the stuff that came with us to Aunt Julie and Uncle Mark’s

At Aunt Julie’s there was a baby! The little terrorist was chasing me around and flailing her arms and saying

When they took the baby off for a nap at her house across the street, I came out to explore. I like it! I inspected Uncle Mark’s office and deemed it acceptable. I like the couch, too. There’s also a tall box that say’s “Audrey’s House” with a doorway in it. I might take it over and hide in there

Aunt Julie and Uncle Mark are nice and quiet. I think I’ll try to sleep with her; she looks like she might be allergic to cats. My favorite kind of human. He grew up with cats, so I think I’ll ignore him.

We were greeted by a cute little terrorist.
Her name was Audrey.

Noxy refused to come out of his cage, and when Grammy (Lisa) lured him out with wet food, he scarfed it up and the bolted into the deepest corner of the closet under the stairs, where I think he might stay for the next two days.

Kaylee came out after the baby left, too, but then she went back upstairs.

Then Mommy and Daddy and Grandma left! Cousin Catherine promised she would send Lexie a picture every day. I hope she shows me pictures of Mommy, too. I have the feeling it will be a long time before I see her again.

Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, is chronicling her journey from her house in Colorado across the United States and to Mexico, with a little help from her owner, Lexie Greenawalt.