When hubby and I made the tough decision to bring Haru back from the cat boarder's house just a day before our trip to Ipoh to celebrate CNY, I was already mentally and physically prepared for it. I had already done a lot of reading on bringing a cat in tow for a road trip. I read up since the lockdowns were lifted and I knew that one day I would have to bring Haru back to Ipoh with me.
In fact, during one of our trips back to Ipoh last year, I had already bought wires and fixed them to the door of Haru's room, which is a room outside our bedroom. The area where Haru will be roaming was already cat-proofed.
I had to bring Haru's spare litter box, clean litter + a bit of existing litter from her KL litter box (for the familiarity of scent), her food, chemical-free wet wipes, disposable waterproof papers, disposable gloves, and her carrier.
But I forgot to bring her litter spade to scoop her pee & poop!!!! Because it was an eleventh-hour decision to bring Haru back due to a failed boarding, I wasn't 100% thorough with her checklist of things. So I had to improvise with a tiny disposable takeaway spoon and disposable gloves each time I cleaned her litter! That was disgusting ok, having to scoop her big chunk of pee with my hands. As we were out of the house most of the time for reunion lunches and dinners, I didn't have the time to buy a litter spade or search for my dad's gardening spade for it.
Now I know that I will not forget to bring the litter spade with me the next time we travel with Haru again!
To ensure that Haru would not throw up in the car, I fed Haru at least two hours before our journeys, and I woke up at 4.45 a.m. to feed my baby. I also had to coax her to pee and poo before the car ride and this was unsuccessful. When Haru was in Ipoh, she was having anxiety as she was in a new environment with so many new faces, especially my two squealing and overzealous twin nephew and niece who badly wanted to touch Haru. Whenever Haru is anxious, she wouldn't pee or poo, just like how she was when she was at the cat boarder's house for two days. She didn't pee or poo nor eat or drink for two whole frigging days. This killed me as I was observing her almost 24/7 from the CCTV on my phone.
 |
| Cute Haru sticking her head out of her carrier in our car. She did pretty well on her road trips. |