Answer: Not as general rule. Sedatives are best reserved for those cats that become distressed by travelling, and even then only when they have to undertake a long journey. Most cats will accept travelling by car or public transport with only the occasional vocal complaint about the bumps and jolts along the way. Sedatives should be reserved for those cats who are known to become extremely anxious and excited when traveling and for those who suffer from true travel sickness.
Travel sickness is a response to the motion of the moving vehicle (cars, busses, planes, boats) which continually stimulates the organs of balance in the animal’s inner ears and which in turn stimulates the brain i.e. the part if it is known as the vomiting centre. Usually the cat initially very quiet, and then may salivate, retch and even vomit. Fortunately, recovery takes only a few minutes after the movement cases.
The anxious cat becomes very excited, shows dilated pupils and also salivates. Excessive salivation and painting are in fact features of both extreme anxiety and true travel sickness.
Sedatives given by mouth to control nervousness or motion sickness being to exert their maximum effect within one or two hours. When injected, they are effective within twenty to thirty minutes, though faster if given intravenously. There effect lasts for around six hours, but some degree of sedation, with a lower body temperature and reduced ability to response top stimuli, lasts for at lasts twenty four hours. Obviously, it would be preferable for the cat to endure a half-hour journey then a complete day’s hangover, unless there is some very good reason.
To minimize the possibility of excitement, a cat can be trained beforehand to accept travail in a car. It is firstly fed tidbits in the car, then spends short periods in a travelling baskets in the motionless car, and eventually it is taken for short drives.
To minimize the occurrence of travel sickness, don’t give any food to the cat for six to eight hours before the journey, and no liquid for one to two hours beforehand. Make sure that the basket is well ventilated and that the ventilation holes are not blocked by surrounding cases, bags, or outdoor clothes, especially when travelling boy car. As general rule, it is inadvisable to give food or drink on a journey of less then twelve hours.
