Traveling around with a new Kitten?

[Jackolyn]

Hello, everyone! I am new to the forum, but I have been a silent lurker for many months now and have found so much valuable information on here!

I will be picking up my very first Sphynx kitten from our breeder next week (she will be 13 weeks) and I was wondering how I might go about traveling with her?
It is not so much the trip home that I am concerned about, but rather the date that we're picking her up falls right before me and my fiance's birthday weekend where we had planned on driving back to his parents for a few days (a 3+ hour drive for a 2-3 day visit.)

His parents have 2 other cats, but our kitten will be up to date on all of her vaccines, and we will be making sure she has a vet check-up before we travel to make sure she is in good health. I was also planning on just keeping her with us in our bedroom so the other cats won't stress her out -and I know that bringing a kitten home is enough stress on them as it is - hence why I find myself here asking what I should do?

My question is - would it be best for me to stay at home with her so she can acclimate to our own house while my fiance' goes away alone, or is it okay to take her with us for the short visit so soon after we just got her?
I have no issues staying at home with her for a few days to start - but we do travel for a handful weekends out of the year for conventions that I'm an artist at. In the long run, we were planning on acclimating her to traveling so that we could take her with us - so I'm wondering if this is too early for her to start?

I know it seems like a silly question, but I am new to traveling with cats, and the Sphynx breed altogether - so I want to make sure that I am giving her the best care that I can, and don't make any rash decisions that can affect her health negatively.

Thanks!

 

[Yoda mom]

@Jackolyn welcome to the lair family! So excited for you ! We want lots of gotcha day pics!
Glad you came out to officially join in t his fun friendly bunch
your avatar pic is Sooo stinkin cute ! Name ideas?

I personally would benign her home to acclimate to ward off any upper respiratory infections thst can be brought in by stress and not uncommon with newbie kitties in their new home


We have many many traveling kitties @Xandria and others can chime in with their experience amd suggestions

So excited for you ! Welcome !
Look forward to lots of pics and tales

 

[Toa and Ross]

@Jackolyn welcome to sphynxlair. Glad you decided to become an active member. Do you have pics of your girl? What an exciting time with gotcha day so close.

Travelling with a sphynx can go really well. Lots of members do take their sphynx when travelling. For your kitten I would make sure she knows who you are and what her home is before you take her on travels. When she knows she can trust you and she feels safe with you, you can easily take her. As you say yourself for a kitten everything is new. Although we all instantly love our kittens. Our kittens need to learn they can trust us before they fee safe.

 

[Jackolyn]

Thank you both so much for your replies! I've decided against traveling with her so soon, and will stay home to let her acclimate to everything new around her! I really don't want to stress her out any more than she already will be!

I've also been reading that URI's can occur when bringing home a kitten for the first time, and I want to do my best to (hopefully) avoid having to deal with anything like that.
Any info on how common URI's are in kittens when bringing them home for the first time?
I've just been trying to prepare and gather as much information as I possibly can before I bring her home, but I want to make sure that I'm not losing too much sleep over something if it's not a common issue or concern that I need to worry about.
I usually have an air purifier running, and I have a humidifier on hand if I need - I'll also be doing a good deep sweep/clean before she comes home so everything is (hopefully) dust free and clean.

Thanks!

 

[Monica]

Welcome! I too was going to travel very early with a new kitten, but decided against it. I ended up having to wait 3 more days to get Kenzo so I would be able to travel solo, then pick him up at home. I think that’s a smart choice for you as well.

URIs are apparently fairly common for sphynx kittens going home to their furever homes. We dosed Kenzo with 250 mg L-Lysine powder in his wet food starting day 1, and never had any health issues. We still supplement him daily with it. I think part of it depends on the individual kitten though. Kenzo came home as crazy and confident as ever, very stress-free. Some kittens take the stress of the move experience a bit harder. I believe this could make them more susceptible to a URI. Dosing with L-Lysine will help build their immune systems either way, so a sick kitty can fight it faster. It’s also beneficial for cats with feline herpes. I don’t know how to link a page still, lol, but there is an article in the Sphynx Information section. Hope your countdown goes quickly!!!