I am posting in the hopes of gleaning some wisdom about travelling cross-country with my cat. My husband and I are driving cross-country to move to California. This entails binging our 12 y/o domoestic shorthair, Inky.

Our plan is to use a cat carrier that can fit into the backseat of our pickup truck (we will be in the two front seats, and we are towing a 12-foot u-haul behind with our posessions.) I have already placed the carrier in our kitchen, and over the past few months, I have been feeding Inky treats and yummy moist food in there. He has realyy taken to it! He even sleeps in there now.. and if something frightens him, he runs into the carrier, instead of under the bed!

So.. I am wondering abou tips/tactics for the road and beyond. I did get some tranquilizer pills from the vet, as well as an assurance that Inky has a clean bill of health. He had fleas, but we used Advantage, and he seems to have stopped scratching; although the house has some residual fleas. But my worries are:

-Do you think that he will use his litter box? We can't fit his normal one in the carrier; I am thinking of buying a smaller sized one, like kitten-sized?

-Water? I don't see a water dish as lasting very long in a carrier without spilling. Maybe in the next month, I can train him to use a rabbit-sized water bottle?

-Stress. I was told to only give him the pills if he exhibits drastic signs of being stressed; yodeling, drooling/foaming. Inky has only been in a car about 4 times since we got him.. he usually yodels and walks all over, but I want to keep him contained.. having him loose seems dangerous for alot of reasons.

Your thoughts? We are staying in hotels on the trip.. I plan on seeking out pet-friendly ones.. although if push comes to shove, I hope that we don't have to be sneaky about having him with us. I saw that some hotels like Holiday Inn Express, have a pet deposit policy. We plan on going cheap though; motor motels it might be.. but our friends are driving out ahead of us (this week) and are also bringing their cat.. so they can tell us about places along the way that they stayed at.