Relocating Squeakers

Moving her to her first foster home

This is part 2 to finding a foster home for Squeakers; find part 1 here.

Given how Squeakers did the last time we put her in the car (ahem, she shat everywhere), I called the vet to see if they would prescribe a sedative for her to hopefully make the process of driving her to her first foster home a little smoother for all. Good idea, right?

The vet said all we had to do was open the capsule and sprinkle the sedative on her food. The problem is that she doesn’t eat wet food, so the vet tech suggested wetting her dry food. I know some cats will eat food like this, but Squeakers is one of a kind and that was never going to happen. So S came up with the idea to mix the sedative into one of her wet treats; brilliant. We went out and bought more just for the occasion.

The vet also suggested trying the sedative ahead of time, so two days before our drive, S squeezed the lickable treat out of its tube and mixed in the sedative. She called Squeakers over and we figured she’d lick it right up, despite it being in a dish instead of the tube. Ha! The cat gave it one sniff and tiny test lick, then looked at us like we were crazy. She knew it was doctored and backed the F away. Shoot; how were we going to get her to consume the sedative?

The night before we needed to drive her for the transfer, we cut off her food at dinnertime and we didn’t feed her the next morning either, but we put out another container of the tainted treat in hopes she’d be hungry enough she’d eat it. Nope! She totally called our bluff. It sat out all morning and she ignored it. C even tried mixing the sedative into the treat while it was still in the pouch and then tried to get her to lick it; also nope! Squeakers was way too smart to fall for any of that.

So this meant we were going to be making the trek with a non-sedated cat. Lovely. I had ordered puppy pee pads; we put one under her carrier and one in her carrier, which she hated. In fact, she fought against being in the carrier (which she had calmly napped in just two days prior), clawing at it and completely discombobulating the soft pad meant for her to lay on.

The good news is that once we go through the first 30 minutes of the drive she calmed down, which is to say she wasn’t actively trying to escape from her carrier. She was wedged in between S and N, and S kept reaching in to pet her. But, wow, Squeakers would utter these guttural meows that broke our hearts. She’d be calm for awhile and then all of a sudden let one out. I was driving and it gave me a jump nearly every time.

Blessedly, she did not pee or poop at all on the drive. We were able to get her settled at her temporary home with her cat tree (yes, we brought it), her beloved puppy pillow, and her food and litter. We brought everything she’s used to, including her chewable treats (we gave her a bunch). She had her very own room, with lots of space to stretch out and explore. She may even get some outside time at some point. Of course, when we dropped her off she was terrified, so she climbed into the house on her cat tree and hid from everyone. Poor kitty friend.

We gave her hugs and kisses as best we could and then we had to walk away. The girls were so sad. I was, too, but with so much else on my mind to take care of, I didn’t fully process my feelings. I’m just massively relieved that we finally found someone to care for her and have gotten her transferred. We will miss her for sure, and I know as time goes on we’ll feel her absence.

Have you had to re-home a pet (temporarily or permanently)? How did it go?