Camelot Cats Cattery
1-800-656-0193
You may contact us at our e-mail address: rlgotts@polaris.net
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Supplies
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- Its been tough going up to now but there is a light at the end of
the tunnel
(is it an on-coming train?). Supplies for a cat show weekend can
be handled many ways. Naturally, your travel vehicle must be up
to
the trip and of sufficient capacity to carry all the cat show stuff we
have been talking about (we'll get into air travel a bit later).
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- Food and supplies for you and your cat(s) can either be purchased
before
the show and carried to the show using a sufficiently large cooler or
you
can buy everything when you get there (if you can find what you
need).
I usually visit a grocery store when I arrive (if not too late) and
pick
up some last minute things. Also, you can eat out each day and
evening
and buy food on the way to and from the show. This is a personal
and budget-based decision and you need to deal with it before you leave
for a show. After is too late; especially if you don't have food
to eat or a place to stay. Your kitty will be very upset with you!
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- The key is good planning and if you want to show on a regular
basis, then
you will learn to deal with the logistics of supplies quickly. We
recommend that when driving to a show, you limit your travel to what
both
you and your cats can tolerate. In addition, take as much as you
can with you so you don't get stuck with paying high prices or doing
without.
Naturally, a balance must be found where you are taking enough but not
too much (something I find hard to do).
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- Air travel is another problem altogether. First, you must
decide
if the cat or cats will travel with you in the cabin of the plane or if
you will ship them in the belly of the plane (along with the
baggage).
If you travel with one cat, taking the cat in the cabin is
reasonable.
The airlines charge for animals in the cabin. Also, different
airlines
have somewhat different rule regarding the number of animals in the
cabin
at any one time and the size of the carry-on carrier. Check with
your airline. Carrying supplies with you now becomes a major
limiting
factor. Cost, weight and volume become very important with air
travel.
You can forget bringing litter and just plan on buying it on the way to
the Hotel/Motel; too much weight. Food with the exception of
uncommon
products should also be purchased upon arrival. Overall air
travel
is going to be much more expensive than driving to a show.
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- Keeping your cat(s) safe and clean regardless of the means of
travel is
most important. Hotels and motels may or may not appear clean but
letting a cat run free in the room is always problematic. I don't
do it. Toxic bug sprays used by the pest control services, poor
cleaning
in places only cats can get to and loosing cats in walls and out open
doors
are unnecessary stress factors that can be eliminated if you keep your
cat caged in the room. I use portable fold-up tents that set up
in
minutes and keep the cat, the litter and any messy stuff out of the
room
as well as anything ugly in the room away from the cats. I highly
recommend the practice.
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- I could go on for hours, however, other than the above, most
other things
important tend to be cat and people specific and I could never identify
all of them without over taxing my web site. Some things you will
need to find out for yourself.
- Good Luck
Author: Robert Gottschalk
Copyright, Camelot Cats, Tallahassee, Florida
Date last changed: 08/03/2004
http://www.polaris.net/~rlgotts/
You may contact us at our e-mail address: rlgotts@polaris.net