Does your cat become anxious when it is time to travel? Mine always have. Manna and Dexter are great with people, but the car ride has always been a bit difficult for them. With our upcoming road trip (a nearly 14-hour drive), I wanted to find a way for Manna and Dexter to travel stress-free. Why can’t traveling with cats be as easy as traveling with dogs? Our friends at Sleepypod® stepped in to help me find a great solution!
Finding a Stress-Free Travel Solution
Manna ready to take a nap on her Cloudpuff pet blanket.
Why do cats get so stressed out about traveling to begin with? There are 2 unique challenges that cats face. I’ve come to some solutions for these challenges to make traveling with cats stress-free.
Dexter tests out the durability his new Sleepypod mobile pet bed.
Challenge #1: Cats are territorial animals.
In the wild, they like to choose an area to live in, mark it as their own, and generally dwell within those boundaries. Crossing into another cat’s territory can be a big offense to that cat. Your home is your cat’s territory and everywhere else could be the territory of another cat.
Solution #1: Bring a piece of home on the road.
Find a pet carrier that your cat can use at home as a part of their everyday life. If they find themselves faced with anxiety, this little piece of their own territory can give them a place to retreat into.
Challenge #2: Little to No Experience
Indoor cats rarely travel. They are not familiar with the sights, sounds, and smells of their owner’s car or other modes of transportation. Often times, they only leave the home to go to the veterinarian. They are crammed into an uncomfortable, unfamiliar cat carrier and taken to a place that smells like other animals.
Solution #2: Start Traveling with Cats
There are plenty of pet stores and parks that are pet-friendly. Giving your cat more positive travel experiences than negative ones will make them more likely to look forward to traveling.
Sleepypod® Mobile Pet Beds
Dexter likes both the Robin’s Egg Blue and the Strawberry Red. He chooses both!
To help the cats feel at home on the road, the pet bed part of the Sleepypod® mobile pet beds have been left out where the cats like to sleep at home. Manna and Dexter choose to sleep in their Sleepypod pet beds frequently! The outside is made of a luggage-grade, ballistic nylon. The cats love the ultra plush bedding on the inside. I’ve seen them give it happy paws before laying down many times. I love that the bedding can be removed and washed in the washing machine.
Dexter sleeping in his Sleepypod mobile pet bed by my desk while I worked.
The Sleepypod mobile pet bed also serves as a pet carrier and a crash-tested pet car seat. Manna and Dexter have been going on small trips with my husband and me to get used to traveling in the car. We’ve been to 3 different pet-friendly stores and the veterinarian. At one of the stores, we just placed each Sleepypod mobile pet bed in a shopping cart and opened the top for the cats to peek out and explore (the cats loved that experience).
The zipper on the top of the mesh dome makes it easy to let Dexter peek at the world.
Both of my cats seem much more comfortable and stress-free in our Sleepypod mobile pet beds than they have ever been in other pet carriers. Manna and Dexter still sing in the car, but they do it while lying down comfortably. Since the Sleepypod mobile pet beds are safely strapped into the seats with seatbelts, they don’t move around on the seat. The cats aren’t sliding around at all while we drive. I don’t have to reach behind me and try to steady the carriers.
Manna (left) and Dexter are in their Sleepypod mobile pet beds, ready to go!
The top part of the Sleepypod mobile pet beds is really nice! The zippers are sturdy and easy to grip. The mesh dome is secure and abrasive-free (the cats won’t scratch through it). It gives the cats a sense that they are safely peeking out at the world without being seen. After a dog barked at Dexter, I put the mesh dome back over the Sleepypod mobile pet bed and he instantly began calming down.
Cloudpuff Pet Blankets
Dexter (top) decided he would join Manna as she napped. She was not impressed.
My cats are also in love with their new Sleepypod Cloudpuff pet blankets. I’ve laid these blankets on our couch so that the cats can sleep on them every day and they can smell like our home when we travel with them. If I place one of these Cloudpuff pet blankets on one side of the couch and leave the other side empty, the cats always gravitate to the blanket to sleep.
Both of our Cloudpuff pet blankets. Chestnut on the left and Champagne on the right.
One side of the Cloudpuff pet blanket is made of a microfiber suede and the other is an ultra soft plush material. They come in Champagne and Chestnut colors (we got one of each) and they are machine washable. There are also 2 sizes: Large 30 in X 20 in (76 cm X 51 cm) and Small 18.5 in X 14.5 in (47 cm X 37 cm). We chose the Large size for both Manna and Dexter.
Yummy Travel Pet Bowls
Manna (right) and Dexter having something to eat from their Yummy pet travel bowls.
Traveling with cats for 14 hours would definitely not be stress-free without food and water! Sleepypod’s Yummy travel pet bowls help to keep food and water fresh, clean, and separate from one another. After cleaning our Yummy travel pet bowls, we started using them to feed the cats intermittently. Manna and Dexter don’t even seem to notice that they are different than their usual dishes. They dig right in and eat!
The Yummy pet travel bowls nested together on the left and apart on the right.
Each set of Sleepypod Yummy travel pet bowls is 3 different pet bowls that nest together.
- A spill resistant water bowl (the base)
- A food bowl (works as a lid for the water bowl)
- A saucer-like lid bowl (seals off the food bowl)
These three bowls together allow you to store, serve, and transport water, wet food, and dry food all at the same time. The food and water will not mix or spill. The saucer shape of the lid bowl will help keep ants out of your cat’s food while dining outdoors too. All 3 are top-rack dishwasher safe.
Stay Tuned for More Traveling With Cats!
Want to see how our Sleepypod pet travel products perform on a road trip? We will be heading out to the BlogPaws Conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina next week. As mentioned, it will be a nearly 14-hour drive with the cats.
Watch our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram channels (May 16 -21) to see how the cats are doing in real time! We will also be doing a second blog post when we return about how the cats did in their Sleepypod mobile pet beds, the safety features (including crash testing), and answering any questions we’ve received.
Hi! My name is Robin. I'm a creative kitty mommy that that loves laughter and education. My cats, Manna and Dexter, inspire all I do on Playful Kitty. 
Hi Miss Robin, Dexter & Manna! Mom spotted one of those sleepy pods online and thinks it’s a great idea! I don’t travel much – it’s usually to the V-E-T and back, but Mom thinks if she got one of these for me I could travel more often. She always feels she has to hold onto my pet carrier with one hand when driving just in case the car had to stop suddenly. You mention the sleepy pod works with a car seatbelt – Mom loves that! I could see myself curl up in the pod like your kitties and fall fast asleep whether it is on the road or not. Wow you are patient kitties to make a 14 hour road trip! What adventures you will have & Mom can’t wait to meet you in person!
I would love to have one of these – we only have the Atom, which is their carrier that fits with air travel requirements. I don’t really like car travel, but I don’t panic like many other cats do – I just complain, usually pretty quietly.
I hope you have a great time. Someday I want to get a sleepy pod for travels to the vet.
SleepyPod has awesome products ! We wish we could afford one (just reading the price in CHF may kill you !). Purrs
I’ve wanted a SleepyPod since I first heard about them. Bear is so hard to get in a carrier and I don’t like having the carrier un-secured while I drive. Maybe one day I’ll be able to afford one 🙂 I can’t wait to see all of you at the conference!
These look like great beds/carriers. I’m going to suggest them to my Mom since her cats get super stressed about the car.
What a great product. I wish I knew about these when I had my cats. Well know that I know about SleepPods I’ll be sure to buy one when I adopt again. They’ve really thought out the functionality and design- bringing home on the road. Nice! Thanks for sharing.
We have the robin’s egg blue Sleepypod too, and a strawberry red Sleepypod Air! Love them both. I’ll have to check out those blankets – they look nice! Sleepypod really makes great products.
I’ve been wanting to get a Sleepypod for Lexy for vet visits. I can’t put Lola into a soft carrier because she’s an escape artist. Her middle name should be Houdini!
SleepyPod is one of my favorites. They’re not only easy to use, but one of the few safety-tested for travel with cats.
We use Mr. N’s Sleepypod for outings. He’ll nap in it sometimes when we’re dining at a cafe patio or at an outdoor concert or something.
I’m so excited that I will be meeting you and your kitties at BlogPaws! I would love to get a sleepypod for Tootsie someday, I didn’t know they had bowls too, pawsome. Great tips, especially getting them used to their carrier at home first. Safe travels, see you soon!
Looking forward to hearing about your trip to the BlogPaws conference, and how much comfier Dexter and Manna were with their SleepyPod products. Hope to get to meet you at the conference in a few days!
Sleepypod has such fantastic products. Robin. I love that you are showcasing how pets can travel with us and especially cats, who are not often known for their affection towards travel. The images are stellar, too.
I was looking at the sleepy pods at one of our pet stores the other day, they are awesome and look so roomy and comfy especially for travelling. Your photos are just amazing
I would love a Sleepypod, I aim to get one one day!! Mind you Dusty would like one right NOW! He loves his road trips and these looks so coy for a senior.
I love the Sleepypod carriers! Truffle and Brulee are more relaxed in them when traveling (to the vet mostly). The vets love them because they can get to the girls easier. Good luck on your road trip with the kitties.
I love the Sleepypods. The look stylish, safe and very comfortable- excellent review. They are just a tiny bit tight for Kilo the Pug unfortunately. See you soon. Drive safely.
I think those carriers are great! I am happy that are so safe, and it makes me sad that more brands don’t follow Sleepypod’s lead. I am looking forward to seeing all of you at BlogPaws!