Pets don’t always make the best traveling companions on road trips. Here’s how to prepare your car for travel with pets so you both have fun! Let’s go!
How To Prepare Your Car for Travel With Pets
Road tripping with your favorite kitty or doggo? The journey can be filled with fun or fraught with fury. Ensure you maintain, equip, and pack your car with the necessary items and accommodations to make the trip easier on them. Here’s how to prepare your car for travel with pets to ensure you both arrive intact and ready to play!
Related: A Complete Guide To Traveling With Your Pet(Opens in a new browser tab)
Take Care of Your Car
Taking care of your car is one of those things you’re probably doing already but should accomplish before going anywhere long distance. Bring your car in for an all-point inspection. Ask them to pay special attention to the tires, including the spare. A new set of properly inflated tires can ensure an even and uneventful ride. Oil, transmission, wiper, brake, and other fluids should also be inspected, measured, and possibly drained and replaced by a professional. Have your brakes looked at to see if the pads are holding up, and afterward, take it to a detailer for an inside and out cleaning. Even a clean car will become messy over an extended trip with a pet, so make it easier to deal with sudden messes right away.
Provide a Place To Rest
You might have one of those life-loving adorable pups who can’t get enough of driving. Then again, you may have a pet who prefers seeing the world from beneath their paws as they cover their head. Either way, provide a comfy spot for your pet to sit, relax, and possibly hide. Carriers provide security and comfort and, depending on the size of the carrier and the size of your pet, they can be secured to the back seat floor or the seat itself. If your pet feels they must be in the front seat with you, a carrier is best for safety’s sake. Otherwise, most pets make do with a large and cozy blanket spread out over the back seat. Pet hammocks are also available and can be strung up from the neck rests.
Put Together a Pet Kit
Hopefully, your car already has a road emergency kit equipped with jumper cables, road flares, a first aid kit, a blanket, and the like. Now you need to pack a pet emergency kit! A properly fitted kit requires pet food and emergency water and receptacles from which they can eat and drink, prescription drugs, cloths, and paper towels, spray cleaner, favorite toys, a comb, and brush, shampoo for dirty emergencies, and bags for disposing of waste. Be prepared for messy back seat accidents and take care of them immediately.
Make an Itinerary
When considering how to prepare your car for travel with pets, forecast a future where anything can go wrong, then figure out how to keep it from happening. Ask your vet if they can recommend vets in the area of the place where you’re going. Call ahead to hotels and recreational areas to see whether they’re pet-friendly. Finally, plan exercise road stops along the way, as this will allow your furry friend to get rid of their excess energy with a quick run.
What's on your mind today?