Anonymous wrote:You stop and let them out, occasionally, on a leash. And you prepare for the unpleasantness: they will meow, it's a terrible sound, for the first 20 minutes of any trip. And they start over again from the beginning, after a break, whenever they get back in the car again.
I wrote the long post at 14:42, and I wanted to address the leash thing because I forgot the first time.
This is bad advice.
First of all, an indoor cat used to a litter box is not going to go to the bathroom on leash at a rest stop where everything is different and smells different and is overwhelming when you just stop for 30 minutes. It's NOT going to happen.
Second of all, in order to have the cat on a leash, you either need to have the leash on her the whole trip, or put the leash on her when you get to the rest stop, which would involve removing her from the carrier unsecured (or at least opening it partially, which as you know with a cat, is unsecured) in your car at the rest stop. As I spell out in my post, the latter is a BAD idea. The former is going to make your cat uncomfortable when lying down/sleeping the WHOLE trip, and for no benefit. You also risk her getting tangled or getting a leg caught in the harness when she's in the carrier. This is not worth it.
You are right about the meowing! Expect it.
OP, I strongly suggest you talk to your vet before you go. I found the vet very, very helpful, and there were lots of things I thought were important (like giving the cat a chance to rest/use the litter box) that are NOT important to a cat, but really are just projecting human needs onto a cat.