Labor Day Weekend: Should You Travel With Your Cats?
(A WMEO Special Report) 
Labor Day weekend is creeping up, and plenty of folks are gearing up for a road trip. If you’re a cat parent, that means facing the annual dilemma: pet sitter or pack the furr‑babies and hit the highway?
Some cats are natural road warriors. Kurt and Gary? They’ll probably hop in the car, buckle their imaginary seatbelts, and enjoy the ride. The Oreo crew — Pudding, Olive, and Onyx — might be a little more dramatic about it. And Nanake? Well… he’s done cross‑country travel before, with results best described as “memorable” and “requiring emotional support snacks.”
But what about Banner and Balboa?
Two Cats, Two Very Different Travel Personalities
Banner and Balboa have never left the house since the day you brought them home. The vet doesn’t even get the privilege of seeing them in a clinic — Ross Veterinary House Calls comes to you. And even then, Balboa must be sedated or he’ll stage a full‑scale meltdown worthy of a Broadway revival.
His annual routine:
- Receive his “calming potion”
- Get gently escorted to the bathroom so he can’t hide in seventeen impossible places
- Spend the next hour looking like a tiny, confused marshmallow
He’s a sweetheart, but he’s also a certified fraidy‑cat. A road trip? Absolutely not. He’d unionize before you even backed out of the driveway.
Banner, meanwhile, would probably try to take over the GPS and declare himself “Navigator Supreme.”
The Cats’ Official Labor Day Travel Demands
Since I couldn’t get a straight answer out of either of them, I asked what it would take for Banner and Balboa to agree to travel with me. They immediately produced a list — and I swear they had it ready in advance.
- At least 16 nap breaks during transit (We’d be lucky to make it to the end of the street.)
- Unlimited treats at all rest stops (I foresee two car‑sick kitties and one very unhappy driver.)
- Mandatory belly rubs, pending mood (Their mood changes every 4–6 minutes.)
- A proper travel litter box — the hotel bathtub does NOT count (Honestly, fair. The bathtub is not a sandbox, no matter how much they insist.)
They warned me that failure to comply would result in unionization, followed by a strike, followed by dramatic flopping and pointed glares. Honestly, I believe them.
So in my house, the answer is clear: I’m calling the pet sitter… or just staying home.
What about you? Are your cats road‑trip ready, or are they already drafting their own list of demands?