Juno's First Vacation
Bringing our kitty up north was worth it, despite the yowls and bad farts
Spending holidays with Ryan’s family is super nice. His parents are the masters of relaxation, and we tend to keep celebrations low-key — lots of food, drinks, and desserts, plus all the movies you’d ever wanna watch.
But we threw in some extra excitement this Thanksgiving when we decided to bring Juno up north with us for the first time. Ryan and I didn’t want to ask our regular pet-sitter friends to watch him, since they just watched him earlier in the month when we went to Eau Claire to celebrate my birthday. So we decided to try something new and take him on vacation.
There were a few reasons I was anxious about this plan. First of all, Juno hates being in the car, and lets us know how badly he wants to get out by crying and yowling the whole time. Second, Ryan’s parent have a cat, Quinn, who is really sweet to humans but generally dislikes other cats. And third, we just haven’t traveled much with Juno, so we weren’t sure how he’d react to the whole ordeal.
The first challenge we had to overcome was getting him in his carrier on Thanksgiving morning. Juno is a smart boy — he seems to have a sense of when we’re about to do something to him that he might not like. That being said, he is also extremely food-motivated. If a task involves treats, you can usually get him to do it before he realizes what’s really happening.
So, I coerced Juno into the carrier with a crap ton of cat snacks. Once I zipped the door shut, he immediately began to cry. Agh. I felt awful — he’s my little guy and I hate when he sounds so sad. But I know that he knows this, and that’s the reason why he cries so much. He’s great at getting what he wants by crying or meowing at us.
Ryan and I thought it’d be a good idea to let Juno get used to sitting in the car before we took off. So we placed his carrier in the back seat and packed up our suitcases while he adjusted. That turned out to be a great idea, and he actually stopped whining for a little and laid down.
Ryan also read online somewhere that playing familiar music can sometimes help calm cats down. We’ve been listening to a lot of instrumental jazz lately at home, so he turned on playlist in the car while we packed and later took off. Juno seems to be particularly fond of the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, since he was pretty quiet while it played.
Thankfully, the drive up north is only about an hour and a half and doesn’t require any bathroom breaks. We mostly coast on country roads with moderate speed limits, which matters because Juno seems to hate the high speeds on the expressway. And he also freaks out when we stop and start again, like on city/suburban roads.
I didn’t get a good recording of Juno protesting the drive, but I’ll try to describe what it sounds like. This cat is a yapper and makes a lot of different noises, but he has a particular yowl that he only makes in the car. It’s a really exaggerated, sad noise that almost sounds like he’s trying to howl at the moon.
It will be silent in the car, and then we’ll suddenly hear MAAAUUUUUWWWW. *pause* YEEEAAAUUUUWWW. *pause* AAUUUUUUUUWWWWWW. He acts like he’s being tortured, even though literally nothing is happening and we’re both talking to him in a soft voice and feeding him his favorite treats.
Juno did get quiet toward the end of the drive, but still indulged in a yowl every now and then. Once we got to Ryan’s parents house, we let him out of his carrier in the guest bedroom and he immediately hid under the bed.
Meanwhile, we both went downstairs for snacks. We periodically checked on Juno and brought him kibble and water, but it took him about an hour and a half to feel curious enough to come out and explore the guest room.
A little more time passed and he was ready to follow us out into the upstairs hallway. He was feeling bold! And then Juno did something that kind of surprised us.
It was around dinner time, so Ryan and I got Juno’s wet food ready in his bowl upstairs. Instead of just sitting there and waiting for us to place his bowl on the floor, Juno led us into the hallway and into Ryan’s parent’s bedroom. Juno approached the bed, crouched down, and chattered into the darkness like he was talking to another animal.
And then, we heard hissing. Quinn was under there, and clearly didn’t want to be bothered. Despite this cat’s unfriendliness, Juno felt like he had to come find her and invite her to dinner.
Quinn had no interest in dining with Juno. And even though she made that clear, he kept seeking her out all weekend and trying to make friends. They had a number of staring contents, which usually ended in Quinn hissing and skulking away. Juno would just sit and stare like a dumbass. Quinn is not a combative cat, but prefers her solitary lifestyle — and clearly had no interest in befriending a nosy pest like Juno.
Thankfully, the house is big enough that each cat basically had their own space. Juno staked out most of the upstairs, and Quinn claimed most of the downstairs. In fact, Juno didn’t even want to come downstairs after a while. He was perfectly happy lounging in the guest bedroom and karaoke room next door.
Eventually, this arrangement got annoying at times. Ryan and I would be downstairs eating or watching TV, and Juno would just sit at the top of the stairs and cry for us to come see him. At first, he seemed to be a little skittish around Quinn, who spent most of her time in the living room at the bottom of the stairs.
But after a day or two, I realized Juno wasn’t doing this because he was scared of Quinn. He was just lazy.
I say this because he had no trouble coming downstairs when there were treats involved. He also eventually discovered Quinn’s food bowl, which was full of tasty Temptations kibble that he doesn’t get to have at home. (Juno is on a diet right now, but we’re not sure if it’s even working.) He kept coming into the kitchen to steal her food — and it was obvious that he stole a lot because his food bowl upstairs was nearly overflowing by the time we left.
The good news is that Juno seemed to have a genuinely good time on vacation. We spent a lot of time cuddling together and playing, and he was excited to have a new place to explore. By the time we left, he was strutting around the upstairs like he owned the place. His tail was high and he was yapping at us for food/pets/treats, which he only does when he’s super comfortable.
On the way back home, Juno seemed to be a little more comfortable in the car, but still yowled plenty of times. One of my worst fears was that he was going to throw up, poop, or piss in his carrier while we were in transit. At one point during the ride, I unzipped the front door to let him poke his head out, and smelled something poopy, which was concerning.
But there wasn’t anything in the carrier. Juno just had bad farts, which in retrospect made sense for a cat who’d been eating mounds of treats and stealing kibble all week.
All three of us have been napping a lot since we got back. I guess traveling makes cats tired, too. But I’d say the trip was worth it, and I’m sure if Juno has the ability to reminisce, he’d look back fondly on his first vacation with us.
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This gives me hope for if I ever need to bring Stanley someplace new for awhile!
I was holding out for Juno and Quinn to become BFFs by the end. 😢