In October of 2005, we relocated from Florida to Utah. My husband was in Iraq serving in the armed forces. We were moving due to the 2004 hurricane season. Having gone through two major hurricanes, we no longer felt we could offer our pets a safe home living with the constant fear of hurricanes.
Our birds normally live in very large cages. We sized down for the move, purchasing cages that would make everyone more mobile. We broke down the larger cages wrapping them in plastic wrap used for packing. We rented a mini van and were able to fit three cages across on two separate seats. I also had two of the dogs in the van with me. Pebbles sat in the passenger side front seat, Emutt (our dane/black lab) had the floor between the driver and passenger seat as well as behind the seats.
My dad and brother flew down to drive the two U-Hauls for me. Dusty, our yellow lab drove with my dad in his U-Haul.
We transferred familiar toys to the smaller cages. Our goal was to make this trip as comfortable as possible for all the pets. We packed plenty of food, snacks and bottled water. We purchased small dish pans at the local dollar store that We used to organize. The bird one contained newspapers for changing their trays, bottled water, paper towels and snacks. We also had a Tupperware container with a measuring cup of their dry food. We tried to keep them on as normal of a schedule as possible. When they became stressed or overtired, We covered them with sheets that we had brought along. We covered all the seats and floors with sheets to keep the vehicle as clean as possible.
