Bringing a cat to Almeria - Page 2

We avoided Paris. Calais to  Tours then to Bordeaux ,Biarritz ,Madrid ,Malaga .We stopped 4 nights .We found hotels on Booking.com that were pet friendly .The roads were never busy and we never travelled more than 5 hours ,as we were not in a rush .We stopped at hotels that had bed and breakfast and able to do evening meal or very near a restaurant .We also goggled the area of the hotels to make sure there were places to walk our dog and places to park safely.As we had alot of things in our car .You could do it in less days as many friends have ,but we made it part of our holiday enjoying the journey. 

Are you determined to travel through France?  I say this because with COVID/Omicron the requirements can change so frequently that it is better to consider travel through only one country as restrictions can vary so much from country to country.

I have friends who live in the SW of England who have property here and who, before Brexit, always brought their cat and hope to do so this year.  They always opt for the ferry to Bilbao or Santander and have no problems with hotels in Spain.  They simply take puss to their room in her carrier and put a litter tray in the bathroom. The ferry costs more, but you save on motorway costs and a lot of mileage.

On the ferry my friend's cat stays in the car (I think) with water, food and tray unless they take her with them as they usually book a cabin.  They usually stop off in one of the Ibis Budget hotels, which are easy to find and are part of the Accord chain, but there are plenty of very reasonable hotels in Spain where you will have no problem taking your cat. 

We won’t be travelling until December or January 2022 so I think the bay of biscay is fairly rough at that time of year, hence wanting to drive. I’ll definitely check it out though in case I’m mistaken. Not sure my cat would be ok in the car on her own on the ferry but it’s so hard to know in advance. Thanks for the advice!

If you go on booking .com you will gind all the friendly hotels in France on your way down or if you come across to Spain on the ferry you can book a pet cabin. I travelled for 10 years with my two small dogs back and forth to Ireland never a problem in hotels. 

Hi, 

Some cats and dogs make the ferry crossing without a bother, but I would suggest that you think about your pets personality before you book. 

We travelled on the ferry with our cat who didn't wander around the neighbourhood, he liked to stick to our garden and watch the world from the windowsill. Not an adventurous cat. 

He had a cage that filled the back of the car and boot with the seats down, had a shelter and bed in there and food, water and a litter tray and cool mats. 

We couldn't get a pet friendly cabin and he had to stay in the car with a sticker to say he was in there. We thought the ferry with less time travelling in the car would be the best option for him and that's why we chose it. 

We thought he would be fine but we hadn't taken into account the noise level on the ferry - the engine, clanking, etc and he was frightened. He didn't move when we returned to the car, he was traumatised. 

We then stayed at a pet friendly hotel where he could be free in our room and hoped he would feel better, but the trauma caused liver failure. Fortunately the vet in alfoquia did an excellent job and saved him, and he made a complete recovery. If he hadn't we would have been beside ourselves for putting him through it. 

If I could go back and rearrange the journey I would come via the channel tunnel. 

The pet friendly hotel was excellent, the staff were very helpful. As others have said they are on booking.com. 

I don't mean to worry you but I think it's best to be alerted so you can make an informed decision. 

Good luck! 

Thank you so much for this! It confirms my fears about the stress of being in the ferry if we couldn’t get a pet cabin. I think the same would be true of flying her here. She gets cystitis when she’s stressed and that would be so awful too. I’m so glad your cat made a full recovery 😅 xxx

I'm so pleased to have helped. Our cat also used to get cystitis when stressed. 

We had planned the journey around him and done the wrong thing and seeing him suffering was awful. We felt so guilty although we had done our best. 

I wish you and your cat a safe journey when the time comes. 

Kind regards.