Did you know that most “pet friendly” hotels are not actually pet friendly? A year ago, John and I decided we wanted to move to Nevada, which meant our kitty-cat boys would be moving as well. And as we discovered when trying to book a hotel for the move, “pet friendly” hotels are indeed dog friendly… but they are not actually cat friendly.
Le sigh...
So, with that information in mind, we ended up at two different hotels with the boys over the course of two different weekends. And when we researched if the hotel was pet friendly, we just didn’t mention that our four-legged furry pets were, you know, cats. Sucks to have to play the system that way, but c’est la vie.
Franklin has very rarely gone to new places, and of the places he’s been to, the car ride has been less than 30min. The drive from LA to Las Vegas is about 4 hours and 30mins… and that’s without stopping. Surprisingly, he did really well in the car! He and Kap shared a crate, and for the most part they snoozed the entire roadtrip. I'm jealous.
We spent 4 nights at the first hotel, and it took Franklin about 2.5 days to get used to it. The first 24 hours he hid in the small space under the bed, refusing to come out to eat, drink, or use the litter box. He only explored the room if he thought we were asleep. If he made eye contact with John or I he would freeze like a deer in headlights, then dart back to his safe zone under the bed.
Kap, on the other paw, THRIVED. He may not like car rides but he has been to hotels before (he’s a Texan) and he wandered around and laid on every piece of furniture thoroughly enjoying himself. His favorite past time, however, was trying to open the mini fridge. That boy is obsessed with opening refrigerators.
By the third day, Franklin was wandering around the hotel room, seemingly enjoying himself - he LOVED the big window - but he wasn’t wanting to be touched or snuggled with. Which, if you’ve read this blog before, you know Franklin is the biggest snuggle bug. It broke my heart, not being able to touch him! Thankfully the final night we spent in the first hotel he seemed completely back to his normal self, jumping on the bed wanting cuddles.
When we returned to LA both the cats were pretty chill, going about their business in the apartment as purr usual (haha, get it?) but they were not happy five days later when they were forced into another 5 hour car ride. Sorry, boys!
At the second hotel, Kap was once again living his best life, wandering around like he owned the place. It only took Franklin a few hours instead of 2.5 days to get used to the new location, and by the late afternoon he was once again looking out the big window and climbing on all the furniture - his favorite spot being way up high on the closet - making me very nervous. I helped Fran back down quite a few times since I didn't trust him not to break the TV in some form. Kap jumped around on the furniture, mostly searching for food, but he did not choose to join his little brother on the closet. I don't think his old-cat joints would have thanked him for that.
I am grateful we only had to stay in that hotel for one night because…
We rented and moved into a new home!!! There will be a blog post published soon about the move, but for now I want to conclude by saying that as worried as I was about the boys (specifically Franklin because he is still a kitten), I’m glad we ended up taking them with us to both hotels. If Franklin had been introduced to our new home right out the gate I don’t think he would have adapted to his new surroundings as quickly.
So, even though the hotels were a pain in the butt, as my mom always says:
“Everything happens for a reason.”
Thank you so much for reading and following along on our many adventures with Franklin and Kap! For updates on blog posts, please fill out the form at the bottom of the page, and for daily pictures and videos of the boys please follow us on Instagram. :)
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