We all love our pets, and for some of us, our Draculas. One way many of us show that love for our furry friends is by doing little somethings – or big somethings – to make the car a nicer and/or safer place for them. That may be as simple as having a favorite blanket for them to cozy up in, or as elaborate as installing a backseat extender to give them a pup-sized studio apartment in which to frolic.
My family’s fido is a tiny little gal who is terrified of car travel, I assume because she thinks every trip is a visit to the vet, even though the destination is usually the groomer followed by a pup-cup. I’m not sure how much it helps, but she stays cozy while scared out of her wits in one of these things:
And for cat owners, uh, I honestly have no idea. Do people do special things for their cats in cars? I would think protecting the car from the cat would be the main concern. I suppose I could just Google it … ope, yep, of course there’s cat stuff. Lots of cast stuff. For example, check out this lil’ guy(?) chilling in his Portable Cat Travel Litter Box with Lid and 10 pcs Disposable Liner Bags. Get your own cat-toilet briefcase today!
It’s Autopian Asks, so you tell us: How Have You Accessorized Your Car For Your Pet(s)?
Top graphic image: depositphotos.com
Canvasback cargo liner to keep my Bernese Mountain Dog’s hair and muddy paws contained. I can’t say enough good things about that product.
I bought a Jeep Gladiator when my 85 pound mutt was about 13 years old. In my old Tacoma, he had a hammock-style seat cover. In the new truck, I took out the back seat and replaced it with a Goose Gear seat delete kit. It gave him a nice, solid platform from right behind the front seats to the back wall. It’s basically marine plywood with bed liner, so traction wasn’t great. I cut a carpet remnant to fit the platform, and then he rode in style. (https://www.goose-gear.com/products/jeep-gladiator-2019-present-jt-4-door-second-row-seat-delete-plate-system?variant=41808003399878)
The truck is on 35s, and the dog was old, so he wasn’t going to be able to jump in on his own. In my old truck, I had a big plastic ramp for the dog to get in, but the Gladiator has those stupid, narrow back doors from the Wrangler JLU. I couldn’t find a ramp that would fit, but these stairs fit perfectly on the door sill (with the check strap removed so the door can swing open 180 degrees), so a dog can climb in easily. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV729V7H)
I also have a mesh divider between the front seats to encourage the pup to stay in the back, plus a yardstick on top of it to keep him from coming over the top. I keep a gallon of water clipped to the MOLLE panel on the back of the passenger seat and a water bowl under my seat, plus a spare leash and choke collar clipped to my headrest.
Duke passed away at almost 15, but we now have Huckleberry. He’s 10 years old and 96 pounds, and he loves to ride in the Jeep using the setup we put together for Duke.
2016 GMC Canyon Diesel. Leer 100xr topper, bedrug with an inch of foam under it, that wasn’t enough as they got older so a couple 4 inch memory foam beds, swamp cooler when it’s hot and electric blanket and a little heater for when it’s cold. Plus my grandmother made them fleece PJ’s so when its real cold theyre in those or their Voyager K9 jackets. Yes, I own Great Danes. Why can’t we post pictures in the comments?
I have a foldable water bowl, seatbelt to dog collar adapter and a seat cover that’s easy to take on and off. That’s just for when I have to look after my parents dog.
We’ve decided our next cat will come on road trips and stuff. Heaven help me, I think I’m soon to be in the market for that stupid litter box.
When we had our first Westi we had a first-year Previa. For those that don’t know, the glove box had a farily large horizontal top surface. The Westi loved sitting on top of that glove box sitting with head against the windshield. The visual is reminiscent of Snoopy in the vulture mode. So we accessorized out Previa with a doggo ornament.
That same dog did not start out as a car-dog. Puked every time. So, I made short trips with the pup, then longer ones, then even longer ones and eventually grew out of the car sickness and learned to love being in a car.
Another pup we had tore apart the center console cover atttempting to access the food that was inside. Expensive fix to that Mercedes lease. No more Daschunds for us.
I love how suitcases are always shown with everything nice and tidy in the horizontal position in ad copy and also in movies. I would love to see a picture of that cat litter suitcase after having been zipped up and carried by the handle. Everything schmushed up against the bottomnon-zipper side. Hilarity ensues.
I have a dog and a cat. I have a Kurgo cover over the back seat so I don’t have to clean it all the time when she drags dirt into the car. She also has a Ruffwear car harness so I can buckler her up. I like the Ruffwear as it is super easy to fit and use. My cat has his carrier with a handle that you can run the seat belt through. He likes the front passenger seat as he feels that he is better than the dog and deserves the front seat.
In the back, I have water bowls and a spare bottle of water and a pet first aid kit. I also have my dog’s rabies certificate in the center console for when we drive over the border to the in-laws house.
Finally I usually have some pet themed car magnet on the back of my car.
In the Fur Runner I have a dog seat covers front and rear (good for when I’m gross from mountainbiking), a dog first aid kit, a couple of tennis balls, 2 different sized collapsable water bowls, and an orange vest for hiking during hunting season. Also, he has a bed that lives on the back seat.
I bought some door card protectors (one for each car) from Weather Tech to keep my dog from tearing up the door card with his claws while he is looking out of the window.
We have two dogs now, a 70 lbs German Shepherd, and a 50 lbs golden/lab/pitty/supermutt(G.Shep/Aussie/Pekinese/Chow/Bulldog) (Embark is weird).
When we got the newer SUV I found a backseat cover made by Ruff Liners. It has little plastic flaps the slide down into the window gap at the door, so the sides of the cover are actually Velcro-ed to the doors instead of flopping down off the sides. It looks slick and is much more user friendly. Easier than trying to get an old German Shepherd up into the seat when the old cover’s sides are flopped over the area he need to put his feet to get a grip.
I have a 70 lb basset hound. She goes to a friend’s house to play with other puppies while I am running plumbing service calls. She was not comfortable curled up in the passenger seat of my work truck for the 50 mile drive to my friend’s house. So I built her a couch that straps to the seat and extends over the console I can actually haul her and my walker coonhound at the same time they can lay together and stretch out comfortably. I don’t think I can post a picture here I wish I could it’s pretty cool.
I’ve accessorized the family dog with a bandana for rides in my TR-3 .
Seat covers on the row in the minivan that my giant golden retriever sits on, sheds on, drools on and urps on. Best $200 ever spent.
I got a big cover for the back seat that clips over the front headrests so it makes a weird hammock situation over the back footwells so she doesn’t fall into them. Also a belt buckle leash thing that is, frankly, awesome for how cheap and available they are.
When I had a 2000 Jeep Wrangler, I removed the rear seat (it was a feature) so that my dog would be comfortable. At one point I had a dog bed that fit back there like it was custom made for it.
My current vehicles have seat covers, collapsible dog bowls, and a water bottle in them. One of the seat covers came with a short leash that plugs into the seatbelt buckle, but it’s not quite long enough for my dog to enjoy sticking her head out the window.
Honda Ridgeline. The seats fold up and leave a flat floor. I have two dog beds on the floor and my 48 lb pup LOVES going for rides in it. One of our commands for her is “TRUCK”! and she runs to it and waits for me to open the door. She’ll ride from MA to the Northeast Kingdom in VT and curls up in the back. One nice thing is that since the doors are fairly high, it’s pretty much like a crate, something that she loves at home.
We have four cats, and we take them with us when we visit my MIL in NW Arkansas (we live in Dallas).
We put each of them in a Cat-in-the-Bag carrier, and three go in the back seat. I buckle the three seatbelts, then clip the carry strap from each carrier to the shoulder strap portion of the seatbelt with a climbing-rated carabiner. We also learned to place puppy pads on the seats in case of accidents.
The fourth cat cuddles with my wife up front, either on the door’s armrest (so she can see out the window) or on the floor by her feet.
Walter & Toby bagged, clipped, and ready for the trip.
They handle the 5-ish-hour trip reasonably well. It helps that we give each of them 100mg of gabapentin about an hour before we leave so they tend to sleep most of the way.
So, to list the accessories:
We have (two) cats now. So their time in the car involves a single (hopefully) trip to the vet each year. Luckily they don’t seem to mind it. Seeing that portable litterbox nonsense above makes me tweak out. The idea of potentially getting cat piss in the van carpet would be my own personal hell. Can’t think of a worse fate.
Cats are super cool but I do miss having a dog. Driving around with dogs is a lot of fun.
They accessorize it for me with their insidious fur.