Transporting cats by bicycle

[fatgirlonabicycle]

Will hopefully being getting some cats in the next few weeks, just to complete the mad lady set. So asking this potentially mad question...

Anyone have any experience or opinions of transporting cats by bike?

Most car free people I know jump in a taxi when they take their kitties to the vet. But I was wondering if there was any reason why I shouldn't/couldn't secure a carrier to the back of my big comfy city bicycle?

My first thought would be that people would think it was distressing for the animal, but would it really be that much worse than car or bus?

Obviously, ideally I would be training them to be like this cat when I'm out on the bicycle: http://fatgirlonabicycle.tumblr.com/pos ... ling-kitty

[Mick F]

I am reliably informed by Mrs Mick F, that there's a chap in Manchester with a cat in a carrier on his rear rack. He's often seen in Piccadilly Gardens and often walks his cat on a lead.

She's seen him a couple of times there - and not at the same visit Up North. The cat seemed happy enough - Mrs Mick F has stroked it.

[Mark1978]

As long as the box is secure then I don't see why not. Only possible issue is if the cat escapes from the box in the car; it's still contained, if it does so on the bike then you have a problem!

I remember my Mam's cats were always terrified of the car and the sound of the engine[1] they might prefer the bike!

[1]It was probably more to do with knowing they were going to the vet!

[MikewsMITH2]

Cats love travelling by bike...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTLsAnxUwzQ

[Mick F]

That looks a bit dangerous for the cat.

Emergency stop, rear ended, knocked off at a junction? Bad enough for the cyclist, but awful for the cat.

[hexhome]

It'll have 9 lives!

[Mike Sales]

Don't make the same mistake as me.
I put the cat in a cardboard box and fixed it to the rack with a bungee. The same bungee held the box closed.
I was returning from the vet's along a busy road when I felt the bike lurch a bit. I felt behind me to check the box was still there, and could feel the lid was closed.
When I reached home I lifted the box off the rack, but by the weight it was clearly empty. Where was the cat?
I returned to where I had felt the lurch. There was a gap between two terraces of houses just by the road, so I went up it to find a neglected wilderness behind the houses. After calling "Sid, Sid" foe a while I was answered by a familiar meow. She came closer, but seemed to understandably mistrust me and would approach no closer than the other side of a tangle of bushes. After some time I gave up and went home.
Luckily this was only a couple of hundred yards from home. She turned up at the door that afternoon, and seemed to have forgiven me.

[Mick F]

Eight lives left ........................

[Vorpal]

I regularly transport my cats by bicycle, but I usually use a trailer. They either go in a pet carrier that goes in the trailer, or the child straps in the trailer are attached to harnesses on the cats. My cats like the bike trailer and don't like the car at all.

[mrjemm]

Seen a man on a bicycle with at least one in a carrier bag, mewling away rather unmerrily. This was in China... Heading away from a fresh market. And true.

[Grandad]

When I was 13 I cycled to an aunt who lived 30 miles away and returned home with a kitten in a bag on the handlebars. Parents not too happy as this had not been authorised but kept the cat for its 17 year life.

[fatgirlonabicycle]

That looks a bit dangerous for the cat.

Emergency stop, rear ended, knocked off at a junction? Bad enough for the cyclist, but awful for the cat.

Wouldn't the cat be far more likely to land well?

Think I'll try to take them for a spin on quiet roads and see how they cope. Won't be telling the Cats Protection about that though!

[Mick F]

Wouldn't the cat be far more likely to land well?

Yes, I'm sure the cat will land ok as it falls/jumps off.

To my mind, the cat may be ok on landing, but why did it have to land? If the cyclist was hit or fell off, would the cat be ok with following traffic, or with the traffic that hit the cyclist?

[MarkF]

Anyone have any experience or opinions of transporting cats by bike?

Yes, I bungeed one to my rear rack and cycled home with it, about 2 miles, had no problems. But it was dead and had gone hard.

[prm]

Never tried transporting my cats by bike. Usually in the rear of the car in a pet carrier. They always howled the place down.

While moving house, strapped the carrier in the passenger front seat with their door facing me. Utter silence and happy cats.
Maybe you could try a wind proof front basket???