Introducing Cats to Hotel Rooms Safely 

Lucy Drury

One of the most daunting tasks for the new exhibitor—and even the veteran, at times—is introducing your new traveling companion to a hotel room. Even the most easy-going kitten or cat can become overwhelmed by the new sounds and smells. Their first response to being released from the carrier to stretch their legs may be to dive under the bed. There, of course, they will find that one, small opening between the box springs and the metal barrier designed to keep them out. Fast forward to you making that embarrassing call to the front desk for help disassembling the bed to extract your terrified kitten.

Our goal here is not to share the many stories of hotel predicaments—some of them quite humorous, some of them tragic—that cats and their owners have experienced, but to share some tips and tricks on how you and your cat can happily reside in your home away from home.

Always confirm your hotel accepts cats (even if they previously accepted cats). Assuming they do accept them, you also need to check how many you can have in one room. Hotel policies can and do change without notice. When in doubt, call, particularly if the policy has changed globally for a hotel chain or they have been bought out by another company. While most facilities will honor what is published on the website, it may be a difficult conversation you do not want to have after spending all day on the road. Also, some hotel chains are becoming more pet friendly, and if you tell them you are coming for a cat show, may reduce or waive their pet fees to accommodate you.

Inspect the room before allowing your kitten to roam the room unrestrained. Here are a few things to check:

• Are all the windows closed completely?
• Look under the bed. Is it clean or is it one of those hotels where housekeeping never vacuums under the beds?
• Are electrical cords and outlets going to be a temptation to kitty paws and teeth? If you need to “cat proof” your cords and outlets at home, you will need to do it here. Otherwise, keep your cat confined.
• Look around for openings in the floor or ceiling that a determined cat could escape through.
• Try to scout out openings and drawers in furniture where a kitten can wiggle in and hide. The barriers under the bed are particularly problematic. While they are designed to keep animals and objects out from under the bed, most have small openings that a kitten can easily get through, particularly near the headboard. Stuffing pillows into the gap or moving a nightstand closer to the bed can sometimes block those gaps.
• How is the overall cleanliness of the room? Keep in mind that if it is a pet-friendly facility, other animals have occupied the room. Some hotels do a better job than others in cleaning and disinfecting rooms between occupants. Consider carrying pet-friendly disinfecting wipes and sprays with you to disinfect surfaces your kitten is likely to walk on. And while you’re at it, wiping down door handles and light switches, particularly during flu season, is not a bad idea, either— you want to stay healthy, too!
• Look closely at areas under dressers or bathroom vanities. People often drop prescription medication in these areas and can’t or don’t bother to retrieve it. A pill carelessly left on the floor can be a deadly temptation for a kitten. Also, be sure to check under the bathroom sink/vanity; some hotels have an area where the plumbing is hidden from casual view, but the half-wall does not go all the way up to the bottom of the vanity. A kitten or cat who gets into one of these spaces can be extremely difficult to extricate!