🧳 Travel-with-Cat Checklist Generator
Every generic pet travel list is written for dogs, with the cat items bolted on — if the litter tray makes it at all. This one is cats only, and it works on a timeline instead of a flat list: what has to happen weeks before (carrier training, certificate timing), days before (packing, with quantities worked out from your trip length), on travel day, and when you arrive. Travelling by car, plane or train — or leaving your cat at home with a sitter.
Your trip
Staying home is a real mode here: it builds the sitter-preparation list instead, and hands off to our instruction sheet at the end.
International adds prompts only — entry rules belong to your destination, and only its official sources can state them.
Drives the quantity lines: food is worked out as nights + 2 spare days, and litter is scaled to the trip.
Header details (optional)
Sets the target dates on each timeline section, so "weeks before" becomes an actual day on your calendar.
Ticks are saved in this browser as you go — close the tab and your progress is still here when you come back.
Your checklist
Why generate one instead of using a generic pet list?
Cats only — litter tray included
Generic generators treat cats as small dogs: one of the biggest has no litter items at all. A cat trip lives or dies on the litter system, the carrier and familiar smells, so those are first-class sections here — including the disposable tray, the scent soaker and the scratching pad other lists forget.
A timeline, not a pile
The highest-stakes travel tasks are timing tasks: carrier training takes weeks, a health certificate has to land inside your airline's window, flights get reconfirmed the day before. The list is phased — weeks before, days before, travel day, arrival — so each job shows up when it can still be done.
Quantities, computed
Tell it the trip length and it turns "pack enough food" into an actual number — nights plus two spare days, per cat — and scales litter and medicines the same way. No other generator does the arithmetic; they just say "enough for the trip".
Train — and staying home
Most tools list train and then say nothing train-specific; here it's a real section of preparation steps and check-the-operator prompts. And if your cat isn't travelling at all, the staying-home mode builds the sitter-prep list and hands off to the instruction sheet you'll actually leave behind.
Questions people ask
Do I need a health certificate to fly with my cat?
Often, yes — and the timing is the trap. Many airlines require a certificate issued within a set window before travel, often around 10 days, but the exact window is set by your airline and your destination, not by any checklist. Check your airline's current requirement first, then book the vet appointment so the certificate is issued inside that window.
Can I take my cat on a train?
On many operators, yes — but there is no universal rule. Whether cats are carried, what carrier size is allowed, and whether you need a pet ticket all vary by operator and country, so the train section here is preparation steps plus prompts to check your operator's own policy before you book.
How much food should I pack?
Your usual food for every night of the trip, plus two extra days — trips overrun, return journeys get delayed, and a strange town is a bad place to discover your cat's exact brand isn't stocked. The generator works the number out from your trip length and cat count.
Should I sedate my cat for the journey?
Not unless your vet says so — that's the standard guidance, and it's why the checklist never recommends a product. If you think your cat will struggle, ask your vet well before travel day about what, if anything, they'd suggest.
My cat is staying home. Is this still useful?
Yes — pick "Cat stays home" and the whole list changes: stocking food and litter for the sitter, the vet-authorisation note, emergency numbers, and a handoff to our Pet Sitter Instruction Sheet so the person feeding your cat gets proper written instructions.
Is anything I type uploaded?
No. Your ticks and details are stored only in this browser's local storage, so the checklist is here when you come back — nothing leaves your device, and there's no sign-up.
Keep exploring
Carrier & Crate Fit Checker — does the carrier still fit your cat, and your airline's limit? · Pet Sitter Instruction Sheet — the sheet you leave for whoever feeds the cat · Cat Sitter Cost Calculator — what fair sitting costs · Lost Cat Poster Maker — turns a recent photo into a poster in minutes · All KittyButts tools
General checklist based on AVMA and ASPCA advice. Entry rules, airline rules and certificates are set by your destination and your airline: check them before every trip. This tool never states an airline's, operator's or country's rules as fact — where a rule matters, the checklist tells you whose current policy to check. It gives no medical advice: whether your cat is fit to travel, and anything about sedation or medication, is your vet's call. Everything you type is stored only in this browser.