Drugs will help.  And you might get some for the animals, too.

Also, we have found that a Kong toy filled with
peanut butter can keep a dog busy for quite a while.  But so
can sedatives.

Steve

>
> This topic is very entertaining since I 'll be traveling from
> Virginia to SoCal late this summer/fall with a whole zoo in the
> back of the Carat: three cats plus a 90lb lab mix. The potential
> fun will be compounded by the fact that our dog has limited brain
> power and every time a cat meows he 'realizes' there is someone
> in the van to play with. This happens even when he's asleep and
> the cats meow ALOT when in the van. How many miles is it to CA?
>
> Our plan is purchase one of the larger wire dog crates for all
> three cats to ride in. A shelf halfway down would give them some
> more floor space and a safe place to 'hide' in the back. This
> will also give room for food, water and a box (joy. a litter
> box). The dog will live in his large crate and we're going to try
> and stack them (lashed together) so someone can still sleep in
> back while tooling down the road.
>
> Does anyone have a better way to handle this - I mean besides
> making hats out of them? We're going to do some test-runs later
> this summer and I'd love to have other techniques to try out!
>
> john