"Oh, the places you will go..."

I travel for work. This sometimes mean kittens, or Molly, sometimes go with me. This weekend I was off to an event in NJ at St. Huberts Animal Welfare Center to celebrate 20 Million Petfinder adoptions...with the Cake Boss. Yes, I know I don't have TV and that I've never seen Cake Boss, however my mother likes it, so I was optimistic about the experience.

Molly's kennel was overbooked, and I had the two bottle babies. While dogs were welcome at the event, I was supposed to be helping set it up, so towing Molly around wasn't really an option. At the eleventh hour, Nancy and Steve said they would pup-sit her. Whew!

The kittens came along, because they have been having issues, and I don't like leaving kittens with issues in a foster home. Not because the fosterer can't handle it, but because sometimes all the stay-in-touch phone calls take up more time than actually bringing the kittens along.

I have a regular travel set-up for kittens. It's a medium Rubbermaid tote with a largish hole cut in the top so air can get in, but the kittens can't crawl out (which will happen if you leave the top off). I have two Snuggle Safes, a small cooler for KMR, and a LL Bean bag for towels, etc.

The hotel I found was pet-friendly, with only a $25 pet fee, which is incredibly low. The room was only about $100, (which is pretty low in Jersey), and it was very nearly an apartment, with a full refrigerator, sink, microwave, and even dishes, complete with coffee mugs and wine glasses. If you ever need a hotel in Morristown, NJ, you need look no further than the Hyatt House.

The kittens found the mirror in the bathroom fascinating. I realize it is probably wrong to laugh when a tiny kitten bonks into a mirror to visit that other mirror-kitten, but I'm afraid I could not help it. They still look shabby, primary because they get the eye ointment on their fur. I could give them more full-body baths, but kittens do not find the Blow-Dryer Monster very reassuring.

I can not say enough nice things about the Cake Boss production staff. Seriously. That's one "reality" show you can watch and feel certain they really are trying to help out the organizations for whom they build and reveal a cake. You'll have to stayed tuned this fall for the actual episode (I'll be sure to give some warning here when it gets close), however I would assume they take all of their cake-adventures with the same seriousness, realizing that most celebrations have a message behind it, and trying hard to get that message across to their viewers...not just reveal the cake. I was impressed. And I am very hard to impress.

The St. Hubert's office staff babysat my kittens while I went out to lunch with my co-workers, whom I normally only see in Internet Land. This is where the tote comes in handy, because my kittens wouldn't be spreading their eye germies to another shelter, like they might in an open-door crate. Obviously, leaving them in the car on a 95 degree day was not an option. My co-workers were absolutely willing to fry on a patio so I could bring the kittens along, but thankfully St. Huberts watched over them so we could commune in the blessed comfort of an air-conditioned restaurant. Then I said goodbye, fetched my kittens, and headed on back to rural NY, where it was in the 80s, thank goodness.

I shall do a blog post on my travel set-up later. Maybe others will find it useful, or can share their own kitten-carrying devices.

I'm off to go fetch Molly from Nancy and Steve's place, where she is likely having much more fun that she will have back here!