An adorable orange kitten has found her way into my life, and I think I would really like to keep her. My only concern is being able to get her to the vet. I don't have a car, nor do I see myself having one anytime soon. Strapping a cat carrier to the rack on my bike seems like a terrible idea (not to mention, quite traumatizing for her). Can you take cats on the bus? That doesn't sound like a very good idea either. I am going to need to figure this out soon, as she still needs to be spayed. If it were warm I'd consider walking, but in these temps I wouldn't want her to be outside for very long. Are there other car-less pet owners here who can give me some advice?

You could try a service like Lucky Dog Pet Care. They have pet taxi services. For the few times that you might need to transport, the cost would likely be worth it.

Personally, I transport the puggle in my panniers, which she LOVES. But I imagine the kitteh's wouldn't carry the same optimistic outlook.

Oh, that's cool! I had no idea a service like that is out there. I didn't think of this before, but it might also be worth calling around to see if any ordinary taxi companies allow you to bring a pet in a carrier. Probably not though... I could see allergies being a problem.

Puggie in a pannier sounds too cute! Pretty sure Lucy would never forgive me if I tried the same though.

Thanks for the suggestion!

I really doubt any standard taxi would have an issue. If you asked them, perhaps. If they showed up, and you jumped in with a carrier, unlikely they would say a thing.

But this is much better:

Don't you know that the cat owns you? The same can be said for the car.

We are similarly car-free and pet owning. We use hourcar for all of our non-bikeable errands.

Cat goes in the carrier, carrier goes in the trailer. Their annual appointment comes around when its still warm out, convenient. I'm sure they'd be fine in the cold for a short time, maybe with a blanket and a bag of something warm to be against.

My parents used to have a vet come to their house, pretty slick.

I have never owned a car, and I've had cats pretty much all of my adult life (12 years of that in Minneapolis). I've never had a problem taking a cat to the vet on the bus or taxi. As long as the cat's in a carrier, the drivers are fine with it. YMMV; since I always had a cat, all my apartments and my house have been on buslines with good vet access.

The emergency vet is less accessible, but I believe that if it is an emergency, it's worth leaning on people for a ride or getting a taxi.

When I have two cats, I take them to the vet one cat at a time.

There are also Vets who come to your home. I remembered seeing Caravan vet in my neighborhood which is what got me thinking about this.
From googling it, I found:

Several vets in the metro area also make house calls and the Animal Humane Society runs a mobile spay-neuter clinic.

http://caravanvet.com/index.html

http://www.localvets.com/services/mobil ... nneapolis/

http://www.truecompanionsvet.com/

Google has more but I figure you can search more on your own if you want.

Bill.

My current plan is to put them in a dog carrier, bolt the carrier to a big dummy side car, and cruise down to the vet. It's gonna be aaaaaahmazing.

If a cat likes being in the carrier, go for it.

However, if kitty doesn't? Terrified cats will express scent glands that are exceedingly stinky.

Whatever. Good luck smelling a kitty fart coming from behind you while you're both moving.

just put 'em on your shoulders

http://youtu.be/WTLsAnxUwzQ

Winner. I've heard of this kitteh before. So rad!

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm not so worried about this being a problem anymore.

Doing a traditional car rental (Enterprise, Avis, etc.) might make sense. It's relatively cheap and you get the car for a day so you can also plan a big Target and\or grocery run. Mrs. kn_mpls and I have one automobile to cart around kids and stuff. There are a few times a year where we need another car due to whatever schedule conflicts so I just rent one from the Enterprise downtown. WAY less $$$ than the cost of owning even a cheap second car. Depending on how far you need to go to the vet, it may even be less than a round trip cab fare.