Traveling with a cat

[Air99]

During our 2 month cross country travel, Mia our cat took a liking to scratching the suede covering near the back window, she liked it surface vertical and refused to use the small flat scratch pad we bought for her. Not wanting to see further damage to the interior walls, I came up with this idea and built one right in Home Depot parking lot northwest of Boston. I used Gorilla tape with sticky side facing out held down by another layer facing in, lengthwise, these helped keep the hemp rope (3/8" x 50ft) to stay on the aluminum pole better with electrical tapes bound on both ends. What a relief to see Mia took a liking to it immediately just after I finished it. We left the pole in place for the rest of the trip.

[AtomicNo13]

No cat....

[Protagonist]

I'll have to give that a try for my cat. She doesn't scratch the imitation mouse fur on the walls, but she's already put some claw holes in the seat upholstery, which to my mind is even worse!

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

I'll have to give that a try for my cat. She doesn't scratch the imitation mouse fur on the walls, but she's already put some claw holes in the seat upholstery, which to my mind is even worse!

Fortunately, my traveling cat doesn't mind having her claws trimmed. I trim them front and rear immediately before taking her in the AI. No damage, so far.

[S.Duckling]

That's a great idea. Mia is a luck cat. How has she done on your travels?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Pahaska

Fortunately, my traveling cat doesn't mind having her claws trimmed. I trim them front and rear immediately before taking her in the AI. No damage, so far.

Mine doesn't mind having the front claws trimmed, but she will tear hide off in long bloody strips from anyone trying to trim her rear claws!

[rmkrum]

Yup. Cats do most of their serious defensive fighting with rear claws...not surprising they are touchy about them.

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Mine doesn't mind having the front claws trimmed, but she will tear hide off in long bloody strips from anyone trying to trim her rear claws!

On my last traveling cat, I glued SoftClaws (or maybe SoftPaws, I can't remember) on the front claws. They are plastic sheaths that glue on the claw with super glue. When applied to a trimmed claw, they last about a month before they get too long and have to be trimmed off. I used them on her from when she was a kitten and she gave me no trouble when I put them on. She died at 12 with liver cancer.

My current cat is a 2 1/2-year-old Pixie-Bob (photo). I started trimming her claws when she was very young; she is used to it and gives me no trouble.

[Air99]

Originally Posted by S.Duckling

That's a great idea. Mia is a luck cat. How has she done on your travels?

Yes she sure is happier with the scratching pole, always being an indoor cat but now she gets to play outdoors when we camped in state parks, but it took several weeks of trial runs to get her to calm down enough to be let out of her carrying case while we are driving. With her presence it sure felt like home for my wife, which was VERY important for our long trips!

[Air99]

Mia eyes conveyed pure fright and terror when we first introduced her to Dumbo our RV!!!

[Protagonist]

Sylvia likes to camp in the Airstream Interstate. Lots of windows for her to look outside! Unfortunately, she is still miserable in the Airstream when it's moving. But it will be about 1100 miles before I get home again, so she will either get used to it or I'll have to trank her. Time will tell.

I carry an octagonal mesh playpen that I can put her in outside, when the temperature is cool enough. This is the largest one I could find: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It's large enough that I can put in a tray of kitty litter, food and water dishes, and a pet bed, and Sylvia still has room to move around.

I slipped an outdoor temperature sensor from a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer into a mesh pocket on the side of Sylvia's playpen to make sure she doesn't get overheated. At the campground I'm currently at, the temperature on the pavement under the awning has reached a little over 100°F by mid-morning, so she hasn't been able to use the playpen until about 6:00pm when evening shade has moderated the temperature.

I was glad to have the playpen when Sylvia came face-to-face with a bold and curious racoon at Fontainebleu State Park on her first-ever outing, luckily on opposite sides of the playpen mesh!

[m.hony]

One cat was previously de-clawed.
Another we trimmed her toenails almost weekly.

[dcasr]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Sylvia likes to camp in the Airstream Interstate. Lots of windows for her to look outside! Unfortunately, she is still miserable in the Airstream when it's moving. But it will be about 1100 miles before I get home again, so she will either get used to it or I'll have to trank her. Time will tell.

I carry an octagonal mesh playpen that I can put her in outside, when the temperature is cool enough. This is the largest one I could find: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It's large enough that I can put in a tray of kitty litter, food and water dishes, and a pet bed, and Sylvia still has room to move around.

I slipped an outdoor temperature sensor from a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer into a mesh pocket on the side of Sylvia's playpen to make sure she doesn't get overheated. At the campground I'm currently at, the temperature on the pavement under the awning has reached a little over 100°F by mid-morning, so she hasn't been able to use the playpen until about 6:00pm when evening shade has moderated the temperature.

I was glad to have the playpen when Sylvia came face-to-face with a bold and curious racoon at Fontainebleu State Park on her first-ever outing, luckily on opposite sides of the playpen mesh!

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Our cat is a Siberian Forest Cat and overheats quickly what with a triple coat for those Siberian winters. Sasha Selenga rides on the console directly in front of the AC vents blowing cold air in our GMC crewcab. When we go into a restaurant to eat we use the diesel restart feature to keep the engine running, and have to do one restart half way thru lunch. If we eat in a rest stop we take her back with us to the AS and she is under a fantastic fan.

She likes our floor mat by the AS door for scratching, and we keep her nails trimmed and her fur brushed so she and we are all comfortable. The Siberians would overheat quickly in 90+ temps or direct sunlight, so we have to be careful with her, but she loves the routine and settles right in, with a sandbox in the AS and one on the rear floor of the GMC crewcab. Cats don't generally don't have to be walked like dogs, but ours insists on three walks a day on a leash unless the temps are high. She seems to know.

[Pahaska]

Traveling with a cat in an Interstate brings up some new problems that we did not encounter in our nearly 20 years of towing a trailer.

1. Open rear doors. The cat is temporarily locked in the bathroom on arrival and departure from RV parks so that we can have the rear doors open for significant periods. I usually get the folding chairs out and slip them under the rig rather than have to open the rear doors additional times.
   
2. The sliding door. My cat is faster than greased lightning and I worry about her dashing for the slot at the bottom just as I slam the door shut (and I do have to slam our door since the inside upholstery contacts the chair and bathroom corner.) I have considered designing a partial screen to cover the area behind the CS second row chair so that she could not dash behind the chair and get caught by the door.
   
3. The sliding door can not be left open (no screen on the 2014.5 years). Using the front doors only is almost impossible with the front chairs rotated.

My previous cat would stand in the trailer door and patiently wait for me to snap her leash on her harness. She would not leave the trailer except on a leash and then she would walk like a dog. Cats like that are rare.

[S.Duckling]

Originally Posted by dcasr

_______________



Our cat is a Siberian Forest Cat and overheats quickly what with a triple coat for those Siberian winters. Sasha Selenga rides on the console directly in front of the AC vents blowing cold air in our GMC crewcab. When we go into a restaurant to eat we use the diesel restart feature to keep the engine running, and have to do one restart half way thru lunch. If we eat in a rest stop we take her back with us to the AS and she is under a fantastic fan.



She likes our floor mat by the AS door for scratching, and we keep her nails trimmed and her fur brushed so she and we are all comfortable. The Siberians would overheat quickly in 90+ temps or direct sunlight, so we have to be careful with her, but she loves the routine and settles right in, with a sandbox in the AS and one on the rear floor of the GMC crewcab. Cats don't generally don't have to be walked like dogs, but ours insists on three walks a day on a leash unless the temps are high. She seems to know.

We have a Siberian named Sulley. We have him groomed during the summer. He is a lot happier. He has such a beautiful coat, and I hate to cut it but he does seem much more comfortable.

[S.Duckling]

Originally Posted by S.Duckling

We have a Siberian named Sulley. We have him groomed during the summer. He is a lot happier. He has such a beautiful coat, and I hate to cut it but he does seem much more comfortable. Attachment 295035

He looks a little goofy but that matches his personality

[bibbs]

This's a great thread! Once I get parked, we let our cats out, they go under the trailer and check around for dogs, if they see one they seem to tell if it's on a leash. they will crouch in the grass or roll on some concrete. We watch them carefully, call them back if they go to far. So far no one has said anything about not having a leash on them. They have been on camping trips with us for 10 years now.

[m.hony]

We had a harness and leash for our cat, but never had to use them.

[dcasr]

Originally Posted by S.Duckling

We have a Siberian named Sulley. We have him groomed during the summer. He is a lot happier. He has such a beautiful coat, and I hate to cut it but he does seem much more comfortable. Attachment 295035

_____________________

Sasha Selenga likes to roll on the concrete when she can, and eat grass. She really likes to go for walks so she can check out the new neighborhood, check any pee-mail, and eat a few nibbles of grass, and this three times a day. Doesn't bother her digestion, so what the heck.

Our d-i-l is a great vet and offered to give Sasha a trim like your Sulley, as she had already done it for a Maine Coon Cat, Mr. Boudreaux, who lives in the clinic, but we declined in favor of a good de-thatching of the dense undercoat. We've never had such an affectionate cat....and she wants to meet everyone, climb up on them, and give them licks.

[S.Duckling]

Originally Posted by dcasr

_____________________



Sasha Selenga likes to roll on the concrete when she can, and eat grass. She really likes to go for walks so she can check out the new neighborhood, check any pee-mail, and eat a few nibbles of grass, and this three times a day. Doesn't bother her digestion, so what the heck.



Our d-i-l is a great vet and offered to give Sasha a trim like your Sulley, as she had already done it for a Maine Coon Cat, Mr. Boudreaux, who lives in the clinic, but we declined in favor of a good de-thatching of the dense undercoat. We've never had such an affectionate cat....and she wants to meet everyone, climb up on them, and give them licks.

Suberians are amazing kitties. I'm sorry I took over this thread with photos of my cat's haircut. I don't even own an interstate. But i do love my kitties. I am so glad that so many Airstreamers love their kitties, too![emoji74]