Cat on the Road

[Aage]

Originally Posted by ewor

I'm looking for some advise. My husband and I are purchasing a 2013 27FB. We are having a home built so we are planning the next 12 months (+or-) traveling. We have one dog, who travels everywhere with us, and one indoor/outdoor 14 year old cat.

I wonder if it's just too late in your cat's life to ask her to take on as radical a change as you have. But if you find that your training works, well, good for you; ignore the rest of this post.

But any experience I have had with "indoor/outdoor" cats has been that they really aren't interested in changing their life that much for you.

If it becomes evident that such is the case for your kitty, another choice could be to find a friend or relative that is willing to take her in while you are away. It could be a much more humane and less stressful answer to your question than forcing her to travel might be.

I don't know what the equivalent age 14 years is in cat years, but I'm sure it's a lot! Personally, I wouldn't rule out letting her "board" with someone you know will take good care of her while you are out travelling the planet and she is living out the balance of her life in a way she enjoys!

Just a thought...

[Janet H]

Folks - several offtopic posts have been removed from this thread - please stick the subject at hand: Airstreaming with a cat. Thanks for understanding.

[ewor]

Thanks Aage. I definitely have thought the same. I do worry that it will be difficult for her to adjust. I have thought about having her stay with someone for the year, but there just isn't anyone that I would leave her with. She is so connected to us, and Penny, our dog that I feel like she must come. I guess we will just take all necessary steps to make her comfortable in the TV ahead of time, and see how it goes. She doesn't panic in the car like other cats we have had, so maybe she will end up enjoying it. I can only hope! I'm ordering the soft carrier and will work on her getting used to that on our bed first. Thanks for all the input. I'll keep you posted.

[$hide]

Hmm, our indoor/outdoor cat traveled inside both our trailers for over ten years. Granted we were not traveling daily, we were full-time workcampers. Our first trailer was a SOB with cross-cross triple bunks in the rear bedroom and she just crawled into her usual sleeping place, the small foot area of the bottom bunk. Later in our Airstream she rode/slept under the gaucho. Never sick and never any accidents. Unfortunately whilst sitting on my mother's deck one of her neighbor's dogs came in the fenced yard and onto the deck and killed her back in 2005.

[Gneiss Guy]

We travel with two house/trailer cats. One is a good traveler, the other ... not so much. We tried them loose in the TV, but in harnesses, with leases attached and held by the wife, so they would not bother me driving. One died on the console between us, while the other paced, crawled under the seat, climbed on top of the head-rests, etc, mostly while vocalizing her protests. What seems to bother both of them the most is looking out the side windows. Trees and buildings and trucks zipping by is something they just can't fathom and it really bugs them.

After a few trips this way, we decided to keep them in a carrier. They both use the same carrier with no squabbling, as they are sisters who often sleep in the same bed. They complain a bit at first, but usually soon settle down and doze. We take them into the trailer for a potty break and a snack, while we have lunch. The biggest problem is rounding them up to reinstall them in the carrier. We now know their hiding places and have modified things so we can retrieve them when ready to go back to the T.V.

Sure it's trouble, but one of the reasons for buying the AS was to be able to travel with our pets. We couldn't consider carrying them in the trailer, as it simply gets too hot there in summer and too cold when we travel in winter.

If push comes to shove, you can always resort to drugs. We find that a bit of catnip imparts a somewhat mellow mood and "hard drugs" are available from your vet. Good luck with your kitty. Our girls make us laugh a lot and that earns their place in our rig.

Richard

[RareStream]

Originally Posted by Gneiss Guy

If push comes to shove, you can always resort to drugs.

What a GREAT signature!!!

lol

[Julie-Bob]

We have one dog and 4 cats when we went full time. We travel a lot during that time. Cat box always in shower. Traveling went it was hot cats and small cat box in crate in rear seat of truck went not hot

[Julie-Bob]

Traveling, when it was hot the cats were in a crate in the back seat of the truck , we had a small kitty litter box in it also, when we stop we made sure they had water while the dog and us got out and walked. While stopped for the night or longer, cats had the run of the trailer. We had no problems with the cats or dog. We are down to one dog and one cat now but we yet travel about 4 to 5 months a year. 25FB Classic. #5587

[Etonnement]

Howdy, first post!

We just started full-timing with a cat and dog in our 22’ Sport and it’s been fine. Having a cat be okay with travel I think is primarily a familiarity issue— most cats spend most of their time in one territory and don’t have a framework for change of setting. Admittedly, we started him young taking him on hiking/climbing trips so he’s used to going into ‘passenger mode’, where he knows he’s just along for the ride. We’ve even taken him canoe camping a few times and (as long as there aren’t motorboats nearby) he pretty well takes care of himself, we keep him on a lead and it’s just like bringing another bag along. (Admittedly it probably helps he’s had his dog to look to for the ‘it’s okay to be calm’ signal)

I think the 5min car trips are a good idea, but working into much longer ones would be really helpful, so he has time to settle down and not worry about ‘what happens next.’ We still keep his soft carrier in the car open, so even if he doesn’t spend much time there, he still knows there’s a safe place to return to— having an escape plan is a vital part of a cat’s mental health.

As for other practical things,
We keep his litter box in the shower for now, on a layered litter mat.
For when we’re away, we have a smart temperature/humidity sensor from SensorPush connected via mobile hotspot, so we can check how hot or cold it is inside via their super neat app. It can even send you alerts if it goes above or below a designated temperature, so if the AC goes out or something while we’re away, we’ll know to get back to the animals. It’s been super fascinating comparing using the AC or vent fan to the temperature outside!

Your cat’ll be fine, you’re on the right track.