Anybody RV with a Cat?

[C5c5]

Originally Posted by CBDunkerson

I'm planning to RV part time later this year and hoping to move in to full timing after that, but have wondered how my cat will take to it.



Burglar was an outdoor cat who broke in to my house one night by crawling under the deck and pushing the dryer vent into the house so he could jump down through its exit hole. I tried for months to get him to stay indoors, but he always found (or made) some way out. He once woke me up meowing outside my bedroom window... on the third floor. I still have no idea how he got out/up there. Best I can estimate, he's about 12 years old now, and content to spend most of his time indoors. However, he still likes to go out every day, especially if it is sunny.



Thus, I'd worry that he would 'escape' and I wouldn't be able to find him. The other issue is that every time I have taken him in the car he has cried non-stop the entire way. That might be because we were always going to the vet, which he hates, but doesn't seem like a good sign.



Any tips on helping a cat that is afraid of cars adapt to RVing and/or preventing a houdini cat from wanting to break out?

With Hoops & Perry, this last fall when the weather was nice, I would bring them out with me in the coach while I tinkered around. I'd bring one of their litterboxes with for practicality and something that they would associate with a familiar scent. Id make sure to cuddle & play with them when they were satisfied with exploring.

They loved it. I would bring them out to the coach daily for a couple of hours until the weather got cold.

Come spring I'll resume the conditioning.
Once the coach is finished with all the mods I am doing, Ill start sleeping overnight with them in it.

Then Ill turn on the engine and just let it idle for small periods of time till they get used to that. Then we will progress to taking very short and smooth trips with them.

By then I am hoping they should be acclimated to living in the RV. I have until end of next summer so there will be alot of time.

[KC593]

Originally Posted by jkkinder

Anybody RV with a Cat? Lots of comments about dog problems but haven't seen anything on cats. Any suggestions? We have a kennel we can zip her into but does anyone have any other suggestions of "need to have" equipment before we start our journey? Any great ideas or where to put the cat box. Thinking of doing some mods to accommodate out of the way spot for the litter box but not sure if she will use box in a dark spot? Any experiences?

So we are fairly new to this whole thing but here is what we do. We have a 34 foot Fleetwood Bounder w/1 bath and keep the cat box in there, yes its a bit of a pain but there aren't a lot of good options for us. We made a copy of all the medical records and keep those stored in a safe place that we can get to if we need to make a trip to the vet. You also have to be careful, cats are escape artists, so you need to make sure you close doors behind you. If you have a coach with slides, gather your pets up so they don't get crushed. We travel with 2 cats and 1 is always underfoot, the other will go missing from time to time. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but take it from me, we went from 5-7 international trips a year where we had to leave the kids (cats) at home to giving that up just so we could take them with us. They love going and we love having them around. Just be careful and you will have a blast. Btw- We have a pet stroller and take them for daily walks, they love it! We lost our lab about 3 years ago and still stings when I think of hm, but once we upgrade to a DP with moe room, we are going to get a new dog so he/she can join us on our trips.

[C5c5]

Originally Posted by KC593

Btw- We have a pet stroller and take them for daily walks, they love it!

I like that idea. A stroller for the kitties. Do they try to escape the stroller ever?

[tommar]

Y'all have given me some ideas on traveling with cats. Especially with litter boxes. Rascal is a rascal and has terrible aim. So he uses one of those plastic storage boxes like what you get at Walmart. But it's big and takes up a lot of space. Anyways, your ideas are helpful.

[Segrieve]

Originally Posted by jkkinder

Anybody RV with a Cat? Lots of comments about dog problems but haven't seen anything on cats. Any suggestions? We have a kennel we can zip her into but does anyone have any other suggestions of "need to have" equipment before we start our journey? Any great ideas or where to put the cat box. Thinking of doing some mods to accommodate out of the way spot for the litter box but not sure if she will use box in a dark spot? Any experiences?

We travel back and forth where we renting a spot for our RV and back home. We purchased a Pet Tube...many different sizes/prices to choose from. Two cats travel in our Class A 29'...pet tube is on sofa. When we travel home pet tube is in the back seat of our Honda Accord.

Walky Tunnel Pet Tube, Car Kennel Crate, Automotive Pet Containment Barrier Kennel, Soft Pet Crate, Large, 47" L x 24" Round, Universal Fit
by Walky Travel Tunnel

[MyNomadLife]

Originally Posted by txcpl

We travel with our cat. At home he is an indoor/outdoor cat. On the road we do not let him outside. When traveling, we normally have him caged. When stopped, we let him roam the RV. He does very well, except he becomes very needy. He wants attention! Lots of petting and purring. His favorite perch is in the front window watching the world go by. We had to be inventive for his litter box placement. Our rig has a sliding door to the closet so I cut and stained some 1"x2" pieces of wood which we lay in the track of the sliding door cut to the length where the cat can get through the door partly slid open, but the dogs cannot get to the cat box. We keep the litter box cleaned out frequently. We can not imagine traveling without our cat Max.

I know this is an old post but I’m in the same boat. I’m going full time in a month. I can’t leave my black cat behind but he is an indoor outdoor cat. I know we’ll be fine when moochdocking. But how do campgrounds feel about cats roaming?

[NCPearlie]

Even though you may think it would be good for your cat to roam while your'e at a campground, it's a really bad idea. There are dogs that people let hang out without a leash in their campsite (that could be fatal), traffic that could be dangerous, and dangers in certain parts of the country (snakes, coyotes, etc). You can try keeping your cat in an enclosure of some kind in your campsite. You could use a collapsible crate (with small grating) or a mesh enclosure made for cats to enjoy the outdoors (Amazon sells many different types of these). Of course, the alternative is to teach your cat to live indoors. To do that you may need calming pheromones (like Feliway), Sscat to shoot air when it is approached (such as near the door), or some other method.

We used a combination of Feliway and Sscat for our 2 indoor/outdoor cats in our motorhome. By far the best deterrent to rushing the door was when they went outside on leashes and harnesses and loud trucks/trains went by. They were terrified and it was a lesson they learned quickly. We didn't intend it to be a lesson, but it worked out. After that, they rarely wanted out the door. Now we keep a can of compressed air (for cleaning out computer keyboards) near the door and give them a shot toward the steps if they get too close or appear interested in exiting the RV.

If you really love your cats, please do not let them roam away from home. You will eventually have a lost cat or a bad experience that requires a local vet. Happy traveling.

[NCPearlie]

We did about the same conditioning for our cats a few months prior to taking off on a 4 month loop of the country. I worked pretty well, but they never got over the hatred of the coach moving under their feet and all the sounds that are inherent in RV travel. They were always in a harness, leashed to a sofa leg when we were moving. Most of the time they stayed under the sofa while we traveled. I hope your kitties got used to travel better than ours did. They did fine when we got settled, but they never got comfortable with travel.

[NorthernDriv]

Taken from someone on this site - Disconnect the devise that secures the Screen Door to the Main Door, that way when you open the Main Door the Screen Door remains closed. No Kittys will escape!