Community Forums

Bigd9 · 04-23-2018, 05:29 PM

We travel with two cats and a dog. When the engine starts, the cats hide behind the couch and Hershey sits next to the copilot seat waiting for his harness to be connected to the belt anchor.

THe cats have their own space where they can get away from "that dog", and Hershey has his bed and toy drawer.

Before we open the door we always do a Cat Count to make sure we know where they are.

grindstone01 · 04-23-2018, 05:30 PM

We started full timing 6 years ago and took our 2 house cats with us. On a pre trip run, we took both cats in cages in our pickup and they were very unhappy, meowed, pooped, peed and were just a PITA. So when we finally left on our journey, we put both cats in the FW and declared the next time they came out they would be on a stretcher. For the next 5 years they did fine until the stretcher was needed. Our new rescue cat was given a chance to ride in the truck and she liked it, even stays in her cage with the door open, except when we are eating, then she comes out to investigate. It all depends on the cat, they will let you know what works for them.

harleyjt · 04-23-2018, 05:48 PM

Neither of our boys likes it when the house starts moving. Both head under the DW seat and stay there until the house stops moving. Then all is good. As soon as we stop, out they come. Litter box is in bathroom under the sink cabinet.

We do have some "kitty downers" the vet gave us if we need them. Typically we use them the 2nd night as they want to sleep all day and then screw with us all night. Don't know what the stuff is, but it works well and allows the wife and me a full night's sleep.

jt

Unicorn Driver · 04-24-2018, 06:43 AM

Thanks all for posting.
I will ask the vet about something to calm them down.

LynnD · 04-24-2018, 01:21 PM

FYI-you can try Bach Flower, often sold under the name "Rescue Remedy". Also Jackson Galaxy has homeopathic drops that will help keep things calm. We usually add it to their food and water starting about a few days before the trip. Half of ours are fine with it, half not so fine, we do have them crated when on the road, out of fear that accidents happen. We have a new rescue, so now travel with 9 kitties. Sadly we just lost our 19 year old love bird.

Forkyfork · 04-24-2018, 01:41 PM

I have 7 cats but only one travels with us. We aren't gone for more than 3 nights and the other cats are fine. The one that travels with us is geriatric and needs to have meds each day.

I got this the other day to help with our geriatric cats anxiety at night when camping. She is very restless and anxious. To see how effective it would be I tried it on my insane Torbie feral female that lives in her own room. She had been fine for years and one day slipped off the edge of reality and became paranoid and had to be kept away from the other cats. We tried prozac and if I remember correctly buspar. We have tried to have her come out into the house and sit with us but over time even that was impossible and would lead to growling for no reason.

Anyway we gave her two of these chews and let her sit for 20 minutes and brought her out into the living room to sit next to us. She settled in and chilled for about an hour. Even seeing her brother which she has a seething fear of didn't set her off. She protested a little when we went to take her back but nothing like the growling and explosiveness usually involved in getting her back to her room.

This stuff works https://www.walmart.com/ip/VetriScie...&wl13=&veh=sem

Funding Fun · 04-24-2018, 01:52 PM

"The Siamese runs for the bed and hides under the bedspread until we reach the campground"

If I could just get my wife to do this!!

wildtoad · 04-24-2018, 01:53 PM

One of the reasons we bought the model we did was for the bunk beds. Not for grand kids (we don’t have any) but for a place to put one dog kennel, and one larger cat cage to include room for cat, litter box, and place to sit/sleep. We are going to put this to the real test shortly when we take two dogs (one less than 6 months) and one old mostly antisocial cat.

The first time we took the cat along before the current dogs, we found we needed to seal the area under the sliding bed in the bedroom. She liked to get under there and not come out. Guess she felt safe. Got and cut to size some pool noodles. Problem solved.

We also found we needed to cover the sofa arms as she like to get on them. She has no front claws but still has the back ones, and they do like to dig into the faux leather. She also likes to get back of and under the sofa, but that’s fine.

Normally our trips are less than or around two weeks in which case, the cat stays home, on her own. We leave a very large litter box, big bowl of dry cat food, and water supply. When we return I (my cat) have to go clean up the litter box area, hunt for the inevitable hair ball, and sundry affects of her being by herself.

She is always happy to see us... Well not so much the dogs...

Unicorn Driver · 04-25-2018, 07:10 AM

Thanks all,

All great information and advice.

RV_Fan33 · 04-26-2018, 08:34 AM

Thanks for all the great info!

Radacravitz · 05-12-2018, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

I take all six of mine, was seven but one had intestional lymphoma.

I always get a kick out of your dashboard cats, thx for posting!

J Birder · 05-12-2018, 07:27 AM

Our two cats enjoy sitting out in a camp site with us. If I holler "Who wants to go out," they both run to the door. They very quickly learn the boundaries of each new site, and they respond to the command "Go Home." One of them responds right away. The other one will run under the 5er to the other side. When I go to get her, she darts back under again. When I get back, she'll be sitting on the top step, looking smug.

We've had to buy a third camp chair for one of them. The other has found a more interesting place to take a nap.

I built a screened in "catio," so they can go outside whenever they want to. Since these photos were taken, I've modified it with a sloped roof, so I no longer get a shower when taking it down. It stores on the back bumper when er're traveling.

Joel

Teamfoxy · 05-12-2018, 03:39 PM

When we had our TT we started keeping them in their carriers in the back seat of the F-150. Then I had the idea to make a mesh cage that took up the back seat. They liked that much better, but it was always a hassle rounding them up in the morning to bring them to the truck.
Now we have a class C which they really seem to like. I made cutouts in the dinette seats near the outside wall so that they had places to hide. That seems to be the favored spot for travel although they occasionally venture onto the seats that face backwards. They seem to know where they will not get thrown around in sudden stops. When we have been at home for a while, one of them gets car sick the first day out. After that the motion does not seem to bother her.
In camp, they like to sit on the back of the rear sofa where they can see out of the windows, or sometimes on the dinette table. They have not yet found the dashboard and fortunately they have never tried to run outside at the camp site in the all the years they have been RVing. This is a good thing because you can't keep them in a harness for more than a minute. We did try one of the mesh tents so they could be outside, but they hated that idea and couldn't wait to get back inside.
The litter box goes in the shower and we made a tray from 40 mil vinyl that covers the whole shower floor so that any stray litter does not find its way into the drain.