Camping with a cat

[Susanmcnabb]

We camped in the woods ( no electricity or water) for 2 years with 4 cats and one chihuahua, cats loved it, dog hated it. This was in only a truck and camper shell.

[Mr Towed]

I LOVE this thread! As you can see in my signature we have 2 cats, Rhody and Hazy. We only recently got our trailer but we have wanted to have them with us on both of our trips. For one, because we love them and love having them near us, and because when they are home alone we have to use our remote feeder and hope the litterbox doesn't fill up and they don't knock over the water, etc. or we have to impose on someone to come by and check up on them. We would LOVE to have them with us, we try to make our little camper a home away from home, but one of the biggest things that means "home" to us is our cats. Our cats are strictly indoor cats. We have attempted to take them out on a harness and leash but it usually ends in trauma. Our biggest fear is one of them getting out of trailer and being lost. I can't even begin to explain how devastating that would be to us.
To me the fear is that; if a cat got out at home, they're still home, hopefully some treats will lure them back in. But if they got out somewhere else, they are not home and a trailer is not a natural place for them to try to return to if they got spooked and ran off.
Do any of you have cats that you worry about sneaking out as you come in the door? Do you have any methods to prevent this? Do your cats howl when you are out for the day and concern or annoy other campers? We intend to do some back yard sleepover tests to see how they fare and if we think it's worth trying to actually bring them on the road. We did bring them on a few car trips when they were kittens (about 4 hours) and they did pretty well but it's been a while. They are 2 years old now, but we're really hoping we can take them along and have a good time with them.

-Jeremy

[kcdelan]

Originally Posted by gsmith364

Attachment 181912

This is our cat Nellie. He’s awesome. He plays fetch, meets us at the door when we come home and loves to cuddle. He has been a blessing with dealing with my PTSD. He’s just great. We rescued him from under an abandoned mobile home when he was just 8 weeks old and I am absolutely in love with this cat.

We also love camping. We like to do week long or longer trips. We always have family come to the house to feed him but this apparently isn’t enough for him. It’s very obvious that it stresses him when we are away.

We would like to take him camping with us but don’t know how he would react. If anyone has any advise on camping with a cat I’d really appreciate it.

We had a Burmese for a number of years prior to getting into the RV lifestyle. Like your feline, he was very affectionate and required/demanded a lot of close contact with us and would run to greet us if we left him alone from any more than a couple of hours. Luckily, we had trained him to a harness and leash right from a kitten and taken him a few times for short trips in our car. It did take him a while to get used to travelling with us long distances when we RV'd but he got used to it quite quickly. The only thing that seemed to stress him was when we had to drive through any heavily high treed narrow roads and trestle structured bridges seemed to get him jumpy.

We are now on our second Burmese and once again a real affectionate "person cat"! This one is now 8 years old and just loves to travel. He is mostly an indoor feline but again we trained him to a harness and leash right from a kitten. He loves travelling so much so that when he hears the truck's Cummins engine fire up he is begging to climb aboard!

We keep his litter-box secured in the rear of the truck cab and usually only have to stop if he "2's it". (For obvious smelly reasons). Some pieces of advice are that some cats can get a bit stressed by changes in surroundings, so I would not advise letting it roam in unfamiliar places and perhaps take him on some fairly short trips, even if it's just in a car, to see how he reacts. One thing I can say is that I cannot travel alone with our cat unless he is caged up (which he doesn't like at all). He would get under my feet for sure and definitely interfere with my driving ability. We keep the harness and leash on him at all times when driving.

On a more humorous note, one problem we had, luckily just once, with our present cat, was when he was under 2 years old while travelling and making a long days drive down I-5 from Corning to Bakersfield, CA, the little blighter was laying across the centre consul with his rear end hanging over my right thigh, he got so relaxed that he had a sudden bout of incontinence!! I got a sudden warm, wet feeling on my leg! My DW thought it was funny until I told her that I would tell everyone that we had gotten ourselves an incontinent Cat!!

Enjoy your Feline Travels.......

[CharSolera]

My two Catpanions, Purrl and Lucy are fulltimers. When we travel, they ride in the cabover with a screen across to keep them up there (class c). When we stop and I'm set up, they're eager to come down and see where they are.

I keep a frame outfitted with bird netting on the stairs to keep them away from the door. The screen door has a small hook and eye catch to keep it latched even if the balance on the frame over the stairs and lean on the screen door.

Last thing. I use the Breeze liter system by Tidy Cat. No sand in my rig and no smell.

[Mark Ulmer]

We have 2 cats and we take them with us camping all the time. They love it! They're indoor cats, so they just hang out in the camper--we don't let them outside. While on the road, they travel in their carriers on the floor in the back seat of the pickup. (There's only 2 of us, so we keep the back seats folded up. There's sometimes a little bit of protesting when we're first starting out, but they usually settle down pretty quickly and tolerate the ride pretty well. We have learned to keep the AC on in the TV set pretty cold (even if we don't need it that cold) and make sure the cold air jets in the back row are pointed in their direction so they don't get too hot. When we stop, we carry them into the TT and let them out for a few minutes so they can have some food, water and use the litter box if needed. One thing I would recommend is to get a top-entry litter box. There is much less litter thrown around (and it's much easier to keep it swept up) with a top-entry box. We use this one. They got used to it pretty quickly. By all means, take your cats and enjoy their company.

[beechjet16mf]

We have a 35,000 mile Russian Blue cat, and travel all the time with her. She is an indoor cat and never causes any problem. She is a sweetheart.

[frogsandhogs]

We traveled with our cat for many years. Took her out on leash and harness at almost every stop. Her litter box (covered type) traveled under the dinette. No, there was no odor while eating. Scoopable litter and frequent scooping made sure of that. One of her beds was under the foot of our bed in the bedroom. When the slideout was closed during travel, that made her a "cave". If we were stopped for a long period while hot, we either put frozen water jugs in the cave area, or we ran generator and a/c. Mostly, with windows open and super fan vent running, the floor of the motorhome stayed quite comfortable. Each morning, when we started out, she had to ride in the passengers lap to make sure we were heading in the right direction!

[AubreyE]

Look up Nomadic Fanatic on YouTube to see hundreds of videos of how Eric travels fulltime with his cat Jax in a 25' class C.

[Marianne]

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[lucky55616]

We have 2 cats that have traveled with us everywhere since we got our RV 4 years ago. As soon as we start the engine they run to the back and hide under the bed and stay there until we get where we are going. We have their litter boxes, food and water right next to the bed while traveling so they have easy access when hiding under the bed. They mainly like to stay up on the over cab bunk once we are parked.

[18CrewDually]

So far one trip under our belt with our 2 kittens. I found these 2 at work on a rainy night. They were very lucky the coyote didn't find them before I did.
Not a single issue that trip. If we went out they were kept in the travel kennel so they couldn't get into trouble with our two dogs.
I don't think they're coming on any future trips though, since the dogs are enough.

[mlatter]

I don't believe I've been camping in the last 20 years without some feline companionship. We let the cats travel in the trailer now, and they just sleep on the bed. I have a remote camera so I can see what's going on... and nothing is ever going on except sleep. We let them outside with a harness when we're in a campground, and they really enjoy that. We live in Nova Scotia and travel to Florida at least once a year, and the cats take it in stride. They love to roll around on the hot concrete when we get there. This is our beautiful pure white cat Marbles, after finding her concrete...

[kittlecat]

Depending on the cat, I have found an enclosed pet stroller to be absolutely invaluable. My cats have LOVED being in the stroller. I started with a pretty cheap pet stroller and have moved up to a higher end one that can go off road since I'm a hiker and runner. My cats so much enjoy being in the stroller that if I am outside the camper, the cat is outside in his stroller. I've taken my cat to craft shows in his stroller! Just add a catnip toy and we are great to go

[BooBoo23]

We have 2 that have traveled with us for 5 years now. They are a little anxious when we first leave but after that they are settled in for their naps. They do get a little rowdy at night and chase each other around. Cats have basic needs, food, water, litter box and a place to sleep. They like to look out the window and watch the wildlife but have no desire to get out.

One caution when traveling with cats, keep storage compartment doors closed or they will get in and hide. We thought our big boy (22lbs) got out one time, we looked everywhere for him. Turns out he got in a open storage compartment, went through a hole in the back of it where a hole was made for wiring and got behind the converter under the frig and from there through another hole into the power cord storage area. Lucky for us his little girl companion was looking for him also and kept looking at a panel next to the frig, he had never made a sound. I took the screws out and removed the panel and he came calmly waltzing out looking for a little food. That relaxed the DW.

[helferdm]

Go for it. We travel for six months at a time with two 12 year-old cats who have journeyed in two motorhomes. They're fine with it. We keep them caged in a big dog kennel with their litter while on the road. Ours are strictly indoor animals.

[brydle604]

Originally Posted by gsmith364

Attachment 181912

This is our cat Nellie. He’s awesome. He plays fetch, meets us at the door when we come home and loves to cuddle. He has been a blessing with dealing with my PTSD. He’s just great. We rescued him from under an abandoned mobile home when he was just 8 weeks old and I am absolutely in love with this cat.

We also love camping. We like to do week long or longer trips. We always have family come to the house to feed him but this apparently isn’t enough for him. It’s very obvious that it stresses him when we are away.

We would like to take him camping with us but don’t know how he would react. If anyone has any advise on camping with a cat I’d really appreciate it.

If you go camping with your cat buy an electronic collar locator. Our cat got out once and my heart was in my mouth. I could not find her and after hours of looking for her I found her up underneath the Motorhome.

After that terrifying experience I used an electronic finder.

I felt the same as you towards this cat who was my constant companion.

She was 17 years old and I had to recently put her down as she had stage four kidney disease.

I cannot express how much I and my wife miss her.

[ronnieapple]

We have taken 2, 2 week trips, and a number of weekend trips with our cat. As another member related, out cat also spends the first hour being a little unsettled, but we keep her on a lead in the TV, also have a soft sided carrier for her. If we need to stop while traveling, we put her in the TT, and open a couple windows for ventilation. She then has access to food, water and litter box. We have a 20 foot lead we use to let her outside at campsites. She is fine with this. We have numerous places we can attach it to. We have found she likes to sit in an upper cabinet above the bed, so we leave space for her and the door open when we are in a campground. We also leave a shade or two open where she can look outside. We have a front kitchen, with an outside access door under the sink. We have a small, round litter box there, and can clean it from the outside. We just leave the inside door open for her, and not a problem. She can always sense when we are getting ready for a trip, and never wants to be left behind! She did get loose once in a campground, but she stayed close to the trailer, and eventually came to us. Good luck. We wouldn't travel without her.

[groomn]

We camp with 2 Siamese they stayed as kittens! They do really good in the camper, litter box, scratching post, and lots of beds! For travel they are in their crate and yes they can get vocal but other wise good. When we stop they get moved to the camper, it doesn’t get too hot for them! Currently we are just being our first long trip, 2000 Miles. The first 300 they were great, day two the male is very vocal!
I love taking them with us and on a whole I think they like it too! They don’t try to get out even when we have the deck of our toyhauler out! They are now 12 years old😻

[Mr Towed]

Originally Posted by brydle604

If you go camping with your cat buy an electronic collar locator. Our cat got out once and my heart was in my mouth. I could not find her and after hours of looking for her I found her up underneath the Motorhome.

After that terrifying experience I used an electronic finder.

I felt the same as you towards this cat who was my constant companion.

She was 17 years old and I had to recently put her down as she had stage four kidney disease.

I cannot express how much I and my wife miss her.

I'd love to know if you have a locator collar you recommend.

I'm sorry for your loss, some people can't relate but I know how you feel. We had to say goodbye to our beloved Ishi after only 9 short years after she got cancer in her ear. It was an extremely trying ordeal and surgery did not help, if I could go back I wouldn't have gone through with the surgery, it was a terrible experience for her, but you never know.
It's been over 2 years now but i'm fighting back tears as I write this. We have 2 cats now that we love dearly, of course, but we will always miss her.

-Jeremy

[67L48]

I can advise by giving advice, but I can never give or offer a person advise. ;-)

As others state, anything can be done. I love cats and prefer them to dogs (though I love dogs, too). I like the wild nature of a cat, the inquisitive curiosity and playfulness, and the relative ease of ownership.

I wouldn't do it because I don't camp for long enough periods of time to make it worth while. I also have cats that hate to travel in the car. My cats would be pretty terrified on a camping trip. These are very specific personal conditions, as are the bulk of what I've read in this thread.

I see people with cats at campgrounds and have even seen a few on leashes. So, definitely, anything can be done. It all depends on your particular cat.

I see tons and tons of temporary dog fence solutions at campgrounds. Presumably, this could be done for cats, though it would require taller fencing and a more rigorous treatment of seams, doors, and connection points.

Good luck.