Cats????

PS - It's true about cats fitting in small place. Leave no drawer open! Our Fred got into the drawer under the dining table & disappeared. Fortunately, shaking the kibble brought him out in a flash. You have to make sure they don't get into any crevices. It's like constantly having a toddler onboard. You have to think of their safety at all times. We were only able to crack windows open on nice days out of fear they'd pop the screens out.

I agree with what people said. Depends on the cat(s). We spent a winter in AZ with our 3 cats who are all related - GrMa, mom, & son - plus our 2 toy dogs. It wasn't easy. We took in the homeless cats & love them but it would have been easier not to have them along. We had no one to leave them with & couldn't afford 4 mos of boarding. We only told the park about the 2 dogs & were afraid we'd be kicked out the whole time. Husband made us keep our blinds closed. I bought 3 BIG canvas kennels & we took each cat for a ride in the RV alone in prep. They howled but we figured it wouldn't last. When we actually took off for AZ, each was in their own kennel. We let them out one at a time. I was afraid they'd freak & one would get under the gas pedal but it didn't happen. The son shredded his mesh windows on the kennel so that was $50 down the drain. I should have had him in a hard plastic one but I didn't know he'd do that. My worst fear was that they'd fight over the ONE cat box. At home we have 3 cat boxes for 3 cats but in the Class C, we only had room for one box. They didn't fight over it which was good. But I worried constantly that kitty litter would get in the slide mechanism.
We bought a little shop vac & cleaned the box every time it was used. Slide still works. The two worst things that happened were one of the cats, the only feral one, slashed our chihuahua & caused a blood bath. Our poor dog now has a split ear. It happened at night & she bled EVERYWHERE in our brand new RV - - walls, curtains, our clothes, floor. We finally got the bleeding stopped with compression of a maxipad we use for the chi's diaper (she's elderly) and antibiotic ointment. The other bad thing is the GrMa cat escaped. We were beside ourselves. Searched for 30 min & husb found her on premesis. Dogs are chipped & they were with us 24/7 but we don't have the cats chipped. She was hurt quite badly - - ran along a cinderblock wall & having been indoors only for years, her foot pads were bleeding. It took many days for her to heal. She actually has since escaped our stick home once since we got back too. We were so grateful a coyote, rattlesnake, or cactus didn't get her as we heard all these horror stories as we searched the park.
We are begging & paying our daughter this next season to watch two of them. She refused on this trip so I hope she doesn't change her mind. We think we'll bring the GrMa. I will keep the water bottle outside the RV & aimed as someone suggested. But that is hard when you are also escorting a Sr Dog & carrying groceries! One of the reasons I wanted an RV for 10 yrs was to travel with our pets because it's so hard to leave them. But I found that having our pets along took a lot of fun out of the trip. The dogs barked at everyone so we felt we couldn't sit outside much. The dogs are 11 & 8. The chi is 11 & she has heart failure too so has to be carried in & out, poor thing. The cats are 8, 7, 6. They each found a favorite place. Didn't yowl once they were out of the kennels. A couple liked sleeping behind the sofa. I brought pet beds galore. Had them spread thru out & each pet chose a favorite bed. There was a lady there who traveled with 2 cats & she had their furniture up on the dashboard. Actually let them out loose, which I wonder if someone complained about because a coyote could have killed them.

Long story short, it's a mixed bag. You would definitely want to bring a 1st aid kit & take a test run. Bring the cat's familiar items. Let us know how you do. I was never so grateful to get home & have space for them all to roam. Almost don't look forward to going again. I was an idiot to have 5 pets. Husb won't let me re-home any of the cats so now we're stuck with this mess. One cat should be a breeze!

Our cats get boxed and moved to the truck before any slide moves. Minimizes their trauma somewhat.

Albertaguy: My heart goes out to you. Prior to purchasing our fist slide unit we read about a similar tragedy. We now alsways do a "Jinny check" (in her memory) and make sure the cats are secure before anything moves.

To the original poster. Go through your unit with a flashlight and check everywhere (under beds, between slides, where closets meet walls, etc) for nooks and crannies where a cat can hide and close them up. It is amazing how a fat cat can squeeze into a tiny place. We "lost" our girl on a departure morning. After scouring the unit and campground for hours looking for her and debating our next move in tears she appeared out of the bedroom as if noithing was wrong. She had found a tiny openning between the bed and the night table that led to a small empty space and hide there. The openning now gets stuffed up as soon as we open that slide.

The hardest part is what to do with that darn litter box. (we keep it in the shower stall (drain plugged of course) and shower door modified with a hook to keep it open when not travellig.

On the more fun side. Our cats come out with us on thier leashes and really enjoy going on walks and meeting people. They are a great ice breaker.

WandaLust2 wrote:
Just a reminder to NEVER move the slides in or out unless you know for sure where the cat or cats are.

I know this from experience. We lost our little Maggy in Yuma in 2010 when I had people cleaning my rig and closed my slides. My little girl got scared and hid under the master bed and once they were finished I opened the slide without thinking or knowing where she was and she was killed. It still bothers me today.

Of course you can travel with cats. Ours travel in the truck - doors open on their cages so they can sleep in or out.

Then you just have make some mods to your RV:

Convert the powder room to a cat room

Provide cat access to loft

Cat potty and feeding station

:)

Just a reminder to NEVER move the slides in or out unless you know for sure where the cat or cats are.

We travel with 2 cats about 3 weeks in the winter and 2 weeks in the summer. They are not allowed outside at home or the motorhome. Have never had them try to get out. They don't like it for the first day or so but then they get used to it and travel very well. The male usually yowls for the first 45 minutes or so then gives up and hides for a while. By the time the 3rd day comes they are happy. We just take their food and water dishes and an enclosed litter box. They eat and drink and do their business on the road after they get used to traveling. They get so they know that when we stop and the slide goes out and the TV comes on that we are settled for the night.

We got into RV'ing just because of our cat. We wanted to head south for the winters but no one would take a 23 years old cat. I didn't have the heart to put him down after all those years even though at the time I thought he didn't have much longer. So instead we bought a Class A. DW, the cat, and I took off to Florida for the winter.

For the first 45 minutes he howled, all I could think of was it's going to be a very long trip south. After 45 minutes he settled in and gave us many many miles of joy. It even got to the point where I could pull into a rest area and announce a 5 minute break. He would jump off the couch, use the litter box, have a sip of water, and then back on the couch before I could even get back into the driver seat.

I'm sadden to say he passed away last year at the age of 28. He is surely missed and we would get another except he left some pretty big paw prints behind.

Traveled with two cats for years. Some things you need/should do.
Get the cat micro chipped. If it gets out your chances of getting him/her back are much better.
Always carry the cats rabies certificate. A health certificate from your vet makes crossing borders easier.
A good fitting harness and leash. A harness is much more secure than a collar.
A good crate. Our cats preferred to travel next to the bed, but we always carried a crate just in case.
Start with short trips to get them use to traveling. Our male cat was a terrible traveler at first. Our vet recommended we give him Baby Benadryl to calm him down. After a few trip he became a better traveler than the female. He would spend the day on the dashboard, just watching the traffic go by.
With some prior planning and practice you will enjoy your travels much better having your fur buddy with you.