cats, dogs, fifth wheels?
We are in the process of deciding MH or Fifth Wheel. We are about a year away from purchasing. Then first year out after purchasing would be for just 4 months of travel and come back to s&b to work 8 ...
Forum Discussion
We have two Siamese cats that are 15 and 16 years old, and we first took them on an rv journey three years ago, so no "kitten training" was involved. Regarding a MH and cats, I will give a few of our observations and recommendations.
- Cats are curious and like small, enclosed places. Be sure to stuff pillows or blankets in the voids around your slides so the cats can't explore or retreat into those spaces.
- I had to extract one of the cats from under the dashboard, so we learned to stuff pillows undearneath the dashboard when we got were stopped for any length of time.
- One of our cats (the more neurotic one) howled as only a Siamese can howl about every 10 seconds from home all the way to the Tennessee state line (about 250 miles), when he suddenly shut up. It took him that long to get used to the motion of the MH.
- We purchased Sccat! and a Feliway diffuser. Both can be purchased online on Amazon. We placed Sccat! near the door (one on the top of the dinette and one at the top step by the door. It shoots compressed air at them and scares them away without hurting them in any way. The Feliway diffuser plugs was plugged into a 12-volt inverter to calm the cats with the pheromones that work pretty well. I preferred that to giving them any sedatives for their first trip in the MH.
- We also brought one of their favorite scratching posts so the environment was a little more familiar and to keep them from destroying any upholstery.
- We put harnesses on them whenever we were going to be travelling, so we could attach a leash and secure them to something stationary when we were going to be stopped to gas up, at rest areas, etc. That way they couldn't bolt out the door when the Sccat! wasn't deployed.
- The cats also got microchips and were registered on HomeAgain to help find them if the unthinkable happened, and they were lost or ran off.
Cats in a Travel Trailer:
- We secure our cats in the back seat of the truck (we have a double cab Tundra) by using a mesh enclosure designed for small dogs and cats to be able to go outside on balconies, decks, etc. It fits perfectly in the area behind the front seats and allows the cats to move around freely and safely and also has room for a disposable litter pan. So far they haven't used the litter pan, but if they ever do, we can pull over and empty it quickly!
I know it seems like it was a lot of work, but it got to be routine and made our camping experiences much better because we love our kitties and want them to travel with us.
- Cats are curious and like small, enclosed places. Be sure to stuff pillows or blankets in the voids around your slides so the cats can't explore or retreat into those spaces.
- I had to extract one of the cats from under the dashboard, so we learned to stuff pillows undearneath the dashboard when we got were stopped for any length of time.
- One of our cats (the more neurotic one) howled as only a Siamese can howl about every 10 seconds from home all the way to the Tennessee state line (about 250 miles), when he suddenly shut up. It took him that long to get used to the motion of the MH.
- We purchased Sccat! and a Feliway diffuser. Both can be purchased online on Amazon. We placed Sccat! near the door (one on the top of the dinette and one at the top step by the door. It shoots compressed air at them and scares them away without hurting them in any way. The Feliway diffuser plugs was plugged into a 12-volt inverter to calm the cats with the pheromones that work pretty well. I preferred that to giving them any sedatives for their first trip in the MH.
- We also brought one of their favorite scratching posts so the environment was a little more familiar and to keep them from destroying any upholstery.
- We put harnesses on them whenever we were going to be travelling, so we could attach a leash and secure them to something stationary when we were going to be stopped to gas up, at rest areas, etc. That way they couldn't bolt out the door when the Sccat! wasn't deployed.
- The cats also got microchips and were registered on HomeAgain to help find them if the unthinkable happened, and they were lost or ran off.
Cats in a Travel Trailer:
- We secure our cats in the back seat of the truck (we have a double cab Tundra) by using a mesh enclosure designed for small dogs and cats to be able to go outside on balconies, decks, etc. It fits perfectly in the area behind the front seats and allows the cats to move around freely and safely and also has room for a disposable litter pan. So far they haven't used the litter pan, but if they ever do, we can pull over and empty it quickly!
I know it seems like it was a lot of work, but it got to be routine and made our camping experiences much better because we love our kitties and want them to travel with us.
