Another RVer loses their cat....

SueMcD wrote:
I went looking for that facebook group and happy to report that the owner found the cat on July 22. People had seen the cat, so she drove a few hours back to the campground. She found the cat, hiding in a drainage pipe, scared, but healthy (did nothing but sleep and eat the next day).

Just wanted to report the happy ending.

Yes, she found the cat, thank heavens. :)

BTW, we have a cat who occasionally likes to wander at home. We have not taken her camping but thinking about it when we get around to doing that big cross-country trip. But the thought of her escaping the trailer terrifies me.

The best and safest way I believe is to confine them to a bedroom if possible until you're stopped for the night. We ordered a new bedroom door for our Class-C and set the bedroom up for the cats with a cat-condo securely fastened to the floor and wall, a litterpan, cat beds and a no-tip water bowl. While we're moving they will have to stay in the bedroom. We know they wont be too happy about this, but they should be safe.

A few years ago we bought one of the those loc8tor units - at the time we could only order it directly from the UK company. It works really great as long as you check the batteries often to make sure they haven't died. Sometimes when we go looking for her we don't get a signal so then we have to walk in the opposite direction and eventually get a beep. Now it's gotten so she will come home when she knows we're tracking her (the tag on the collar gives off a high pitch pinging noise.) Pretty cool.

Sue

Due to the predators out here in the country where we live, and the loss of my other two indoor-outdoor cats, we wont allow these outside at all. They have a safe outdoor enclosure to sun themselves. They go in and out through a cat door in a bedroom window.

PS Our cat mostly an indoor cat but goes outside our house for (usually) short jaunts on weekends and only when we are home. Usually she sits on the deck or walks around next to the house and comes in within a hour because she gets fed when she goes in. A few times a year, I'm not sure why, she gets it into her head to go wandering, and that's why we never let her out without the loc8tor now.

Sue

I went looking for that facebook group and happy to report that the owner found the cat on July 22. People had seen the cat, so she drove a few hours back to the campground. She found the cat, hiding in a drainage pipe, scared, but healthy (did nothing but sleep and eat the next day).

Just wanted to report the happy ending.

BTW, we have a cat who occasionally likes to wander at home. We have not taken her camping but thinking about it when we get around to doing that big cross-country trip. But the thought of her escaping the trailer terrifies me.

A few years ago we bought one of the those loc8tor units - at the time we could only order it directly from the UK company. It works really great as long as you check the batteries often to make sure they haven't died. Sometimes when we go looking for her we don't get a signal so then we have to walk in the opposite direction and eventually get a beep. Now it's gotten so she will come home when she knows we're tracking her (the tag on the collar gives off a high pitch pinging noise.) Pretty cool.

Sue

Code2High wrote:
Has someone put out a trap?

As far as I know - no. The cat was nowhere in close proximity to their RV.

GRIFFIN1 wrote:
I use the pet loc8tor on my cat.

Pet Loc8tor

Amazon usually has the best price on them. The transmitter is small and a little fragile. I've broken one my dropping it on concrete and I ran another one through the washing machine because I left it in a shirt pocket. I've never had one of the little receivers that fits on the cats collar fail. If your cat likes to go swimming, then you might have problems with the receiver.

In an RV park, the range is probably 50 yards at best, but it's better than nothing. Most cats will not run that far before they find a spot to hide. If you can get within 50 yards of the cat, then it's impossible for the cat to hide from you.

That sounds like a good idea as long as the kitty stays close andyou can reach her/him.

I remember an orange cat getting out of a rental cabin at the place we stayed the last 2 winters. He kept just ahead of his owner, not allowing her to pick him up. :( Then he went under someone's RV. She finally gave up. The next day, good and hungry, he allowed himself to be carried back into the cabin.

If we didn't have one of Callie's toys, the one she was addicted to at the time, I can't see how we could have gotten her out from under that RV. We could see her under there but she wouldn't come out and we couldn't reach her. When she came out far enough to reach her toy, I reached down and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. What a relief that was. Just remembering that incident makes me cringe.

vickiebec wrote:
Mine stays in the carrier until setup is complete and when breaking down camp. Of course while driving too.

Same here. They're used to the routine now. While we set up, we set the carriers in the shade and let them watch us. Once we have the "outside cage" fixed to the bedroom window and the slide is out out, we bring them in and let them loose. Before they do anything else, they go out there and check out the scenery. :) No way they can escape that outdoor-window cage. The Gander Mt screenroom is another matter. Somehow the screen got torn one day when all 4 were out there. Another snow-bird thought the grass cutter man did it... in any case 2 of them got out. One was under our TT steps and the other was not in sight. We frantically looked for her. We found her under another RV and lured her out with her favorite toy. Whew.... we were almost sick until we found her. Now we don't allow them in the screen room unless one of us can sit out there with them.

Thats_Ok wrote:
Oh no!

Very very distressing to hear this.
There can be little that's worse than having this happen.

The only thing more horrible in my opinion is have the fridge catch fire. That's another concern of mine. Imagine trying to escape an RV and save 4 kitties at the same time! OMG! My worst nightmare.

nabi wrote:
very sad situation..I can't fathom having to return home without one of the wees...

I'm going to check that Facebook Group today and see if there's any news on the lost cat. I believe only those "holster" harnesses (walking jackets) are safe. From the looks of them the cat can't wiggle out.

magnusfide wrote:
Agreed. I also recommend keeping the cat in the rv with a litter box setup.

We took our cat one year and not even that worked well as the feline streak of lightning slipped past us and shot out the door... fortunately we caught him under the rv. Now he stays home. Next time if we have to have a cat with us, we will close him in the bedroom with his litter box.

Losing one of our cats on a camping trip is one of my greatest fears. But so far they're not "door dashers." A spray bottle of water helped with that. We have no one to leave the cats with when we travel or camp. I think we would miss them something awful, and worry about them if we left them at home. We're like a family. :)

Mine stays in the carrier until setup is complete and when breaking down camp. Of course while driving too.