Multiple cats in travel trailer full time
Hello, My friend is planning a 3000 mile move in a travel trailer, they will be living in the travel trailer full time once here. The problem is they have 11 cats (2 ferals) and 2 birds. I think this ...
Forum Discussion
Cat ignoramuses should not comment on things they do not understand. Really.
You are all assuming facts not in evidence. Plenty of people have that many cats and are not hoarders. A hoarder is someone who has animals in numbers and under conditions that they cannot care for them, or a mental illness that prevents them from providing care. Heck, I've got eight with the ferals...plus the dogs. Every one of them is fed an appropriate diet, provided with clean (Bottled!) water and appropriate potty faciliies that are cleaned twice daily, gets daily attention, and has appropriate medical care as needed.
Now, that's a good sized trailer in general but it's going to take some effort to manage that many cats in a trailer and not have the birds end up as dinner. Secure rooms are hard to come by in trailers. Though that may depend on the cats and on the birds... if they have big birds, that may not be an issue. If it is an issue, they'd need to plan for some extra secure cages for the birds.
Eleven cats can easily live in that much space, if it's properly organized and well maintained. It might be a little "catty" for humans with that many...there's going to be a lot of fur... but there is no reason for conditions to be unsafe or inhumane for the cats. Cats are not St Bernards. They like small places. They can play in a trailer that size and have a high old time, trust me. I've lived in a thirty foot trailer with cats. No, not eleven of them. Just two, but since they are only each awake a few hours a day, they can take turns doing laps up and down the length of the trailer.
As far as the ferals, it depends on temperament and conditioning. I have one former feral who has NO desire to leave the house whatsoever. Home is where the food is, and he's staying where the food is. My current garage ferals do go out, but that would not work in a temporary location... and so they would not be let out if I had to travel with them. Having learned to you know, operate a freaking DOOR, makes that pretty easy to manage. I know people in rescue who have ferals that simply never go outside. One thing I can tell you for sure is, ferals do NOT howl, they are the quietest car passengers on earth, unlike cats raised by humans, because they are taught by their mothers to be SILENT when frightened. In addition, every one I've ever dealt with, from those who became housecats after trapping, those that were held (for months in a small run) between trapping and release, and the ones that have moved into my garage this year, they have all been letter perfect with respect to using the litter box. The current ferals run in from the yard to use the box in the garage. LItter box usage is instinct, not "training."
As far as a place to stay, most RV parks, and this has been discussed here before, don't inquire about strictly indoor animals and don't "count" them if they are mentioned. Some municipalities may have laws against having more than X cats, but in many cases there are no laws about cats, or they are not enforced except under unusual conditions where a problem comes to the attention of the authorities.
So...while maybe these people don't care for their cats, and are nuttier than fruitcakes and complete hoarders and disasters looking for a place to land, there's nothing in the information presented that makes that the case. If they are willing to wield a litter box scoop for about oh.... twenty minutes a day, and they can afford supplies and care for their cats, there's no reason that they can't do this in a healthy and humane way. And if they were people who didn't give a rat's patootie about their cats and were going to turn them loose in campgrounds, I rather doubt they'd be choosing to move into a trailer and travel across the country with them in the first place.
There are a couple of things I'd recommend. One is a higher quality, more dense kibble if they use kibble. As an example, a quarter cup per day of Taste of the Wild will feed an adult cat and stools will accordingly be MUCH less than the cup a day of supermarket food that it would require. The cost works out about the same or less, and there is less to haul in both directions. Another thing is.... don't free feed. Feed twice a day and ensure that each cat gets what they need and no more, no less. This will prevent wasted food and digestive upsets from overeating, and it will encourage them to poop "on schedule," which makes it easier to keep box odor down.
Bottled water, even for that many animals, is cheap insurance against GI upsets. Distilled or purified water, not "spring water." You want a known level of minerals and the only way to get that is to go mineral free. If they transition back on the other end, they need to do it slowly.
Adding a probiotic to food or water will also assist in keeping everyone stable. In a small space, this will become more important.
Brushing is good. So is a regular dose of petromalt, if they'll take it. Or if they get wet food, a little PURE psyllium husk (1/4 teaspoon a day per cat) can keep down hairballs, which can only be a good thing.
Pheremone collars and spray can be real lifesavers in getting cats adapted to a new living arrangement.
And a "thunderstorm in a box" air purifier would be a great addition to their RV. Also, baking soda mixed with the litter will help.
The other thing they're going to need to figure out depending on when they go, is temperature control in the trailer if the cats are traveling in the trailer (not optimal but likely unavoidable) and/or when parked if not on shore power.
You are all assuming facts not in evidence. Plenty of people have that many cats and are not hoarders. A hoarder is someone who has animals in numbers and under conditions that they cannot care for them, or a mental illness that prevents them from providing care. Heck, I've got eight with the ferals...plus the dogs. Every one of them is fed an appropriate diet, provided with clean (Bottled!) water and appropriate potty faciliies that are cleaned twice daily, gets daily attention, and has appropriate medical care as needed.
Now, that's a good sized trailer in general but it's going to take some effort to manage that many cats in a trailer and not have the birds end up as dinner. Secure rooms are hard to come by in trailers. Though that may depend on the cats and on the birds... if they have big birds, that may not be an issue. If it is an issue, they'd need to plan for some extra secure cages for the birds.
Eleven cats can easily live in that much space, if it's properly organized and well maintained. It might be a little "catty" for humans with that many...there's going to be a lot of fur... but there is no reason for conditions to be unsafe or inhumane for the cats. Cats are not St Bernards. They like small places. They can play in a trailer that size and have a high old time, trust me. I've lived in a thirty foot trailer with cats. No, not eleven of them. Just two, but since they are only each awake a few hours a day, they can take turns doing laps up and down the length of the trailer.
As far as the ferals, it depends on temperament and conditioning. I have one former feral who has NO desire to leave the house whatsoever. Home is where the food is, and he's staying where the food is. My current garage ferals do go out, but that would not work in a temporary location... and so they would not be let out if I had to travel with them. Having learned to you know, operate a freaking DOOR, makes that pretty easy to manage. I know people in rescue who have ferals that simply never go outside. One thing I can tell you for sure is, ferals do NOT howl, they are the quietest car passengers on earth, unlike cats raised by humans, because they are taught by their mothers to be SILENT when frightened. In addition, every one I've ever dealt with, from those who became housecats after trapping, those that were held (for months in a small run) between trapping and release, and the ones that have moved into my garage this year, they have all been letter perfect with respect to using the litter box. The current ferals run in from the yard to use the box in the garage. LItter box usage is instinct, not "training."
As far as a place to stay, most RV parks, and this has been discussed here before, don't inquire about strictly indoor animals and don't "count" them if they are mentioned. Some municipalities may have laws against having more than X cats, but in many cases there are no laws about cats, or they are not enforced except under unusual conditions where a problem comes to the attention of the authorities.
So...while maybe these people don't care for their cats, and are nuttier than fruitcakes and complete hoarders and disasters looking for a place to land, there's nothing in the information presented that makes that the case. If they are willing to wield a litter box scoop for about oh.... twenty minutes a day, and they can afford supplies and care for their cats, there's no reason that they can't do this in a healthy and humane way. And if they were people who didn't give a rat's patootie about their cats and were going to turn them loose in campgrounds, I rather doubt they'd be choosing to move into a trailer and travel across the country with them in the first place.
There are a couple of things I'd recommend. One is a higher quality, more dense kibble if they use kibble. As an example, a quarter cup per day of Taste of the Wild will feed an adult cat and stools will accordingly be MUCH less than the cup a day of supermarket food that it would require. The cost works out about the same or less, and there is less to haul in both directions. Another thing is.... don't free feed. Feed twice a day and ensure that each cat gets what they need and no more, no less. This will prevent wasted food and digestive upsets from overeating, and it will encourage them to poop "on schedule," which makes it easier to keep box odor down.
Bottled water, even for that many animals, is cheap insurance against GI upsets. Distilled or purified water, not "spring water." You want a known level of minerals and the only way to get that is to go mineral free. If they transition back on the other end, they need to do it slowly.
Adding a probiotic to food or water will also assist in keeping everyone stable. In a small space, this will become more important.
Brushing is good. So is a regular dose of petromalt, if they'll take it. Or if they get wet food, a little PURE psyllium husk (1/4 teaspoon a day per cat) can keep down hairballs, which can only be a good thing.
Pheremone collars and spray can be real lifesavers in getting cats adapted to a new living arrangement.
And a "thunderstorm in a box" air purifier would be a great addition to their RV. Also, baking soda mixed with the litter will help.
The other thing they're going to need to figure out depending on when they go, is temperature control in the trailer if the cats are traveling in the trailer (not optimal but likely unavoidable) and/or when parked if not on shore power.
