RVs are kitty homes with chauffeurs and butlers

Cats should be crated in a moving vehicle. Just because a horror story has not happened to you doesn't mean it won't. I just shudder every time I see a pet on the dash of a moving RV. :(

Also, be really careful in any kind of emergency situation. Cats are so sensitive when their humans are stressed. I am probably not the only one who remembers when one RV.net member was evacuating from Hurricane Ike. He threw everything into his car and last thing, added his cat. Once on the highway, the kitty jumped on the driver's shoulder and out the window and ran off into the woods. :( Cat needs to be contained, even if it is a pillow case.

Advice my vet gave me: Cats like routine. At first, cat wil be upset by the change, but after a while the RV wil be the new routine.

My cat started at 10 and he does great.

I did begin with a month of camping in my driveway. Several times in that month he got p'd off at the whole van idea and left and slept in the yard for a night or two. This got me all worried that he wouldn't adapt, but uhe always came back to the van because he liked being with me.

When he stood in the doorway of the van and wouldn't let his best friend cat come in, then I knew he had really adopted the van as HIS terrirory :). But before that, seeing how much his bestie loved the van helped my cat see that it was something cool!

I have one of those harnesses that kitties can't escape from but he can. He is very cautious, though. When we camped at a place with bears and he wanted space, he crawled way up under the van and lay on the muffler. Safe, warm, and private! I did have a problem once when he liked a place too much and wouldn't come back to the van so we could leave :B

Moral of the story: Take your time and even an old cat may adapt just fine.

The worst horror stories we've heard here over the years involved cats who love hidey holes who met disaster via slides. You can just imagine. Lesson learned: locate and secure all felines before anybody deploys a slide or opens a door.

Alexander the Grrreat and Spotacus rode beautifully in our class A. Alex was not even slightly interested in going outside, and after a couple of walkies wearing a harness, Spotacus lost interest in going out.

We brought home a trailer today, and now they'll have to ride in the back seat of the truck. Don't know how they'll like that yet.

They both started RVing with us at ages 15 and 6 respectively, Alex in 2010 when we moved and lived in the RV for a few months, and Spotacus last year.

JD and Beastlet wrote:
Bella the camping kitty comes on all our camping trips. She's fine in the truck and has any number of favourite spots in the trailer

She even has her own chair!

I love it! :)

Bella the camping kitty comes on all our camping trips. She's fine in the truck and has any number of favourite spots in the trailer.




She even has her own chair!

mkl654321 wrote:
At least, that's what most RV cats I've talked to think. They may be right.

I am going to buy a Class C for my fulltiming/working lifestyle and am wondering whether having a cat would be appropriate. The last few RV cats I interviewed seemed to just love having a secure place to hang out and watch the world go by. A couple of them had taken over the cabover on a C and it was now Designated Kitty Area, with cozy blankets and a window on the world--cat TV.

We had a Class-C before this Class-A and took a cross country trip with the 4 cats we had at the time. One took over the over-cab area, another the area under the bed etc. All came out as soon as the RV stopped and engine shut off.
.

However, I've also heard some horror stories. My guess would be that the variable would be if the cat is introduced to the mobile lifestyle early in life.

That doesn't always work either. We got Callie as a kitten and she needs medication to keep her sane when on the road. She will simply not adapt to a moving vehicle. She is now about 4 1/2 yrs old. Our vet prescribed Alprazolam. It works well, keeping her calm and quiet.

Quincy the Dork (our mobile cat from a decade ago) loved to ride on the dashboard and offer driving advice. But he learned to be mobile from when he was a kitten. Older cats, I've been told, often freak out, and there is nothing more freaked out than a freaked out cat. Anybody out there have any success/spectacular failure stories?

You are 100% right. When Callie "lost it" on I-75 we had to get off the Interstate for our own safety as well as hers as she went hysterical. She totally freaked out. Her hind claws gave me scratches and gashes on my legs and a deep one on my upper arm as she tried to jump out, then climb out the window on the driver side. Of course the windows are kept closed since cats and dogs have actually knocked out screens in RVs trying to escape, or so I read on other Forums. This was before I called my vet about the escalating problem with her. We could not calm her and I was bleeding all over the place. Trash one blouse and pair of shorts. What an experience that was. :( DH got one of the carriers from the toad and we confined her to that. We put her the bedroom and closed the door as her wails were both heart rendering and bone chilling. We hated to confine her like that but a cat that loses it can't be left loose.

The other extreme is our new kitty Aidan, now about 5 months old. He doesn't even seem to notice if the RV is moving or not. He doesn't care. He continues to play with his toys, take naps in his favorite spots, climb on the cat trees and use the scratchers.

The other 3 adults find a place to hide for the duration of the RV moving. Zebulon more often rides in the cat tree in the bedroom. We do however stop at least every 2 hours so they can come out to get a drink or use the litter totes. None have issues with traveling and only Callie needs to be medicated.

The oldest kitty we adopted was about 9 months old at the time - that was 6 yrs ago. She did fine from day one in the RV. She's the one that will go under the sofa-bed and stay there until we stop moving.

If you get a cat be very careful it doesn't dash out the RV door when you open it. We didn't use the cab doors in the Class-C as that is a great escape route for a cat. We don't use the one front door in the Class-A either. The RV park we're at for the winter has several cats that escaped from RVs. The Park owner doesn't have the heart to call the local Shelter, knowing they will most likely be euthanized. He got in touch with one owner but the owner wouldn't come back for the cat. Nice people.

Ours does fine. We take her with us on all our trips. The low maintenance aspect of cats is the best part.