Traveling with cats

Spike did well on a three month 13K mile trip to AK and home. Never tried to get out and never fought when I had to hydrate him due to renal failure. Oh yeah, he was 16 then and lived two more years. He hated being boarded but in AK he was for 10 days and loved his nurse. Gained three pounds. Great traveler.

Our cat stays indoors all the time and seems pretty happy about it (house or fiver). Next door neighbor is a veterinarian, she says healthy and live cats stay indoors and unhealthy and often dead cats live outdoors. It is a personal choice but ours seems to be pretty happy about this arrangement.

We just had to take Moe along on our 10 day trip. He wad taking antibiotics and I couldn't see boarding him for that time to finish 2 days worth. Took the dog pen and kept him in there when we were gone, and he traveled in the truck in a carry case. Longer we were gone the more he was loose in the fiver, and he never tried to get out. worked out great.

If the cats can't tolerate being inside the motor home at ALL times, maybe get a large foldable dog crate to put them in for them to get some air and a feeling of being outside. This is what my sister in law does at the campgrounds. He is an indoor outdoor at home. There have been several times that he escaped at the campground and was really hard to catch him. If you don't want to be going home minus a cat or two, you should take precautions. A family that travels with hand trained birds lost one of them in one of the campground and it was heartbreaking. When these pets are in unfamiliar areas, especially with dogs, noises, people and traffic around, they can get disoriented. I have also used one of those pop up zipper screen houses for my cats to sit in while we were outside-just some thoughts.

Our cat roamed free at home but at age 4 we started taking him camping. He quickly adapted to a harness and leash. He learned to sit and wait to get his harness on and never bolted out the door. He was an excellent traveler and got to experience the Baja and the Arctic and many many places in between before age caught up with him and we had to say good bye. A very sad day for sure.

Good luck with your cats. I hope they learn to enjoy their adventures.

Our cats go with us in the MH but are not allowed outside. They wander freely throughout the MH at all times.

Put collars at your cats at home and do not let them go outside unless they are on a leash.
Our indoor-outdoor cat learned to love to go camping, go for walks on a leash and be tied up to sit with us by the fire.
Whenever we came into the TT after being gone without him, we opened the door very carefully and were ready to grab him. We never had to be after ten years we never stopped being ready to grab him when we opened the door.
One of his favorite times was just before we went to bed and we took him for a walk around the park. He would go to the door and say clearly that it was time to go for a walk. As we approached the door he would go sit on his leash so we would remember to put it on him.

No matter what the cats are used to at home, traveling is a different scenario. Our indoor cat is unfettered at home, but she wears a collar (tags attached) and harness when we're traveling with her, and a leash when we're in the truck, or when she just gets into the camper (or is just going to be taken to the truck), even though she is also zipped up in her carrier. I bought a soft-sided small-dog carrier for her - there's more room for her to sit up, turn around, etc. than in a standard cat carrier, and more comfortable for her in the truck. We carry her in that from truck to camper and back again. She's an indoor cat at home and is also an indoor cat in the campsite, though at times she begs to come outside with us. (We can resist the begging. :) )

Other advice - as with dogs, rabies shots and verification of them may be needed, as perhaps other shots (not usually so much with cats, though). And our cat is microchipped.

Other than that, go with what makes the cat(s) most comfortable. MHs offer the most comfort for those home-loving animals, since their home and vehicle are the same, but for safety you may want to confine them to carriers while on the road anyway. Of course it goes without saying that if you have a trailer, the cats will need to ride in the TV with you and not in the trailer! If they are anxious while on the road, some Feliway pheromone spray may help calm them. Make sure they know where the litterbox is and stick with familiar litter, food, etc. Because of changes in water tastes in different areas, we have kept our cat on bottled water.

We had a cat that was free to wander at home. We began to take him on the road when he was 13 years old. We had a leash on him and I have to say he liked the leash. He was never outside the motorhome without the leash so no worries about wandering off. I would never think of letting him out by himself when traveling.

I don't have long-term experience, but for a week at a time our 2 cats have been good about not wandering off. I do see cats on leashes from time to time, but ours wouldn't tolerate it.