Truck Camping With Cats
We're out in the TC mixing work and play. We've got our two cats with us; Kahlua, a brown 15 year old "senior cat", and Selina, a tortoise-shell who is technically still a kitten since she's only 11 m...
Forum Discussion
If it's ok, I'd like to steer the topic back to its original subject. "Truck Camping With Cats" was what I wanted to discuss, and I really would like to hear about others experiences with the not-so-typical traveling pet. We see other pet-loving RV'ers mostly with dogs of various sizes camping and traveling around. Only occasionally will we see a cat, and even less often will we see a cat in a TC. We've been TC'ing with cats for about 30 years now, and we've managed to figure out how to do it so that everyone is happy, including the cats.
We get a lot of comments from others about how their cats would never do what ours do. Our cats don't know anything different than what we do with them, and we don't know any other way to deal with cats than the way we deal with them.
So, do you bring cats with you in your TC or other RV? How do they handle riding in a vehicle? Accommodating cats in the smaller RV's can be challenging, especially the litter box. We used to have a cat that would get sick before we even got out of the driveway, and would get sick each morning for the first 2-3 days, but would then get her sea-legs and be ok for the rest of the trip. We just had to be prepared to handle it with her. Kahlua only gets sick when we get on two lane twisty roads, and that's only been in the last few years. When she was younger she never got sick. Selina hasn't gotten sick in the truck yet.
Do you like having cats along? Do the cats like it? Male or female, and does it matter? The boss came with a cat, and it was understood she would always have a cat. I started out neither for nor against, but have learned to enjoy their company. We've only had spayed females that are strictly indoor cats, so that's all I know.
Do you let your cats out of the TC? Do they walk on a leash?
Got any pictures of your cats out camping with you? I've posted many pictures of our cats on other topics and this one. If you have any to share, feel free!
Do your cats respond to voice commands? I mean really respond, almost like a dog? Both of ours do to varying degrees. Kahlua is responsive enough that I can take her outside at home and keep her on the front porch with voice commands alone. Selina is still learning, but they both know what NO means, and GET DOWN when they jump on something they shouldn't. They quite often talk back because they don't want to. Selina surprised me when I realized she knows what LAY DOWN means. I had been saying it while making her lay down when it was time to quit running around, and about a month ago she was really pestering Kahlua, chasing her around and jumping on her, and it was obvious that Kahlua didn't like it. I can't catch them when they're doing that, so I just yelled "Selina LAY DOWN" without thinking, and was shocked when she did it! She stopped chasing Kahlua and layed down! This is great, I thought. I need to keep reinforcing that so she really learns it well. It could come in handy if she ever gets away from us and we're trying to catch her.
If you travel with multiple cats, does that present any issues at feeding time? Ours both eat the same dry food, but won't touch each other's canned food. Selina does the "Bury that ****! " dance over Kahlua's canned food all the time. :B
:):)
We get a lot of comments from others about how their cats would never do what ours do. Our cats don't know anything different than what we do with them, and we don't know any other way to deal with cats than the way we deal with them.
So, do you bring cats with you in your TC or other RV? How do they handle riding in a vehicle? Accommodating cats in the smaller RV's can be challenging, especially the litter box. We used to have a cat that would get sick before we even got out of the driveway, and would get sick each morning for the first 2-3 days, but would then get her sea-legs and be ok for the rest of the trip. We just had to be prepared to handle it with her. Kahlua only gets sick when we get on two lane twisty roads, and that's only been in the last few years. When she was younger she never got sick. Selina hasn't gotten sick in the truck yet.
Do you like having cats along? Do the cats like it? Male or female, and does it matter? The boss came with a cat, and it was understood she would always have a cat. I started out neither for nor against, but have learned to enjoy their company. We've only had spayed females that are strictly indoor cats, so that's all I know.
Do you let your cats out of the TC? Do they walk on a leash?
Got any pictures of your cats out camping with you? I've posted many pictures of our cats on other topics and this one. If you have any to share, feel free!
Do your cats respond to voice commands? I mean really respond, almost like a dog? Both of ours do to varying degrees. Kahlua is responsive enough that I can take her outside at home and keep her on the front porch with voice commands alone. Selina is still learning, but they both know what NO means, and GET DOWN when they jump on something they shouldn't. They quite often talk back because they don't want to. Selina surprised me when I realized she knows what LAY DOWN means. I had been saying it while making her lay down when it was time to quit running around, and about a month ago she was really pestering Kahlua, chasing her around and jumping on her, and it was obvious that Kahlua didn't like it. I can't catch them when they're doing that, so I just yelled "Selina LAY DOWN" without thinking, and was shocked when she did it! She stopped chasing Kahlua and layed down! This is great, I thought. I need to keep reinforcing that so she really learns it well. It could come in handy if she ever gets away from us and we're trying to catch her.
If you travel with multiple cats, does that present any issues at feeding time? Ours both eat the same dry food, but won't touch each other's canned food. Selina does the "Bury that ****! " dance over Kahlua's canned food all the time. :B
:):)
