B-ing with a cat

[pasusan]

Anyone take a cat along while traveling in your B?

How do you keep it from accidentally getting out and potentially lost?

[pasusan]

^^ Yes - the exact reason our B won't work for us in all circumstances.

When we went to Boston we would leave our truck in a big parking lot all day while we took a ferry into the city. It was 94* and sunny - there is no way we could have left the cats in that heat. They were safely back at the campground in our trailer with the AC on.

[Rolin]

We are concerned about keeping the RV cool if its hot outside when traveling with the cat. So far we have been able to use a temp controlled Fantastic ceiling fan and its keep the rv 80 degrees or under. However, we have not been where its really hot. In that case we may need to leave the air conditioner on. That should work ok if we are in a RV park (pretty noisy inside) but not if we are in a forest service campground or boondocking.

Just something that we will have to be careful to address when we leave the cat alone in the RV.

[2oldman]

Cats are hunters and are naturally curious and need some outdoor time. I personally don't think it's good for a cat's mental health to be caged indoors. It may be good for yours however.

Royb's kitty may have been frustrated being cooped up and decided life would be better outside.

[pasusan]

Thanks all for the responses! I'm glad to see it can be done. At this point we bring our 2 cats with us while traveling with the trailer and plan to leave them at home for short trips with the B. But - there are more and more places farther away we want to go with the B!

RoyB - Exactly what we're afraid of. One time when we had visitors our cat hid under the pull-up foot section of the couch. We couldn't find her after searching the whole house and even though she normally comes when called, she just kept hiding. I'm sure she would do the same in the strange outdoor world.

Rolin - We also made a folding plywood barrier for the door of our trailer. There's only the one door - the cats know it's a cat-free zone - so has worked really well.

loggenrock - Definitely going to look that up - should be interesting.


I'm thinking of making some mesh screen barriers so when we open doors from the outside we could see where they were before detaching.

[loggenrock]

There's a fellow - goes by "Campskunk" - writes for www.roadtreking.com - fulltimes in his Roadtrek with his cat Fionna. Might be a good resource. ST

[Rolin]

We have a B+ and travel with our cat. It is a challenge at times, but mostly a good experience for us. Maybe not so much for the cat ;-).

She has escaped once and almost one other time. My wife was very resourceful and finally captured her. We always watch for the cat when getting in the front doors and created a folding plywood barrier for the side door so we can get in, close the door and remove the barrier.

All cats are different. Ours walks on a lease and will tolerate living and traveling in a small space. We try to get her out on the lease at least once a day.

We learned how to deal with her...how to make it work with this specific cat. That said, it would be a lot easier to travel without a cat ;-).

[mumkin]

I've known lots of RVers with cats. I even see leash trained kitties and a very few that let their cat wander a bit, but they stay close by. I've also heard a number of stories of the cat doing a runner and never seen again.

So... you need to know your cat and handle its reactions.

[DanNJanice]

We don't have a class B, but do take our cat with us on almost all camping trips. She travels really great, much easier to deal with than the dog (no 5AM potty walks).
Just watch the door when you get in/out.

[sch911]

Our two just ride along and find their own place to hide. Just be carefull when leaving the door open. Never had one bolt out.

[ryegatevt]

Our cats lately have been indoor cats so haven't experienced the great out doors. Zippy, our calico cat, used to ride everywhere with us, along with Carlie, our Sheltie at the time. She would always ride back on our bed or curled up on the floor with the dog; days at the CG she spent stretched out on the dashboard in the sun. Nights were spent with us on one of our twin beds. We used a cedar chip litter (no litter odor) in front of the seat or in the door well when under way. I think if we still had a cat it would be in a carrier, as our dog is now, when underway.

[RoyB]

We carried our lovable cat on a trip once which didn't end well...

Had the lease but not a cat cage...

We walked around a couple of times and thought all would be ok... When we were packing up to leave after a couple days camping the cat darted out and disappeared on us in the bush... We called and called and looked everywhere but couldn't find him. We waited as long as we could hoping he would come back up.. Tried all the tricks including banging his cat dish etc... I can guarantee the cat was watching us from afar and not like a dog would not come to us when called...

We finally had to leave without him - Sad day...

Roy and Carolyn

[Shearwater]

If you want to be sure, put him in a cat carrier when you go out. Cats can be remarkably quick when they want something.