best way to have cats in our 38' HR Neptune

We put Opie's litter box in a cardboard box with sides about six inches high. Any litter that came out of the litter box was trapped by the cardboard box. The cardboard box came from a supermarket where it had held bags of oranges.
We had four bunks so one bunk held his litter box, his bed and his food.

And I mean Opie the cat, not Opie431.

These are some pics of the cat privy!



You'll also notice we put another Cat Hole in the bedroom door so Danny can come and go as he pleases without leaving the bedroom door open.



BTW, the sight for the company that we purchased the arch from is: http://cathole.com/

One of the features we made a top priority when purchasing our most recent fifth wheel was a good place for the litterbox, having dealt with the shower issue before. We chose a Brookstone 354TS which had a hall closet. I took out the lower shelf and installed a Cat Hole(think cartoon mouse hole!)which I stained to match. Danny uses his private facilities, the smell is behind a closed door and all are happy! I use one of the puppy pads under the box to protect the carpet. I'll post pics when I'm not at work.

We picked up a large flat box from a supermarket that held vegetables and set the litter box in it. The sides were about six inches high and held all litter that made its way out of the litter box. We had a bunk house and one of the bottom bunks belonged to the cat. The bunk held his bed, his litter box and a tray with his food and water.

I saw on someones post where they had the dinette booth with doors on the end and an open storage area under the bench seat. In one they had dogs and had cut a square opening under the table side and had the dogs beds in there. In another, I saw where they took the storage space door off and had the cat litter box in there in the storage area under the dinette booth seat. You would want to make sure there is no electrical or heating on the one you use.

We travel with 4 cats in our 31 footer. Our shower has a glass door and we also didn't want to have to deal with moving the box each time we needed to shower. We started out putting a covered litter box under the dining table but it was in the way when we sat down to eat and there was a bit of an ick factor, too. Found several litter box "covers" online which double as a piece of furniture. An ottoman, a side table, etc.

At home we sit in recliners, which we don't have in the Vista. So we decided we needed an ottoman for our feet. None of the ones we found to buy were quite big enough for both of us to comfortably put our feet on, so we built our own. It has a hinged, padded lid and there's a hole in one of the end walls for the cats to get in and out. They took to it immediately. Never had an "accident" because someone didn't want to go into the "box" but we are careful to clean it at least twice a day. And we clean it as quickly as possible if one of the four leaves a smelly deposit. :(

Still have some litter tracking so I'm going to see if I can find one of those fake grass mats with a deeper pile to see if that does the trick.

rvjames wrote:
We are considering the options with the cat box situation as well. I have seen people build it into a cabinet and the RV basement. This article at DIY RV offers a few ideas and tips for setting up a cat box in the basement. I am just nervous about cutting holes but I will just bite the bullet here soon enough.

You may not enjoy scooping the litter in bad weather if you have to go outside to do it, making sure the cat isn't waiting for the door to open so it can leap out and take off.

topher80 wrote:
Good morning....

I wish that "the wife" (Peggy) would ask this question, but I love our two furry friends (cats) and we are trying to figure out how to handle the poop box...I noticed (in a book) that someone even created a hatch in their RV to allow the cats to go below the floor, presumably in a storage area and then come back on the main deck.

That wont work with all RVs. But seems like a good idea if it does. I would fear opening the cubby door to scoop and one of the cats jumps out and runs off. :( We have 4 cats and 2 large totes for litterpans that are scooped several times a day. One is next to the bed and the other is in the bathtub.

That may be a bit bizarre, but wonder for those pet lovers out there (I realize most of you have dogs) that own cats what you have done in traveling with and caring for them...while on the road.

Thanks.

We wouldn't think of traveling or snow-birding without our cats. We even have a cat tree and box of toys we bring with us. We have a large cage that hangs by one of the windows so they can go in and out at will.

If you have slideouts, make sure the cats are confined in the bathroom when you run them out or bring them in. Cats and dogs have been severely injured by slides, even killed.

The shower has some seious downsides.... first, you have to be careful of getting litter in the plumbing. Then there's the ick factor if any is left in the shower when you get in. Not to mention the hassle of having to disassemble the cats' potty every day to take a shower, clean it out, shower, dry it out, and re-assemble. I'd find another spot.

As far as tracking, the "fake grass" kind of door mats... not the green carpet but the deeper plastic grass stuff... placed in between the litter box and the rest of the rig... will do a great deal to reduce tracking. More than anything else I've ever tried, including commercial "litter traps," most of which the cats won't walk on anyway.

It knocks the vast majority of the litter loose, and the depth of the pile keeps them from picking it back up. Clean up is easy, bend in half and pour funnel the litter trapped inside into an appropriate container or back into the box. For messier situations a hose works nicely.

Also, baking soda may have been "mom's secret" as the commercial says, but it works just as well today. I add a couple tablespoons to each (large) litterbox three times a week snd notice a big improvement in odor control. Easy and cheap and in a small space, air quality improvements are always welcome.

Shower gets my vote, I made a prop from a piece of pvc pipe with clamps to hold the door open several inches. I'm also thinking of switching to the organic litter for camping. Kind of unpleasant when he leaves the box in the middle of the night and comes back to bed with "sandy claws". You cat owners will know what I mean.