Camping with a cat

[sparkydave]

Thought I'd ask, I've never taken my cats camping. I have a new cat, but he has some special needs, namely he's missing one leg and has to take blood pressure medication daily. He doesn't mind traveling to the vet's office in the car and he's very relaxed when we're at the vet's office. Knowing him, he'd probably be happy as a clam stretching out on the bunk soaking up rays. Just wondering how many others take their cats camping and what experiences they've had.

[wny_pat1]

Neither of our cats like the traveling part. The older one hides out, while the younger one sits on DWs lap.

Our last trip we broke down and had to leave the coach some 2000 miles from home. Got a dog cage for the back seat of the toad and put the cats in it. Was not bad and they were not to vocal, but they refused to use the litter box until we got into a motel room for the evening. That was 9 to 10 hours each day. Don't know if that was good or bad, but it appeared to be their choice!

[BeckyIO]

I've camped with two different cats in my 17' travel trailer at different times. Both adapted within a day to it and were fine, but I know some cats wouldn't be, as poster above said it depends on the personality of the animal, cat or dog. Some day I'm going to adopt a cat to full-time with me permanently, the two I've so far weren't mine and it was a temporary arrangement.

[jeffmarshall911]

I think it really depends upon the personality of the animal. We have a couple that have no interest and I think we'd be pulling them out of every corner and hiding spot in the rig. We have another that taught us that camping with a cat was just fine.

We started with a harness but she hated it, the collar worked out pretty well (we're very very careful so we don't strain on her neck - they have different anatomy from dogs). Heeling and walking on the same side of trees/fence posts took some time but cats are as trainable as any other animal - just have to figure out what their drive is (cats are mostly food driven). She is also play driven, fetch especially.

Here she is in the "dog days" of summer, relaxing and enjoying a beer with me.

/Jeff

[catmancando]

travel with two cats and ayorkie they enjoy it as much as we do:B

[kmbernstein]

We have always traveled with our cat. He rides inside the car, and never tries to escape. We have a halter and leash for him, take him on walks around the campgrounds, and he sits beside the campfire with us in the evening. We bring his favorite climber / scratching post with us, and he sits in the windows of the trailer and watches the world go by. He loves going, and we love taking him.

[JLTN_James]

Our cat Maggie, a Maine Coon cross, had diabetes and required insulin injections twice a day. We were forced into making her a camping kitty. First trip out with her, she was very nervous. That is, until the two dogs came into the camper! Maggie immediatly settled in by kicking the dogs off the bed! She loved camping after that. She traveled really well, spending most of the drive time on the seat between the kids. She never tried to escape, even out of the truck. She was always an indoor only cat and happy to be with her people. She's traveled quite extensivly from Oregon to Iowa, camped in our pop-up and my parents 5er.
Sadly, we lost our beloved camping kitty right before last Christmas to cancer. We're planning to take Maggie's ashes one-way on a camping trip this summer. She will be reunited with her "sister" in the mountains.

[PatStab]

My kitty is 18 going on 19. I left her a couple of times and she did not do well. wouldn't eat at my friends and lost a lot of weight. The next time at a pet facility and she tried to bite the tech. she has always been an inside cat. We just take her with us, she sleeps in her heated bed by the diesel engine all time I'm driving and makes herself at home otherwise, not been an issue.

[Tothill]

Sophie our older cats love to go rving. She wears a harness the entire time, is walked on a leash and has her own chair by the fire.

She likes to walk on the leash and it sure is a conversation starter to be walking a cat through a campground.

We have a class C and the litter box goes between the front seats when we stop. But as an indoor outdoor cat, she prefers to do her business outside, I have to be quick to scoop before she buries her poop.

We do not confine her while underway, but we do travel with a crate which we use when setting up or loading up to make sure she does not get out.

Charlie our other cat has not yet been camping. I do not think he will take to it was well as Sophie. He is much more skittish, does not like new people etc.

We also travel with one or two dogs, ours and my mum's.

[Sue_Bee]

The cat hates to travel, but hates to be left alone more, and is wary of petsitters, so travel she does. She kvetches about it, but when we get where we are going, she settles right in. She does have a box that she likes, so we bring it, she gets in it and it feels like home.

[sparkydave]

Thanks all for the info! Maybe I'll try a short trip at one of the nearby parks, so if he doesn't deal well then it's not a big deal to take him home and return to give him his meds. Could be interesting camping with him in the popup, but I think it can be done.

[kknowlton]

Our cat hates to travel, especially to the vet, and she lets us know when we are on the road, but once in camp, she settles into the camper and does just fine. She is an indoor-only cat, but just in case, we keep her in a harness for the entire duration of the trip, and on a leash when we are in transit. We also have a child gate that we prop in front of the camper door (inside) when we have just the screen door closed.

We went through and rejected a lot of camper floorplans because they didn't have space for a litter box!

[Code2High]

Most cats love RVs except for the actual travel part. So if yours doesn't mind that, I don't see any reason not to take him. He'll probably have a blast.

[Artum_Snowbird]

We have to pay strict attention to the compass when we take our cat. The front of the truck has to be pointed to the east so that the maximum sunny benefit will be in the slide window and her bed up top. She quite enjoys nice sunbeams.

[hawkhill]

We take our two cats everywhere with us. One of our reasons for buying the RV. Since we have a fifth wheel ours travel secured in a crate in the truck when traveling. Once we park and run the slides out we move the to the RV. One rule to remember is always secure your cat before running slides in or out. Some sad stories about cat getting behind slides and being crushed. To get ours used to travel we took mini trips around town with a lot of good reinforcement. I swear they like RVing better than home.

[DutchmenSport]

Take the cat camping and just let her do whatever she wants. They adapt better than people. We have 2 that travel with us, as well as a dog. Here's one of the 2 cats. They just make themselves at home and enjoy using us as a highway at night when we're sleeping!



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