Forum Discussion

Naio's avatar
Naio
Explorer II
Jul 04, 2015

Keeping pets cool while parked, no AC in rig?

Hello all --

My kitty who was attacked by the pit bull has developed diabetes. My guess is that he was going to anyway, and the stress put him over the edge.

I was planning to leave him, and my other cat, in a friend's care this fall/winter, as I did last year, but now I am not sure. I am considering taking him with me.

It would be tight, the two of us in a small van. And I would have to take him on a trial run to see if he can adapt to camping. Maybe you folks have suggestions?

My main concern is keeping him cool during the day when I am out. I don't think he would go for an outdoor cage. I do have a large folding one, but the one time I put him in it overnight (indoors, for a painful paw injury) he clawed at the cage all night until I decided he was doing more damage to his injury in the cage than he would if I let him out. So, that did not go well.

Inside the van, how would I keep him cool? Is there some kind of tiny AC I can run off a generator? A small S&B one seems too big, and too heavy. I don't suppose I can leave a generator going when I am out, but at least I could come back midday and turn it on for a while to cool the rig down.

I tried googling but just found a zillion little swamp coolers, which sounded mold-inducing to me, in a vehicle.

What do you all think? Ice packs?

I figure when I am at camp he can be outside on a leash. I've done that at home (since the attack) and he finds the leash mildly annoying but no big deal. But of course it would be unsafe if I am not there!