Poty Stops with Cats

[dapperdan]

Hello,

I have a pet related question. My wife and I are about to take a 4 week trip to Phoenix, Dallas and Hot Springs (on the way home). On this trip we want to take our 4 year old cat, he's traveled with us on short little trips within our state (Wisconsin) but not on a long trip. With the short trips we just set up our trailer (at destination) and bring him in from the truck and he eventually does his business.

My question is what would you suggest as we will be on the road for probably 4 days traveling from Milwaukee to Phoenix? We're planning on staying at Walmarts, rest areas or truck stops until we get to Phoenix, he'll be fine at night. I'm just wondering about rest stops and durations during the day traveling. He's not a "huge fan" of traveling but he seems to tolerate it, once we get to where we're headed he's perfectly fine roaming around the trailer and doing typical cat-lazy stuff.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Dan

[dapperdan]

Basketweaverz wrote:
We just returned to NW WA from AZ and Nevada. Boots, the cat, rides curled up with our oldest dog and when we leave in the a.m., he rides on the dashboard of the motorhome for half an hour or so. Not even semis on the freeway bother him!! This was his first winter of being a snowbird so when we left home back in January, he was in his cat carrier. He yowled, meowed, growled for miles and then he pooped in the carrier. We put his harness and leash on him and left him out of the carrier and life was good.

Good story! We "think" we're just going to let our cat sit on the floor behind the driver's seat, that's where he spent all the other short trips and he seems to like that area because in the new truck he's in the same place. I took him for his first ride in the new truck the other day and he seemed pretty "cool" with it. No "crying" or "whining". The big test comes at the end of the month.

Dan

[Basketweaverz]

We just returned to NW WA from AZ and Nevada. Boots, the cat, rides curled up with our oldest dog and when we leave in the a.m., he rides on the dashboard of the motorhome for half an hour or so. Not even semis on the freeway bother him!! This was his first winter of being a snowbird so when we left home back in January, he was in his cat carrier. He yowled, meowed, growled for miles and then he pooped in the carrier. We put his harness and leash on him and left him out of the carrier and life was good.

[dapperdan]

Thanks for the great ideas and your thoughts and suggestions! We feel more comfortable taking Oreo with us now after reading all these wonderful ideas.

Oreo travels OK but every now and then he does get "vocal" but we think that's Oreo being Oreo as he's pretty vocal around the house as well.

Our plan is to take an extended lunch break at a rest area of whatever and give him time in the trailer, hopefully he'll get the idea and do his business while we're on break. We don't plan on traveling more than 400 miles a day and definitely not into the late hours of the evening.

Thanks again for your ideas.

Dan

[srdeane]

We have traveled with 2 cats in both a MH and a travel trailer. We did not have great luck with them in the MH because of all the motion. With the trailer we fold up the back seats of the Tundra and place a large mesh enclosure on the floor, with blankets and a disposable litter pan we get at the grocery. They don't usually use the litter pan except when we are stopped. Then it's easy to clean it before we take off. Only once did we have a cat use the litter pan underway. They settle right down after we leave and move around periodically, but otherwise are content to stay put on their blanket. When we are all set up at the campsite, we put a leash on their harnesses (which they wear when we travel), take them into the camper and then let them settle in.

[bamcote]

My coon cat doesn't travel well, so she is in a large wire dog crate on the bed in the motor home. My old siamese roamed around, ate, checked out the litter box, and mostly wasn't bothered while we were on the move. We usually stop at lunch and let the big cat out for a potty call, but she would have nothing to do with that, then back in the cage. She's fine when we get settled for the night.

[kknowlton]

We started bringing our cat along on camping trips 4 years ago. She's not a great traveler - no screaming, thank goodness, but she does tell us all day long that she'd really rather we were all at home. 🙂 She is fine in the trailer when we get settled for the night, and when we have longer stays she is ok - though probably bored (smaller TT than we used to have) when we go out sightseeing & leave her in the trailer by herself. We don't have a litter box, water or food in the truck while traveling, and she stays in a soft-sided carrier with large screened areas, the size for a small dog, so she can sit up in it, turn around without difficulty, etc. We carry her between truck & camper in the carrier; she does wear a harness & leash when we're underway, but has never been trained to be outside with them - and doesn't like it much. We usually have lunch in the trailer in a rest area on travel days, and we bring her in with us & allow her to roam. I'll put down a little water for her, but she usually doesn't eat or drink or even use the litter box until after we're set up in camp late in the day. She seems fine that way.

[n7bsn]

We know that travel with cats does take more time/mile. We have to stop and let them do their business, and it takes more time for them then the dogs.
Just a simple fact.

[rockhillmanor]

kmbernstein wrote:
Our kitty is really a great traveler. We have his soft carrier in the back of the TV, along with his litter box. He will use the box, even while we travel, and will sleep in his carrier. ...

x2

Except my cat was a HORRIBLE RV traveler. I tried all sizes of crates and all he would do was scream.

The soft side crate with screen all the way around was the winner for us too.

I bought a big one so that the litter box was on one end, his bed on the other and even a small plastic water and food bowl fit on the side.

We full time and he travels for hours or even days that way. He sleeps most of the time.

I would never let a cat ride loose in a vehicle and I would never let a cat outside for a potty call ever. Just saying, just MHO.:C

Sport Pet soft crate found at Walmart large size.
I built a platform with plywood along side the bed for it. The crate is collapses to a flat 12 inch round if needed, but I leave it up all the time because it keeps the cat litter contained and not all over my MH.:W

[Naio]

Michelle.S wrote:
We removed the back set in our TV and installed a large cage with three levels

Wow, that sounds great!!

One thing that might help: Cats are desert animals, and usually only pee (and poop) once a day, unless they have kidney issues. They don't have to go every few hours like us humans.

[kmbernstein]

Our kitty is really a great traveler. We have his soft carrier in the back of the TV, along with his litter box. He will use the box, even while we travel, and will sleep in his carrier. We have traveled for up to 10-12 hours in a day...no problem. He is trained on a leash so, when we have a potty stop for our dog, he goes for a walk. He loves to go traveling, and gets very vocal and restless when he recognizes that we are going "camping" and traveling.

[Michelle_S]

We removed the back set in our TV and installed a large cage with three levels, our two younger cats travel in the top level, the old guy in the middle, and the middle lady in the bottom section. They all have a litter box, water, and food.
And yes, they generally won't do their business while moving unless they really have to, but most of the time they'll do their business while we're doing ours in the camper.
They traveled all the way from Florida to Alaska and back that way.

[magnusfide]

Most cats won't do business until the vehicle stops. Put him in a pet carrier so he won't panic and escape if there's unexpected noise or what have you. Then let him roam the trailer at night when you're stopped. He'll adapt to the routine hopefully.