Traveling in a Class A with 5 Cats and a Dog :)

[fivekitties]

I need some tips on traveling in an RV with 5 kitties and a dog The dog is not so much a problem. He rides on the passenger's side floor board, in his bed, looking out the "doggie window", as we call it.

The cats, are another story. They have not been in the RV yet, but I can anticipate a lot of trying to get up into the driver's area. I'm afraid of a cat getting under my feet while driving.

I can't be the first RV owner who wants to separate the cockpit area, somehow, from the cabin area. Ideas, tips or thoughts on how to do this? A retractable gate somehow perhaps?

I'd love to hear about how you all have handled this. Maybe pictures of your solutions?

Thanks!

[fivekitties]

OhKaye wrote:
Yes, how is it working out?

The barrier system did not work out well. First, I left the cats in the coach area, free to roam. Well, they scaled the barrier and went up over it, and under it. First problem. That was before we even got out of Florida.

So we put them cats in the bed room and closed the door, but they still scaled the wall and came out over the bedroom in the gap between the door and the wall. Then once out, they again, came right up front.

Our final solution was to put the dinette set down into a bed area, and put a 4 x 5 dog crate on that area, bungee cord it to the coach so it didn't slide all over the place, and put the cats in there. Then no barrier was needed.

Once we were camped, in one place, we keep squirt bottles by the door to shake at the kitties to get them to get away from the door before we open the door to go outside.

It's proving to be a constant challenge.

[OhKaye]

Yes, how is it working out?

[Wanderlost]

Please post periodically as you use this system. We'd love to hear how it works.

[fivekitties]

So, we finally figured out what we think is going to be a usable solution. We ordered two Retract-A-Gates from Retract-A-Gate - Retractable Safety Gate, Retractable Baby Gate, or Retractable Pet Gate. An easy to use wide safety gate for indoors or outdoors and certified for use at the top of stairs. and we installed them in the RV.

Two behind the front seats. With brackets directly across on the door entry side, and another set of brackets on the side of the sink area. We overlapped the two gates on top of each other, and we think this will work.

I have no affiliate with Retract-A-Gate other than being a new customer, and I have not been paid or given any consideration for this statement. Here are some pictures below on how this turned out:

[fivekitties]

Lennie,

Thanks so much for the response. Our dog, and 3 out of the 5 cats, are microchipped. All 6 have collars, but they have something special as well.... they have the www.pettracker.com Tagg collars, which are Verizon based cellular tracking collars, that we can track on our cell phones if they wander away from the home base stations. I like that.

I lost one of my cats once, for 24 hours, and I was distraught, so I got the GPS tracking collars. I'm in the process of getting the other two cats microchipped before we hit the road too 🙂

We need to go through the RV, as well, and kitty proof little hiding spots, as you mentioned. That did cross my mind 🙂

Shawn

[Otterlynx]

Hi we travel with 2 cats and 2 dogs. We have their scratching post from the house, their litter box (by shower), toys and their beds.

They travel pretty good but tend to hide under the couch if someone comes by. Cisco will come lay on the dash on the passenger side for awhile and Ali the other cat will curl on on the bed.

They do like to look out the windows sometimes when travelling but not always.

They love to sit in the window at new places and see out.

MAKE SURE they have collars with id on and micro chip is even better.

YOU MUST CAT PROOF LITTLE SPOTS - by slides etc to make sure they arenèt hiding in their when you put your slides out. Mine hide behind the couch which is great as I can watch them and hubby can put the slide out.

Crating works well if they donèt mind the crates -- but cats are like us and need to be able to stretch.

Bear in mind they are marvelous escape artists and will dash outside if given the chance. Ours are harness trained plus we have an outdoor cat run for when we are set up.

Will look forward to the pictures of divider but fear you may find it more nuisance than help.

Lennie

[Go_Dogs]

I would have the cats secured in some type of carrier. In addition to being a distraction while driving, unsecured pets could escape in the even of an accident. It would also be a feat for you get in/out of the RV, if the cats wanted out.

[_tpc_]

I'm guessing they might be more freaked by the movement than anything else. Dividers should help but you should also create "cat zones" places they can feel comfortable in, higher up probably the better, or nearest windows they can look out. You didn't say whether or not your driving solo. If solo I would think you would want them in crates, as much as you don't want to do it.

I can only imagine, you buy your brand new rv, only to have the cats marking their territory's in it and/or making their own scratching posts...while you drive. Sounds like a recipe for disaster in my opinion.

If you have someone with you that can keep an eye on them, different story. You also need to have secure spots for litter, food/water, etc. Dogs will bark and tell you they need to go. Cats just go. lol

[valhalla360]

Cat carriers or maybe a large dog crate if they get along. Amazing what animals can do when they really want something, so a simple divider better not have options they can jump over or get around.

[fivekitties]

UPDATE: As part of the RV Sale, Camping World agreed to "come up with a divider solution between the cockpit and the coach." They have designed something using awning mesh and attachments to each wall. My coach is in Camping World Today, tomorrow and Monday for that, and a few other upgrades. I'll take pictures of how it looks once installed so you all can see what they came up with!