What do you do with cat at Campgrounds

[1ed]

I am wondering what you do with cat once you arrive at campground. I have been looking at those portable cages etc. also I like the leash idea. I would not want to walk the cat around the campground but would like to have him outside during the day. Looking for ideas. Thanks Ed

[toedtoes]

My Twooney are camping cats. Looney1 is an old pro noe at 2-1/2. He is Mr Social Butterfly and happily walks on his harness and leash to check out the campsite. In a quiet campground, I may walk him further out if he wants. Looney2 is a year younger and is more timid around folks. His harness and leash walking is more prone to issues. If he gets nervous, he will turn around and pull the harness of over his head. So I always make sure he doesn't get turned around like that. If he does, I slowly approach him without pulling on the leash, pick him up and take him back inside.

I do have two lightweight nylon tethers, 15ft, that I can hook on the RV grab handle and attach to their harnesses. This way I can open the RV door and let them choose to walk in and out as they wish.

My two rules:

1. They wear their harnesses ALL THE TIME. From the moment we leave home until we return home. The harness has an ID tag attached that includes the cat's name, reward, my cell number, and my SUV and trailer plate numbers. This way if lost, they can find me in the campground regardless of cell phone reception.

2. They NEVER go outside without the leash or tether. I am not going to leave without my cats, so I don't give them a chance to get spooked and disappear. I also don't want them snooping into dangerous things: snakes, an open drain, a fox burrow, etc.

I always have a softsided carrier for emergencies and a folding crate. I haven't needed either yet, but I consider them essential travel items.

It's important to understand how your cat prefers to travel. Some cats, like mine, prefer to see out the window and have more freedom than a carrier gives. Others prefer to hole down in a quiet dark spot and not see outside - for these travel in a carrier works well.

Mine ride in the suv not the trailer. All my pets (cats, dogs, and bird) ride with me. It's a smoother ride and I feel more able to keep an eye on them.

None of this batch have gone in the motorhome yet. So we will see how that works. The bird travels in her backpack in the suv and moves into the travel cage when we reach a multi-night stop. She will travel in the motorhome in her travel cage like the prior bird did. The cats and dogs will travel loose in the motorhome. I suspect the cats will stay up in the cabover bed.

[2oldman]

Finally Time wrote:
I was afraid my cat would get stuck behind the sofa so I bought some cheap large body pillows and stuffed them in the space behind it.

Sometimes they like to hide.

[Finally_Time]

Pangaea Ron wrote:
Thanks for all the comments, I have questions also.

We adopted a 4 month old cat that is now 8 months old and is an indoor cat. We have a harness and leash for her (never yet used), but will practice with her before we take the MH out next week

The last time we took her in the MH, she dropped over the back on the couch/bed, crawled underneath and spent much time there. She couldn't get out herself and we needed to extend the bed to get her out. . . and then she went back underneath again. She's much more social now and I'm trying to fabricate a barrier at the back of the couch.

I was afraid my cat would get stuck behind the sofa so I bought some cheap large body pillows and stuffed them in the space behind it. this way he can still sit on the back of the sofa and look out the window and not get behind it.

[Sjm9911]

I tried it, got harnesses for my 2 kittens. Then accustomed them to the leash and harness over time. When i try to take them out of the house they will have nothing to do with it. So, some cats will be good campers, others not so much.

[2oldman]

chuckbear wrote:
Almost every campground we have been in over the years has requirements that pets be kept on a leash outside the RV.

Those rules are rarely enforced on cats unless you find a neighbor who rats on you. Most people find walking a cat kinda cute, but there are those few who will complain. I've been lucky, but then again I spend most of my time away from RV parks.

[chuckbear]

2oldman wrote:
I look for sites close to trees and bushes. I walk her without a leash - took a couple years to 'train' her but now she looks forward to walks with me. She never runs away - dogs do that - although I do not know where she is at all times. She loves to smell other peoples' RVs, bushes and branches, and sharpen her claws and climb.

Keeping a cat confined inside is not my style, or hers.

Pangaea Ron wrote:
She couldn't get out herself and we needed to extend the bed to get her out. . .

Not all cats are good travelers. May take time.

Almost every campground we have been in over the years has requirements that pets be kept on a leash outside the RV. That includes cats. Ours will decide if she wants to go out for a walk on her leash or just stay inside and watch the world go by from the windows. She seems to be quite happy doing either and we don't force her to go out if she decides not to. We do some walks around the house for a few days before a trip to get her used to the harness and leash again. She freaked out the first time in a harness but quickly got used to it. We put the harness on and let her roam around our house, first inside than out in the yard. Once she was comfortable, we add the leash and go for walks around the yard and soon the neighborhood. Chuck

[1ed]

Thanks for all the great info. The cat that we have now really adopted us. We were at a campground in the mountains here in California and when we pulled in there were two cats running around and as soon as we got set up, there they were at the campsite. Since we are cat lovers and had recently lost the last of 4 we were glad for the company. Well, naturally I had to go out and purchase cat food and made sure they had something to eat and clean water to drink. Anyway, the one would jump up on our laps and go to sleep and the other would always stay at a distance, but would come at night for food. I made a bed for them on our recliners and each night that were they would be. During the day the both of them would roam the CG and then come to us while we had our coffee. Again, the one we brought home would stay all day with us and the other would remain at a distance. My wife and I kept talking about taking them both home, but then we were not sure how to do it since we had no carrier, so I ask the CG Host if they belonged to anyone and she said no and then I told her we were thinking of taking the Black and White one and she said she thought she could come up with a carrier and she did and when she brought it to the site and put it on the table the cat just jumped up entered the carrier and went to sleep until 3 hours latter when we got home. Took the cat to the vetshad him fixed and had chip
implanted and everything is fine. The vet said the cat is about 12-18 months old and great personality. So we would like to take him with us from time to time, but not sure how--hense all the questions. I saw these and still trying to decide. Anyway just some background and we did try to get his buddie but could never catch him.
carrier

[Pangaea_Ron]

We tried the harness and leash today and she freaked, fortunately there is a rainy weekend predicted for our next trip, so we may not even go outside ourselves. She loves the dashboard, and I fabricated a foam rubber barrier to the area behind the couch. . . we'll see? Sometimes (mostly) she is smarter that we are.

[Oasisbob]

Last year two stray cats camped with us eating hot dogs. Obviously skinney and left behind by their owners. I saw one sleeping in the warm coles in the morning. Very sad. We tried to take them home but they wanted nothing to do with it.

[jbbrick]

We take our 3 cats with us whenever we go, whether a weekend or a month. They're all indoor cats and never leave the RV. They mostly do what they do at home, sleep or look out the window. I tried a leash on one but the world is too big and he just sat there afraid. As at home, they're safer inside.

[qtla9111]

It depends on how they are raised. Our cat was raised with two dogs so he acted like a dog. Leash trained, even off-leash would always find his way back to the rv.

Miss the little guy like a limb, he was with us 19 years. He loved to go for rv trips. First one in the car.

[2oldman]

I look for sites close to trees and bushes. I walk her without a leash - took a couple years to 'train' her but now she looks forward to walks with me. She never runs away - dogs do that - although I do not know where she is at all times. She loves to smell other peoples' RVs, bushes and branches, and sharpen her claws and climb.

Keeping a cat confined inside is not my style, or hers.

Pangaea Ron wrote:
She couldn't get out herself and we needed to extend the bed to get her out. . .

Not all cats are good travelers. May take time.

[Pangaea_Ron]

Thanks for all the comments, I have questions also.

We adopted a 4 month old cat that is now 8 months old and is an indoor cat. We have a harness and leash for her (never yet used), but will practice with her before we take the MH out next week

The last time we took her in the MH, she dropped over the back on the couch/bed, crawled underneath and spent much time there. She couldn't get out herself and we needed to extend the bed to get her out. . . and then she went back underneath again. She's much more social now and I'm trying to fabricate a barrier at the back of the couch.

[phillyg]

Since cats are notoriously fickle and/or stubborn, it's difficult to tell how they will react. One of our three will stay on our lanai at home all day if we let him, the other two not so much. Yet, the one travels well in the TV, and seems okay inside the FW once we stop.

We never take them outside because we feel it would train them to go to the door and dash outside given the opportunity, and its hard to corral cats. We've thought of hanging an enclosure off a window so they can at least get some fresh air, but I'm still designing it in my head.