Camping with a cat

[PrincessNana]

Does anyone take their cat on camping trips? We're having a problem with our new cat that we never anticipated. She adopted us (she was a stray) when she was about 7 months old. We travel alot and sometimes we can take her but not always. When we don't take her she gets extremely upset with us. I'm worried about taking her camping...getting out of the motorhome, not finding her way back, encountering different animals, etc. We've never had a cat before that was that attached to us. What are your thoughts on this? We take the dogs camping but never thought about taking the cat. I'm addicted to the boards, but I'm only able to log in about once a day. I'm looking forward to any and all input on camping with a cat.

P.S. Leaving her at home is not a problem, my friend comes down twice a day to check on her and play with her. It just bothers us that she gets so upset when we leave.

 

[becky1960]

I have seen many cats in the windows of rv's at FW. I guess they get along fine. As long as you are in a Rv I dont think you would have a problem....

 

[BradyBz12]

We had a camper next to us in December that had at least 3 cats, and a few other assorted critters.

I'd definitely recommend taking her on some "trial run" camping trips first, but if she does fine, you shouldn't have any problems.

Getting out of the RV is a big concern, especially with a cat in a strange place, and you definitely will want to make sure you have some "system" in place to keep this from happening. Not sure of your MH setup, but maybe making sure she's gated or safely secured in another area (bedroom?) of the MH when you're coming and going.

When we were kids we took our family cat camping in our popup a lot. It was great.... until the day he managed to get out one day and shot up the tallest tree nearby! My mom went up after him, and he scratched the bejinkies out of her. Then he lept to the ground and thankfully ran back INto the camper. Then dad had to go rescue mom!

Like dogs, I think if you practice beforehand so that everyone is comfortable in the MH and with the whole camping routine, you should be just fine!

 

[PrincessNana]

Thank you for the good ideas. I think we'll try a few overnight trips and see how she does. She travels well, but this is a new experience for us.

 

[Grumpy92]

We have taken our cats to FW in the rv. They love to sit in the front window and look out. One is a little run away though. So here is my suggestions:
Take a carrying case with you. I put an old towel or blanket in there for him. If we are doing alot of in and out with the camper he goes in there.
The other thing we do is put him in the back bedroom and close it off when we leave. That way when we return he is not sitting at the door waiting to dash out.
Finally if someone decides to come inside while he is free everyone must knock on the door and wait for the ok from the person inside. Someone has to hold him or put him in the carrying box before the door can be opened.

Hope that helps

 

[BradyBz12]

Finally if someone decides to come inside while he is free everyone must knock on the door and wait for the ok from the person inside.

Might help to hang a little sign on the outside of your door for this. "Please knock, cat on the loose!"

 

[des1954]

Our MH does not move without our cats!! They would never permit it. My 2 kids are very good about not trying to sneak out the door and they get all excited when they realize I'm packing the MH. When we are on the road I keep them in a carrier (which for about the first 5 minutes we get the "protest serenade"). If we were to get into an accident, they would probably bolt out of fright if they weren't in a carrier, and unlike dogs, they do not come when called.

One of first 4 kids did not take to camping immediately. She did not like being out of her environment. After 3 or 4 trips she finally realized it wasn't so bad and she settled right in to the camping mode!

Don't give them a choice. Just take them!

 

[PrincessNana]

Thank you so much for all your help and ideas. She always travels in a carrier so we'll have that with us for those moments when she might bolt. Where do you keep your litter box? We're going to try her out this weekend.

 

[bradisgoofy]

We are like Debbie, our two fur kids go with us whenever we take the MH. Ours are 100% indoor cats so we really have never had a problem with them trying to get outside. One suggestion, if you have slideouts, make sure the fur kids are in a safe location when opening and closing. Also check to make sure there are no slots to accommodate wires or brackets. We had one under our bed and the kids would climb under there and we had a heck of a time getting them out. We made covers for those slots so it's not a problem any more. And our fur kids are "chipped", too, just in case. Our litter pan is under the dinette when we are on the road and then in a corner of the kitchen when we are parked and fully opened. Click on the word Motorcoach in our sig line to see a picture.

 

[des1954]

The bedroom in our current MH has a slide which allows me to keep the litter box there. In our two "gassers", I kept the litter box in front of the driver's seat.

Yes!!! Check for escape holes!! We had a 1992 Winnebago Brave that had a little cubby hole in the front of the sink counter top. We never checked it or even thought it could be a place for a kitty to investigate. Well....first night out, my little girl discovered this neat little place for a tiny kitty to sneak into. We kept hearing this muffled "meow" but could not figure out where it was coming from. Of course, I panicked and was ready to rip the MH apart to rescue my baby! DH, in his logical way, went outside and listened at a compartment door, heard the call for daddy, opened the compartment, and there she was!!! DH went to Home Depot right then and there (from FtW) got the stuff to plug the gap & there was peace in the family once again!!

Also, if your MH is an older model, check under the dash to make sure there is no way a kitty can crawl through to the engine compartment.

The voice of experience speaketh!!!

 

[Nikfour]

Does anyone take their cat on camping trips? We're having a problem with our new cat that we never anticipated. She adopted us (she was a stray) when she was about 7 months old. We travel alot and sometimes we can take her but not always. When we don't take her she gets extremely upset with us. I'm worried about taking her camping...getting out of the motorhome, not finding her way back, encountering different animals, etc. We've never had a cat before that was that attached to us. What are your thoughts on this? We take the dogs camping but never thought about taking the cat. I'm addicted to the boards, but I'm only able to log in about once a day. I'm looking forward to any and all input on camping with a cat.

P.S. Leaving her at home is not a problem, my friend comes down twice a day to check on her and play with her. It just bothers us that she gets so upset when we leave.

Hi!
We take our cat with us to Fort Wilderness ALL the time. We camp there quite often and she goes with us whenever we go. We don't let her out of the RV. Disney will ask if you are traveling with pets. One time I said yes and they were going to charge us $5.00 a day for our cat. How ridiculous!!!!!!!! They waived the fee. Now I just say No pets. She goes and hides while we are traveling and meows for the first 15 minutes. Once we arrive she is just fine. We only have a 3 hour drive to get to Disney. I would say, bringing your pets is one of the greatest benefits of camping!

Nikki

 

[PrincessNana]

Thank you for all the encouragement and good ideas, we feel alot better about taking her with us. We're going to check for hidey holes before we let her loose in the motorhome. I think the best out of the way place for the litter box will be on the passenger side floor board (we're gas powered). At home she can go outside whenever she wants, but this is her turf. We're scared to death she'll try to get outside, although she's never tried it when we've taken her to our kids homes. We've been at campgrounds before where people were looking for their lost cat so that got us worried.

 

[kent285]

We take two cats with us in our motorhome. It is the greatest feeling to have them with us. And, yes, can they hide! We have a pull-out couch, and when we went to close it up, we almost closed it up on our cat. Have a great trip.

 

[TOGA]

I've never camped with any of our 3 cats, but we've considered it an available option in only the most dire of circumstances. 1 cat would definitely 'freak' and not want anything to do with outside, so this might be too much for her. 1 cat is in the middle and might try to go outside only if given encouragement and the 3rd cat is more of an outside cat than an inside one and this is the one I'd worry about losing. She likes to roam and saunter back in her own good time.

 

[dtum]

We were considering this for this trip because ours misses us and we really pay when we get home (she's very needy). I talked it over with the vet and she suggested that we leave her home. Less risk of her getting out and being continually upset in the camper because she didn't grow up camping with us. We'll have parents stop by and feed her and she'll be a real pain when we get home, but I think I agree with the vet. Cats are creatures of habit and it's better she stay in her "home" alone then try to adapt for such a short period of time camping. Have to say we will really miss her

 

[PrincessNana]

After reading all the posts, we've decided to take "Miss Kitty" camping with us on shorter trips without extra people. But, when we come to Fort Wilderness next summer we will be leaving her at home with my daughter. We will be camping with 4 adults , 2 kids and 2 dogs. Thats too many bodies for our 30' motor home (too bad the economy tanked). She does punish us for her being left behind, but overall, she will be better off left at home. My daughter will stay at our house with her, which isn't perfect, but she can live with it for a short period of time. She is an indoor/ outdoor cat and she thinks she's pretty tough in our gated community, but it's a different world outside of the gates!! We can't wait to meet everyone's pets on the Fourth of July! ( Mine wil be the obnoxious ones)