Cool Kids on the Road

Getting my four cats ready for travel.

I currently have seven cats. Soon to be eight, we currently have a cute, very young abandoned gray cat wooing us and his charms are working.

Over the years, I have had 13 cats in total and counting. All of them dumped at my farm, or feral.

It takes a lot of work to bring them back to health and to socialize them. They generally don’t like to be picked up, but for some that eventually melts away. Rarely do they like to be held or snuggled, though I may get a lap sitter every now and then.

They’ve all had some sort of trauma inflicted on them prior to arriving at my farm and therefore have all kinds of hangups.

This is clear.

So taking them on the road with us was a huge challenge.

However, some of them are quite eager to be companions.

Five of them are the “cool kids”.

One of the five is terrified of the RV, so there are four cool kids on the road.

You can read stories about the cool kids here:

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I like writing about my cats.

When I bought my Recreation vehicle (RV), it was so I could take my cats with me when I travel.

The last outing prior to the RV purchase I boarded them at the kennel. All five of them.

It was very expensive.

They all came home quite sick.

Mercifully our vet gave them a “convenience antibiotic” shot (a strong antibiotic that stays in the system for 14 days) so we were spared 14 days of administering oral antibiotics to five unwilling cats with claws.

In addition to learning about our rolling home and dealing with the malfunctioning “issues”, bringing four cats along added a whole new level of difficulty, especially when I knew they very much enjoy the great outdoors, unsupervised.

Kind of like how teenagers prefer to be unsupervised.

I had one of those once too.

Left Behind

We had hoped to be able to bring our orange Maine Coon with us, he was at first and continues to be quite terrified of the RV. He was the first we leash trained in anticipation of travel, and he coached the others but will not get anywhere near the RV.

It’s fine just sitting in the driveway, but when that engine starts, he’s gone to one of his hiding places. There’s plenty of hiding places around our farm and I believe the barn cats have shown him around the barn as well.

The barn is pretty critter proof, a swing door in the window for cat entrance and an occasional small possum or raccoon (always a surprise). There are also multiple insulated sleeping boxes we use for the feral cats who prefer to stay outside.

He’s always had issues with loud sounds. I remember the first time he was in the house and the window air conditioning units came on, he was terrified, so why would the camper be any different?

So he was problem number one.

Feeding machines left, swing door on barn, right. Yes our barn is a log cabin too.

Solved with feeding machines and a neighbor willing to check on him periodically.

Those feeding machines are the end product of several iterations of the raccoons showing us how not to install them.

He hangs with the working cats, the barn cats, while we’re away and is a cool kid again when we return.

The Gear

When you gear up to take four cats on the road you sort of have to think like a cat.

Cats cling to routines, in fact get crabby if you do something in the wrong order.

Having their “stuff” aboard was essential and new stuff was even more fun for them.

On our list of gear for the cats: harnesses, scratching post(s), litter box(es), hiding boxes, fluffy beds, skid proof food and water bowls, vaccination certificates, kitty first aid kit, kitty carriers - disassembled.

The harnesses were an interesting exercise.

Four cats, four different body shapes and sizes meant four different color schemes.

They had never worn collars before.

One can purchase what they call “breakaway collars”.

Common sense says what’s the point of that?

One color scheme for each Cool Kid, each with an Apple AirTag, a collar, a harness and a leash. Home again id tag with a silver unscrew capsule with phone number. Handsome modeler of gear.

We purchased elastic collars designed to hold an Apple AirTag. Why attach an Apple AirTag and all identifying info to a collar that breaks away from what you potentially may be searching for?

Kitty might get hung up and strangled?

Cats aren’t that stupid.

They have a keen sense of self preservation, but for me I ask why would they try to escape in the first place?

I’m finding out with mine they like it right where they are, especially if I follow the routine the right way.

The collar routine, on them when we’re traveling, when we’re going to be away from the camper for a few hours and when we’re on board but going in and out of the door like when grilling or sunset cocktails. Off for bedtime, just relaxing when no one is going in and out and when we get home from a trip.

At night I say “take it off” and they all come running so I can take the collars off.

We did have one kitty get out.

It was heart stopping for me, but after of 10 minutes of terror for him hiding under the RV in the dark, he finally came to me and hasn’t gone near the door when we’re away. He’s the one who prefers to just look out the windows now.

(Note in my photos there are five collars, this was before I realized the fifth one wasn’t going to come along under any circumstance, I’m still hoping he’ll change his mind…)

Their Space

We’ve dedicated the loft above the cab as a kitty loft so they do have a place of their own.

It’s supposed to be a fun bunk bed for kids, but it is also perfect for the cats.

It’s one of the nice features of this RV.

There’s a wooden platform on the back of the bench to prevent claws from tearing up the “pleather” (it’s in the lower left of the left photo) as they climb to the kitty loft, but it’s also a great perch to survey the kitty kingdom on board.

Fluffy beds, hiding cubes, toys, a scratching post reside there. All of it placed on top of a Mexican blanket to cut down on the fur deposits on the RV carpet.

Pro tip: Remove the kitty stuff, shake the blanket. Fur problem in the kitty loft, solved.

The Motion

We let the cats come and go all summer, in out, in out, in out of the RV, they’re good at that. Late summer was the first time they were in the RV when we started it. They had witnessed it start from outside, but being inside was a whole other story.

It sounds like a train.

For small critters I suppose it was terrifying, they were wide eyed, but curious.

They generally do well in carriers in the car, but this was home, moving.

Yowling. Ever heard cat yowling?

You would think we were beating them.

We took baby steps.

First, starting it up with them in there, then starting it up and putting collars on them. Next starting it up and putting collars on them and taking them around the block. One yowled most of the ride, one was fine, one sat on the seat next to me, one sprouted about 500 claws and wouldn’t let go and yowled.

Trips around the block got longer and longer, until they learned it was OK.

Our first official outing was at a local State Park. Less than an hour away.

When we travel now, one stays in the kitty loft and watches out the window. One likes to sleep under the front seat, two stay on the mattress that folds so they can look out the window in comfort.

They are all very good travelers now.

The Behavior

As long as we stick to a routine that is similar to what we do at home, life is good.

In order to keep camping fun for them, we add special things that only happen when we travel.

They were all curious about the camper from day one. All five of them were sitting on the front porch watching the day we rolled in with it.

Two will break all speed records while the RV is in the driveway when the door opens to get inside because of the special treatment that might go on.

The oldest one will trot behind and then not want to leave the camper, the youngest doesn’t really have the attention span yet to be fully committed to what goes on when we leave on a trip. I think he would prefer to stay home and catch squirrels (which he does).

Sometimes they are allowed to sit at the dinner table with us, sometimes they get to look out the window in the bedroom and they all love the dashboard, but only when we’re stationary.

Cats love to scratch on a variety of surfaces. Our cats had never seen a scratching post before and were quite thrilled to be allowed to scratch indoors. At home they’ve never “done their nails indoors” and have a favorite cedar post outside they all scratch on and acres and acres of logs, stumps and a pile of leftover building lumber. On board the camper there are four places to scratch and they are quite thrilled with them.

When at home, two of the cats will wait until the RV door is opened to go in and scratch. We try to limit this so it’s special when we travel.

All the leash training we did paid off.

Sometimes they will want to walk in the campgrounds, sometimes we take them somewhere else, like the beach or lagoon near the beach.

They don’t get to see a lot of people at home, so they prefer to be away from crowds.

People watching is just fine from the windows in the camper, especially a busy campground.

The loose dogs in the parks have been a problem, dogs are supposed to be leashed and controlled, however, in many campgrounds we’ve been to, they run loose.

Careless dog owners cause fear for the cool kids, but our guys know they are safe in the camper.

They (all of them at once) growled once at a doberman that was loose in the park.

I’ve never heard any of my cats growl before. All of them at once was pretty memorable.

What we’ve noticed is that they have become more attentive to us on the road.

Warning, cat lingo ahead: More biscuits. More purring. More gumming. More headbutts. More butt. More lap sitting.

More travels!

Cool Kids on the Road

All Photos Credit: Collette Greystone.