RVing with Cats
It's here! A post about our favorite subject... CATS! Though you may not be a cat person, having dogs in an RV may also call for some of these alterations.
To begin, when we were considering full-timing, we were worried about our fuzzy children and how they would do in this lifestyle. As we cat lovers know, every feline-friend is very different. Some may take to RVing well and love going on long trips with you and some may try to scratch your eyes out for subjecting them to such a traumatizing ordeal.
We are lucky enough that Kitty and Hector fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. There are things they really love about the RV, like ample windows and cabinets to crawl and jump in. Then there are some things they hate, like moving days. We want to make their lives as fun, safe, and stress-free as possible.
Here is what we've done to keep everyone happy, healthy, and sane in the RV!
Safety First!
The most important thing to us is our cats' safety. They are a part of our family, and their needs often come before our own. We have had to make modifications to our routine and the RV to ensure the cats stay safe while also protecting our home.
Cat-Proofing an RV
There are places in an RV that can be dangerous for a cat, which seems to make it so much more inviting to them. Slides are a dangerous and scary thing for cats (and dogs too). It's important to know where our furry loved ones are when pulling in or extending the slides. We choose to pack the cats up in their secure carriers prior to pulling in or extending our slides, as they are likely to have a panic attack if we did this in front of them.
Aluminum on screen door
The previous owners of Rhiannon put aluminum sheets on the screen door, which prevents them from damaging the screen. This is helpful, for our curious clawed family members. Though they can still reach some exposed areas of the screen door, it is much smaller of a risk and more difficult for them to get to.
In a motor home, there is an added risk of pets exploring the motor and/or electrical system under the hood. As much as they love chewing on plastic, electric wires are also a choice chew toy for our boys, therefore we blocked our engine area off under the dash. Also, we caught Hector trying to climb into it. This decision has proved to be essential for their safety and to prevent damage to the RV.
Below is an image of how we blocked our engine area off initially. It's a duct taped mess and quite the eye sore! To improve this setup, we purchased some pet proof fiberglass screen that we've attached using Velcro. I sewed the velcro onto the screen and used self-adhesive velcro to attach to the dash and wall. One side of the velro sticks to carpet, so it just sticks to the floor.
All of this came from Amazon and only cost about $20. It's easy to detach when we're ready to drive, and keeps them away from the wires and tempting crawl spaces.
Driving w/Cats
Some cats are calm enough to ride in a motorhome without a carrier. Not ours! At least we haven't been able to do this yet, because we aren't both in the motorhome when it's in motion. I'm driving the car while Loren is driving Rhiannon. As soon as I'm able to ride along and make sure they are safe, we'll try it... maybe.
Since Hector is incredibly averse to even the site of the carrier, we did try keeping him in the bathroom with lots of blankets and his favorite toy (rainbow snake). This didn't go so well. He got really scared, climbed to the counter, and howled. We pulled over and put him in the crate for his own safety. It's important to know the personality of your pet and how they may react to certain situations. Hector has some special needs, so we are extra aware of what triggers his anxiety. Kitty on the other hand is perfectly fine with the carrier, albeit somewhat annoyed we've upset his daily routine.
From what we’ve read/heard, you cannot leave cats in a trailer or fifth wheel while driving. This is extremely dangerous due to the heat and things moving around.
*UPDATE: Lately, we’ve been putting Kitty and Hector in their cubbies in the RV while we drive. We emptied out two of our upper cabinets and keep them open all the time. When we drive, the cats go in the cabinets and we shut the doors to keep them safe and cozy. This has been working pretty well although Hector still get anxious and tries to escape…child proof locks are now on our list of needs for the next trip!
Keeping the Peace
How do we all live together in such a small space? It takes some thought and consideration. Overall, the cats seem to love living so close together. We can rarely go from one room to another without the entire family following.
The Litter Box(es)
I feel like we've tried every litter and litter box out there throughout our years as cat parents. We have tried: sifting boxes, sifting liners, even the self scooping box which happened to be Kitty's worst nightmare (a story for another time!). We've finally got the perfect routine down!
If you haven't tried Pretty Litter, you need to! This stuff is amazing and affordable. It lasts an entire month without odor and the cats love it! It also monitors their health by changing color when they go. It's amazing!
You may be wondering where the litter box goes in such a small space. Mind you, we have two cats so we need two litter boxes to ensure we maintain order. Space was deffinately something we were concerned about initially, but there are plenty of places in RVs to hide the litter boxes. Right now, we've got one behind the passenger's chair - you can't even see it unless you're looking for it. The other is under a vanity/desk in the bedroom. This one is a little more conspicuous, but it's out of the way enough for us. We've seen some super clever hiding places for litter boxes, like in a storage bay with a cutout for them to access or under the booth bench. We may eventually do something fancy like that, but everyone is happy with this setup for now.
Destruction
It is inevitable... our boys are little monsters and hate everything nice and good. If your cats are declawed, then your issues will be minimized. Kitty and Hector elected to keep their claws, so they have ripped through more than a few items in the RV. Valences were the first to go. We didn't bother stopping them from scratching those, because we hated the way the looked, anyway. Their favorite thing to scratch is the booth bench. They've managed to destroy one side of it, but again we didn't really bother stopping them because we don't plan on keeping it.
The leather captains chairs were another story. Those, I would like to keep in good condition, so we covered them with $10 plush blankets from Wal-Mart. They've gotten a few small marks in them, but nothing bad. Mostly they love napping and sunning there, so we didn't spray anti-scratching stuff or block them off. Also, that anti-scratching stuff just seems to make our boys want to scratch more, and blocking things off... just gives them a challenge of how to get behind the block.
Cats will scratch for a number of reasons - trimming their claws, marking territory, stretching, etc. It's important to have something your cats can scratch, because it prevents an alternative to the items you don't want them damaging. We can't wait to add some furniture and toys made for them to rip into, and of course we'll be sharing all of it along the way!
Leash Training
Our boys are indoor cats. They have never been outside. Kitty has no interest going outdoors, he likes the safety and comfort of his own home and is angry at any attempt to change this routine. If he was human, he'd be agoraphobic for sure. Hector seems to have some interest in going out, especially when we're outside and he can see us. We've been trying to leash train him, but he just rolls around right now. There are also dogs off leash at every park we've ever stayed at or been to, which makes us very nervous to take him out at all. I'm sure most dogs are fine, but we're overprotective cat-moms.
We've also thought about building an enclosure for them to go out. We may do this in the future, but we have some concerns for this as well. Hector has some obsessive tendencies, and we don't want him becoming obsessed with something he can't always get.
That's what we've done to keep our cats happy and safe in the RV. We'll definitely be posting more in the future as we try new things for our babies.
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