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Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:48 am

hi all,

a lot of us go camping with pets, mostly dogs...We went camping once with our cat and she disappeared for a day then we found her hiding in the bushes.. we almost lost her... :shock:

any one have tips, tricks, experiences to share...so we can try again...

many thanks....

Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:52 am

ya know, the great thing about cats is that they can left at home.

if you really want to bring em, and they keep running off, well, i say you better leash it.

just my .02c

Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:52 am

As with most trips with a Van, always carry a spare.

Coincidentally, I have a very nice cat that has lived outside for almost a year that is in very good shape. Yours for the asking.
:D

Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:53 am

Well, I've never camped with my cat before, but I work at Petsmart and am pretty familiar with pet products. Have you tried buying a harness and long leash? That way she can do some exploring but won't get lost and has a much smaller likelihood of getting hurt.

Mon Sep 27, 2010 12:38 pm

Hi; I had an adventurous cat named George. He traveled with us all through the eastern and the western states and across Canada in different homemade camper vans back in the 80's. Somehow he always came back in the morning and never became a treat for a coyote or owl.
He knew where the food was and a comfortable lap to sleep on as we drove. I built a ramp up to the slider window to allow him easy exit/entrance from the bed area.
Try some small trips to "strange "areas to see if your cat will acclimatize to new places.

Mon Sep 27, 2010 2:31 pm

I had 2 cats that I would travel with in my bus ('71).

I think success really depends on your cats personality. I had one really laid back cat (Gus) and one really high strung one (Harley). I lived in my bus at the time, so basically they had no choice but to go with me all over the west. :D

Gus would sit in my lap and watch out the window. Harley would immediately need to take a big crap as soon as the car started moving. Big PITA! Having a stinky litter box in the van is no fun. Harley also had problems with yowling and getting under my feet by the petals, which is no good, obviously.

I had harnesses for both for when I was in the woods. They were both SO scared of the 'wilderness' that they would just hide under the car. I got to where is was just better to make them hiding spots in the bus, and that is where they stayed.

As it is now, Gus will get in any open vehicle just to go for a joy ride. :lol: I actually almost lost him that way though, as he isn't picky about who's car it is. Harley is gone... I gave him away finally because he was hard to travel with. (I would have just left him at home, if I had had one.)

I totally think the 'test run' trip is a great idea. Get a feel for how your cat will like the experience without committing to the trip.

Good luck!! Hope you end up with a car cat!

Mon Sep 27, 2010 2:41 pm

I wouldn't travel with any pet, but nevertheless:

At a Porsche show last year, there was a Westy parked in the venue's hotel parking lot, top popped into the trees. I went over to have a peak and noted the following:

All windows were open, rear hatch and slider doors were open, but there were:

Screens over the front door window openings.
Screens over the slider window openings.
Screen inside the rear hatch opening.
Screen inside the sliding door opening.

And one cat sitting on the rear seat.

Mon Sep 27, 2010 4:39 pm

Research pet locators. A booth at the fair here was advertising pet and child GPS units which I didn't take a look at but I have seen small units that work like traditional avalanche beacons so that your cat would be giving off a radio frequency that you could follow with a hand held receiver.

Mon Sep 27, 2010 6:12 pm

If you lose your cat, you can always contact one of these guys.

Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:29 pm

It can't run away if it's under the back tire. :shock: Just kidding I love all animals and even some bugs, just some not most. But anyhow I don't think I would take a cat with just out of fear of it getting lost or not coming back when I had to go. My other thought was that if you put it on a leash, what would happen if a dog came along. My sister has two that will kill a cat on sight, they take the dogs camping with them all the time. Don't risk it is my two cents.

Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:50 pm

News video for cat fans: vanagon wreck, cat lost, and found. Happy ending:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/video?id=7182867

Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:54 pm

1621 wrote: If you lose your cat, you can always contact one of these guys.

LMAO

I always joke how taking my kids anywhere is like herding cats. :lol:

Mon Sep 27, 2010 9:26 pm

We have two cats, one we take traveling all of the time in our Dodge truck and Casita trailer. She travels great, sleeping in her round scratching post or on the console between us. She won't get far from our rig. We have never taken her in the Westy but I'm sure she would be fine.

The other cat, a young male would be gone if we took him. He roams the neighborhood and would be off chasing a rabbit or squirrel and a coyote would probably eat him.

We were camping at Preist Lake in the Idaho panhandle and our cat was laying on a camp table when a great northern owl flew through our camp without making any noise at all. Luckily it was going after a squirrel and not our cat.

A friend of mine has a harness for his cat that has two red dive lights on it. He walks the cat at night and all you can see are the two lights that look like eyes. It's pretty wild.

Mon May 09, 2011 8:44 am

of course i would find what i was looking for via the search! i'm about to drive from oregon to mass. with my cat, in my van. i took a test run with him yesterday from portland, oregon to cooper spur by mount hood, lunch in hood river and back to portland. it went a lot better than i thought. i like the harness and leash ideas but i will literally have to sedate him to get him into one.

anyway, thanks for the tips and anyone else feel free to add some as it's about my only source of tension right now (besides the huge rock chip in my brand new windshield...).

luka

Mon May 09, 2011 8:44 am

of course i would find what i was looking for via the search! i'm about to drive from oregon to mass. with my cat, in my van. i took a test run with him yesterday from portland, oregon to cooper spur by mount hood, lunch in hood river and back to portland. it went a lot better than i thought. i like the harness and leash ideas but i will literally have to sedate him to get him into one.

anyway, thanks for the tips and anyone else feel free to add some as it's about my only source of tension right now (besides the huge rock chip in my brand new windshield...).

luka

Mon May 09, 2011 12:26 pm

Keep it hungry till you know you're both going to be in the van for awhile. Give it some familiarity inside the van, nice bed, catnip, favorite toys etc. We take our cat everywhere, I made up a pole covered in carpet that I prop up against the van near the slider window so she can come and go as she pleases. I flipped the drivers side slider end for end so the opening is now over the table, makes it easier for her to get in/out and harder for someone to reach in to unlock the door. Way less maintenance than a dog!

Mon May 09, 2011 1:57 pm

fairweather wrote: Keep it hungry till you know you're both going to be in the van for awhile. Give it some familiarity inside the van, nice bed, catnip, favorite toys etc. We take our cat everywhere, I made up a pole covered in carpet that I prop up against the van near the slider window so she can come and go as she pleases. I flipped the drivers side slider end for end so the opening is now over the table, makes it easier for her to get in/out and harder for someone to reach in to unlock the door. Way less maintenance than a dog!

i love everything about this photo. like, i'd love to be there right now! and look, there's kitty on the roof! love it. i've been keeping the doors open as i pack and my cat's been going in and out of the van, too. i think we'll be okay. cat nip is a lovely idea. in fact it's growing in my garden; maybe i'll put it in a planter and bring it along.

Mon May 09, 2011 8:55 pm

We have a great TravaCat named Diva. She always stays close to our camper as she is a real scare-d-cat. The slightest disturbance and she runs inside. When we are driving she finds a place to sleep and occasionally will come up front to see what's happening.

Mon May 09, 2011 9:48 pm

We want to travel with our current cat, but my wife and I are both a little nervous, she (the cat) does like to wander, but I don't think she'll go far in a new location. She spends plenty of time in the van so she knows to associate it with us too.

Our last cat was the road tripping champ, we lived in a 21' motorhome for 7 years so he never knew anything different than the motorhome as home. If he was not around and you wanted to leave you just had to start the engine and he'd come running. He would actually play fetch while we were driving,it was cool to watch him leaned to the side running back up the "hallway" as we were going around corners.

The pet locator looks pretty good, http://www.thepetonline.com/loc8tor-handheld-finder-p-47302.html

Tue May 10, 2011 9:33 am

Moved with my 2 cats from NY to LA with my pregnant wife. We took 2 weeks to drive cross country since she wasn't supposed to be sit for a long stretch of time. We had a good time and I think our cats did too. Should have seen the cats' reactions when they saw a huge bison walking on the side of the road when we were in Yellowstone.

We didn't camp, but stayed in different motels everyday. But as someone said in the previous post about the cat's disposition being a big factor. Our cats are really mellow, so they really felt at home in my little Subaru Forester. One slept on the luggage right behind the driver's seat and hung his head over my shoulder to get a good view. The other would sleep under the driver's seat and come up to sit on my lap and check out the scenery out the driver side window between naps. The only thing they weren't very happy about was having to get used to a new hotel room every night during our trip.