Installing a cat

[Tiger Bear]

No, not a catalytic converter!



All being well, we'll have our first motorhome soon. We've been talking about this since before I retired two years ago, and dreaming about hitting the open road; just the three of us: me, our lass, and our Supreme Leader....

It's funny! When I've seen the acronym SWMBO on here, I do not automatically think of my betrothed; I think of our CoCo.


I've read a couple of old threads on here, and picked up some tips already; I'm seeking any further advice that will help us to get her acclimated to the van and at a point where we can 'install' her.


By way of background...
She is seven and is a proper house cat; so much so that if we are in and out of the front door she will just sit on the doormat, she will not cross the threshold. The furthest she has been is a few steps onto the patio back way, when we've been sat out there. She is very timid and definitely not a lap cat; the closest we get to that is her laying on top of our lass's legs when we're in bed, but only with a duvet as a barrier. She will frequently come and sit next to me for loads of scritches, but only on her terms.

She has the run of the house, and we want her to do the same in the van. She hates being picked up, and will not go in her carrier of her own accord; she associates that with a trip to the vet, or going to kitty prison (the cattery).


One good tip I read on here was getting a soft carrier and leaving it near to her, so she can get used to it. That is something we will do, as she likely will not recognise its true purpose. I'll put one of my t-shirts inside for extra incentive.

We've just bought her a new bed for the van, so will let her get used to that. Mind you, she probably won't bother with it as, like most cats, she will just sleep where she wants.

I have thought about bringing a few of the seats cushions in from the van, getting them well and truly coated with my pheromones (I do apologise for the image some of you may now have), and leave them in the living room for her.


One thing for sure; we will definitely not get a harness or lead. She will not tolerate those. She will be strictly a van cat.

One thing I will do, just for piece of mind, is construct a chicken wire frame to be fixed inside the hab door, for when we come and go. Again, that comes from a tip on here, so thank you to that contributor.



Any more advice?

 

[Kirsten]

That's one magnificent looking Moggie ! I wish our 2 would come in van - but Mog is half feral -out at night catching things[eating them - sometimes ] and Meg very timid...Mog also wanders at home - she has been absent -locked in a roof space and under neighbours settee for 2 weeks then 5 days when houses were empty on two separate occasions.
Mog does however love to sleep in the van on pull down bed in the summer; her weight keeps it balanced so she can get down again , but she bolts if we start the engine . Enjoy your cat- blessed holidays xx

 

[Tiger Bear]

A momentous occasion today; CoCo's first time in the van...

It went better than we expected; we spent most of the day in there, parked up outside the house. She had a right good explore before settling down for a snooze.
Tomorrow we're going to go for a drive; I'll pull down the blinds and our lass will sit in the back with her.
Later in the week we'll try our first night away; hopefully that will go well

 

[Ingwe]

 

[Guigsy]

A momentous occasion today; CoCo's first time in the van...

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It went better than we expected; we spent most of the day in there, parked up outside the house. She had a right good explore before settling down for a snooze.
Tomorrow we're going to go for a drive; I'll pull down the blinds and our lass will sit in the back with her.
Later in the week we'll try our first night away; hopefully that will go well

I recommend feeding in the van at least once before you go away. And take as many cat hair covered blankets and cat beds as you can. The scent will make her feel like it's home.

Looks like it's going well though. You'll make an adventure cat out of her yet.

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[Gingernuts]

Lucky ducks! My Lola a grey rescue is just 2 years old but won’t tolerate a harness or the van if the engine is started! I wanted to take her away with me in the van but she’s not having it!

 

[Tiger Bear]

I recommend feeding in the van at least once before you go away. And take as many cat hair covered blankets and cat beds as you can. The scent will make her feel like it's home.

Looks like it's going well though. You'll make an adventure cat out of her yet.

We all had lunch in it today, so that's a start.
We got the van in December but it was then stuck in a local garage for two weeks for an oil sensor problem. Before it went in I took out a load of cushions so she could get her scent on them. She's got a new bed which she has taken to and got her scent all over it. I also got her a new carrier just for going back and forth to the van, so she doesn't associate it with trips to the vet or cattery; thats been in the living room since December and she's taken to it well.

Driving tomorrow will be another test, so I hope that goes smoothly. She'll get a pouch of wet food beforehand, so she may fall into her usual food coma.

 

[meanders]

All sounds good. Don't give her oo much. One of our originals we took away used to suffer travel sickness.

 

[Googlebot]

Do you have a Maxfan or air conditioning?

With our Maxfan on, we can leave the dogs inside even on a warm day. They are great for pets.

 

[PP Bear]

Make sure her litter tray is there too, our old fella always goes to the toilet as soon as I start the engine. He took to the van quite nicely, but took time and patience but well worth it in the end.

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[Jev88]

Igloo / covered litter tray really does help containing toilet smells.

Got latest one from Pets At Home

 

[Tiger Bear]

Do you have a Maxfan or air conditioning?

With our Maxfan on, we can leave the dogs inside even on a warm day. They are great for pets.

We don't have A/C, but I will look into the Maxfan; thanks



EDIT:

Do you mean the branded Maxxair Maxxfan?
They look good but a bit of an initial outlay. As we're just planning UK trips this year I'll wait until we're sure she's a happy camper, and we know we're keeping this van.

 

[Tiger Bear]

Make sure her litter tray is there too, our old fella always goes to the toilet as soon as I start the engine. He took to the van quite nicely, but took time and patience but well worth it in the end.

I put it in the shower; unless I find a better location for it I'll have to McGuyver a way to keep the bathroom door ajar.

 

[Tiger Bear]

Igloo / covered litter tray really does help containing toilet smells.

Got latest one from Pets At Home

We'll never not have a covered tray; there are two in the house and I bought a slightly smaller one for the van. Helps with the smell, but also privacy for our princess

 

[Guigsy]

I put it in the shower; unless I find a better location for it I'll have to McGuyver a way to keep the bathroom door ajar.

We do the same. Litter tray in the shower tray. Most of the time it's out of the way. Try to prevent kicked out litter from going down the tiny plug hole though! We don't use a hooded tray as it didn't seem to make much difference to smells, but made moving it around more faff.

I think if we had a rear permanent bed, I'd probably have put the litter tray in a cupboard under the bed and replaced a cupboard door with a bit of ply with a cat hole in it.

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[scousebird]

Try to prevent kicked out litter from going down the tiny plug hole though!

No cat litter here (no cat) but we use these to cover our shower plug holes anyway

OXO Good Grips Plug Hole Strainer Guard, Large

OXO Good Grips Plug Hole Strainer Guard for kitchen or bathroom. Silicone rim holds it in place. Catches bits that might clog the drain. Stainless steel won't rust. Lifetime guarantee.

www.lakeland.co.uk

 

[meanders]

Our cats travel in their boxes, we let them roam the motorhome when stopped. We were told by the vet that it's the best way of restraining them while travelling. One wails for the first mile for some reason we have never discovered. If I start the van to level up or move a short distance on arrival, they try to get back in their boxes.

 

[Minxy]

I put it in the shower; unless I find a better location for it I'll have to McGuyver a way to keep the bathroom door ajar.

You could take the door off and put a curtain up instead, that way the moggy can pop in, poop, and pop out to her heart's content!

 

[Guigsy]

Our cats travel in their boxes, we let them roam the motorhome when stopped. We were told by the vet that it's the best way of restraining them while travelling. One wails for the first mile for some reason we have never discovered. If I start the van to level up or move a short distance on arrival, they try to get back in their boxes.

One of ours does this. He's totally chilled about being in his carrier. It's a large folding carrier with a sturdy frame. Big enough to put his bed in. But can be shoved away when we're on site.

Our other mog would get so stressed that he'd make himself sick. We eventually discovered that he's much more chilled travelling outside the carrier. We put him in a harness and tether him to the rear seats. We've got an elastic dog lead looped around the head rest. It took a lot of experimentation to find a tethering spot that didn't enable him to get himself in trouble. He spends most journeys on top of the other one's carrier.

 

[Googlebot]

Do you mean the branded Maxxair Maxxfan?
They look good but a bit of an initial outlay. As we're just planning UK trips this year I'll wait until we're sure she's a happy camper, and we know we're keeping this van.

Yes, I know they are expensive but one of the best additions we have done.

Also, if they do a stinky poop it extracts as well as blows.

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[Guigsy]

Yes, I know they are expensive but one of the best additions we have done.

Also, if they do a stinky poop it extracts as well as blows.

We've got a MaxxAir. Part of the justification was that we knew we could keep air circulating in the van while keeping the windows closed, so it wouldn't turn the van into a greenhouse in the summer and cook the cats when we're out.

 

[meanders]

We had two of our current three on the South of France with no real issues. Silver screen on the front, and blinds down on the sunny side and most of the way across the roof vents. A really hot day I was able to put the rollout awning low and then just have the fly screens over the windows that side. Van stayed cool and the fridge also worked much better. One of them is laid out about 2 ft from the log burner now and has toasted his underside nicely.

 

[Tiger Bear]

CAT-NAV....

So, it's our first over-nighter with CoCo. Our lass sat in the back to be with her while we were on the road. But she was having none of that; she came up front to keep me company.
She's taking to it better that I had expected; so pleased

 

[Tiger Bear]

....and as we look to settle down for the night, she has claimed her bed...

 

[Guigsy]

CAT-NAV....

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So, it's our first over-nighter with CoCo. Our lass sat in the back to be with her while we were on the road. But she was having none of that; she came up front to keep me company.
She's taking to it better that I had expected; so pleased

We keep Baxter on a harness and tethered when we're on the move. I'm mainly worried about him jumping on my lap at a roundabout, or deciding to lay down under the pedals.

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[Tiger Bear]

We keep Baxter on a harness and tethered when we're on the move. I'm mainly worried about him jumping on my lap at a roundabout, or deciding to lay down under the pedals.

We'll never put a harness on her, she would have none of that. Nor would she jump on laps, she's not that kind of kitty. I get what you mean about the pedals; I was thinking about McGuyvering a net to cover the gap.

 

[Tiger Bear]

Well, a successful night!! I was awoken once by meowing by our little Dora the Explorer...

She got herself up there but couldn't work out how to get down. Daft lass!