Traveling with Kitty..

Either get him used to a harness (more secure than a collar) & leash or get a cat carrier to confine him in. It'll be a hassle either way, but if you plan on driving through several check points a day, I'd keep him in it rather than battle getting him inside for each checkpoint! If you want to be really nice to him & have the space, get him a small dog carrier so he's got more space. If he's not a willing traveler to begin with, he'll probably appreciate the "security" of his own private little room! But be prepared to hear him howl his heart out for at least the first 30 minutes of travel each & every time you stuff him in the kennel. And don't even try stuffing him in the kennel head first! Hold him facing you, stare right into his adoring little eyes, talk sweet & shove him in butt first & slam the door in his fuzzy little face. His little paw will reach out through the grid pathetically pleading with you & then the howling will begin. Steel yourself to tell him it's for his own good & he's in lock-up because you love him & he'd hate having to scrounge up his own food out in the desert for the rest of his 8 lives!! And whatever you do, DON'T believe him when he promises to stick around camp!!! Keep him tied when outside & never leave him outside alone or the desert creatures might make a quick meal of him! Enjoy your trip!!

Hook.....Checkpoint aren't real concerned with keeping cats inside the vehicle when they do inspections, there is a very good chance that they might let him out of the rig by accident to become a desert Kitty!

We have two cats that travel with us. We keep them in a large dog type cage that sits on the back seat of the truck when we're driving. Army usually doesn't pay any attention to them. If they do, it's only curiosity.

Our Gato Lito enjoying Bahia Concepcion



[Edited on 2-13-2008 by BigWooo]

That is one beautiful Gato!! I used to have a cat that traveled with us from No. Cal to Loreto and south.We had an Airstream trailer with bathroom in the back, toilet in the rear.That cat would wrap himself around the loo and when we stopped for lunch in the middle of no where, he would jump out and go explore the desert.After a lunch and Margi, we would load up the kids, call the cat , and back on the road.That was one traveling cat and certainly not the norm! He actually taught himself to use the toilet. Heck of a great gato. Just watch out for the Coyotes and locals peros.

Travel with Kitty

I certainly agree with Kate and the success of your travel with Kitty will depend on his nature. I'd highly recommend some practice trips in your RV to see how he does.

The first cat for BigWooo and I was a sweetie, but he hated to ride in a car. The poor guy spent about 3 mo of each of his 17 yrs at the "Cat Hotel" while we traveled for a month at a time. It broke our hearts every time we dropped him off, but we would have all been miserable on those Baja drives and I'm sure he would have escaped off in to the desert at the first opportunity rather than get back in the truck.

We vowed not to subject another pet to such long-term kennel stays while we traveled and had no plans to own another gato. Then Lito (pictured above) and his sister were abandoned by their feral mother in our Baja bodega last year and out-the-window went those lifestyle plans. At 2 mo old, these two Mexicano gatos rode back to Calif with us and did great on another Baja trip and proved to be great travelers.

In an instant we went from a couple of carefree travelers to the owners of 2 cats. Even worse, we reluctantly became (ugh) "cat people". At 9 months, the girl slipped out of the house to be with Wooo while he washed the truck, and was hit by a car. We were devastated by the loss and I offer this background to explain that we are extra-paranoid about our gatos to this day.

Lito was lost without his sister so we got 4 month old Kiko as a companion for him. A couple of weeks after we brought her home we took a Baja trip and they both did great while driving and sleeping in the camper. I don’t know if it’s the early exposure to car travel or just their personalities that make this do-able. It sounds like Sally had a very unique cat that she could call, and it would come back to the RV. I wouldn’t trust either one of ours to return upon command!

We remove the back seat of our crewcab where we can fit large plastic Rubbermaid containers for supplies for our trips. The large dog carrier where both cats ride sits on top of the containers and is strapped down securely. It’s not quite as traumatic as Longlegs in LP describes to get them in there, thank goodness, and even when we’re tempted to let them out during long drives thru the desert, we find that it’s really much easier for all parties if they just stay in the kennel. I offer them dry food a couple of times on the all-day drives but they don’t eat much on the travel days and usually sleep the whole time.

You can buy disposable litter pans from Petsmart etc and these fit perfectly inside of a 18 gal. Rubbermaid container. You can put the lid on during travel and it helps keep the litter contained. Our cats jumped right in to the container the first time without coaxing and we move the entire container back in to the camper at night to keep litter under control in the small living quarters.

Lito jumps right on to our shoulder when we take him from the cab to the camper, but Kiko can get a little squirrelly when you carry her out in the open. You can get a cardboard transport box (Petsmart has them in the pet adoption area) that folds up flat and is perfect for travel which is what we use for her sometimes. She often does much better if she can’t see where she’s going.

Except for going from the cab to the camper when we carry them, our gatos only go out with harnesses on. They are 100% house cats at home in Calif. but in Baja we use harnesses (“small dog” sized harnesses is what I got) and retractable leashes and they wait at the door every morning and “complain” until we get their harness out to go exploring around the yard. They’re usually only out for about 15 min before tiring and are ready to go back in the house, and they don’t fuss the rest of the day. Cats are weird.

That’s all the tips I can offer right now, but I think your travel success is mostly dependent on the personality of Kitty. Buena suerte and I hope it works out.

Kiko out for a stroll a couple of days ago.

My old 18 lb bluepoint male simese would run to the car whenever we were leaving, begging to get in, and then he would have his front legs on the dashboard, like a dog, and would really get exciting, looking at everything as we cruized along. What a hoot!!!! You just never know------and simese are wierd, noisy, but delightful!!!

Barry

Train your pooch.
No more cat runaround

Quote:

Originally posted by longlegsinlapaz But be prepared to hear him howl his heart out for at least the first 30 minutes of travel each & every time you stuff him in the kennel. And don't even try stuffing him in the kennel head first! Hold him facing you, stare right into his adoring little eyes, talk sweet & shove him in butt first & slam the door in his fuzzy little face. His little paw will reach out through the grid pathetically pleading with you & then the howling will begin. Steel yourself to tell him it's for his own good & he's in lock-up because you love him & he'd hate having to scrounge up his own food out in the desert for the rest of his 8 lives!! And whatever you do, DON'T believe him when he promises to stick around camp!!! Keep him tied when outside & never leave him outside alone or the desert creatures might make a quick meal of him!

Elizabeth, I have never Halter trained a cat, guess I never had to. How is that done? and how is that word pronounced(occicat)? She really is a beauty.That is an exotic mix of breeds.

[Edited on 2-15-2008 by Sallysouth]

Sally! A black cat named Stokley

I knew there was another reason I liked you!

This is Bunz, trying to pretend that she's adorable. Cath and I have had her longer than the 15+ years we've been married.

My puss will outdo your puss anytime.
And my Lhasa doesn't even have to sit on him to keep 'm in line.

Quote:

Originally posted by Sallysouth Elizabeth, I have never Halter trained a cat, guess I never had to. How is that done? and how is that word pronounced(occicat)? She really is a beauty.That is an exotic mix of breeds. [Edited on 2-15-2008 by Sallysouth]