Cats & full timing.......... (1 Viewer)

[Mrsambulancekidd]

We are contemplating going full time, our dogs will be fine, our horses can go into full livery with our daughter & we will have to re-home our chickens.......but we cannot part with our cats, we have two.
Any advise, tips or problems.......Thank you.

 

[tonyidle]

It'll depend on their characters. I have a tugger friend who takes his cat with him for weeks at a time. It never leaves the van when he's away with it but at home it's rarely indoors. It doesn't seem to want to leave the van so he doesn't have to worry too much about escapes on site. On the other hand I've seen (mainly caravanners) taking their cats out on leads.

 

[jollyrodger]

Had one cat the runt if the litter,rescued it from a drowning took it home from Bristol - Plymouth would sneak in and loved finding the highest place in the car or camper curl up and sleep travelled with us all over and would return to a whistle like a dog.
The pair we have now we got local to us and won't go anywhere without complaining !
Seconded re their characters

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[GeriatricWanderer]

Personally, I think it would be cruel to take those cats with you. It sounds like they live in a rural setting with a fixed home that they are familiar with so likely to be disturbed by being shut in a MH for hours on end.
Difficult choice - leave the cats at home or change your mind about full timing.

 

[scotjimland]

Also think on the cost.. lots of sites charge per pet, crossing the channel is £15 (£17 by Tunnel) Each way per pet.. + Pet passport costs and upkeep.. not all sites accept pets..

all adds up..

 

[Hollyberry]

I unintentionally full timed for 9 months with 2 cats and 2 dogs. First, they were both very laid back cats when on the move and had travelled back and forth France to UK in ordinary cat crates in the car. One was elderly, 17 and due to an attack by feral cats in France they'd been more house cats than outside cats for about a year.
The elderly cat went outside on sites, she never wandered away from the van. Freddie didn't cope well with being let out--- he headed for the nearest hedge and shrieked. I started to walk him on a harness and I also had 2 very large folding crates, made of canvas. I could bungee them together to make a long tunnel and they got used to being outside in these. In the motorhome they travelled together in one of them.

All told me did 1 yr 9 months full timing ( plus spent 3 months packing up house inbetween) It's labour intensive looking after cats in a motorhome. Cleaning, emptying, filling litter tray ( believe me you want to clean out a used tray pretty quickly) making sure they can't escape on a busy site, or stopping on an Aire etc. You can't just wind down the cab window and forget to put it up again!
I never paid for cats on sites. Just twice in France I was charged for an "extra" dog using ACSI ( though it allows 2 people and I was lone adult)

It really does depend on your cats natures, how long you will stay in one place and how much organisation you need to put into make sure they're safe.

I used crates like this. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOA-Foldi...hash=item4840022f70:m:mkAyd9NqZ4JUS6WVeiq_uZQ

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[Gromett]

I have fulltimed for 7 years now. I have had 2 cats adopt me during this time temporarily.
They both dealt well with the full timing.

What I did was for the first 2 weeks kept them in doors, fed them and litter tray etc. For feeding time I would whistle just before feeding time. This got them used to the sound as they connected it with food. I then went to a CL and let them out just before their usual feed time. 5 minutes later I whistled and put the food out in the van. They soon got the idea. From then on I could let them out any time they wanted. They never went very far and came to the whistle pretty much every time.

On days that I was driving on, I wouldn't feed them before we set off, but would still let them out. They would come back on the whistle before i was ready to set off have their food, use the litter tray and we would be off.

One of them sat in the passenger seat as soon as the engine started and would stay there until we parked up again. She would pop her head up when I slowed down for roundabouts and junctions. On the first trip she jumped on the Dash board, but as we went round a corner she slid from one end to the other. She wasn't impressed and quickly went back to the passenger seat and went to sleep. Never an issue after that.

I would say though that if you let them out, be prepared to postpone moving on, as cats can and do go wandering for a few days. Never happened to me but I did plan for it.

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

It'll depend on their characters. I have a tugger friend who takes his cat with him for weeks at a time. It never leaves the van when he's away with it but at home it's rarely indoors. It doesn't seem to want to leave the van so he doesn't have to worry too much about escapes on site. On the other hand I've seen (mainly caravanners) taking their cats out on leads.

They are both pretty laid back really, the young one Pepsi-boy (my avatar) is welded to me most of the time & the older boy is welded to MrA, they both get on well with the dogs, in fact Georgie (MrA's dog) is Pepsi-Boy's pet dog! Don't ask.....MrA's dog is obsessed with watching the cats. My dog, Gabby, just wants them to play. So luckily a bunch who get on well together, which is one good thing.

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

Had one cat the runt if the litter,rescued it from a drowning took it home from Bristol - Plymouth would sneak in and loved finding the highest place in the car or camper curl up and sleep travelled with us all over and would return to a whistle like a dog.
The pair we have now we got local to us and won't go anywhere without complaining !
Seconded re their characters

Your wonderful for rescuing a cat.......sounds like it loved you back.
We will need to play it by ear......thank you for replying, it is very helpful.

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[Mrsambulancekidd]

Personally, I think it would be cruel to take those cats with you. It sounds like they live in a rural setting with a fixed home that they are familiar with so likely to be disturbed by being shut in a MH for hours on end.
Difficult choice - leave the cats at home or change your mind about full timing.

Others have had success, so there are options, but we won't be making them do anything we think they won't be happy with.
The only animals we will have to rehome would be our hens and the horses will go into full livery near our daughter or hopefully at the same yard.....she will do all the hard work then, cheaper for us....lol.

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

Also think on the cost.. lots of sites charge per pet, crossing the channel is £15 (£17 by Tunnel) Each way per pet.. + Pet passport costs and upkeep.. not all sites accept pets..

all adds up..

Hi...We're not really worried about that because when we were caravanist's we always used pet friendly sites (with the dogs) and have never been charged extra for having them.
We're not worried about going abroad at all, the only time we will cross the water will be to Ireland and that, apart from some touring, will be visiting our good friends there.

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

I unintentionally full timed for 9 months with 2 cats and 2 dogs. First, they were both very laid back cats when on the move and had travelled back and forth France to UK in ordinary cat crates in the car. One was elderly, 17 and due to an attack by feral cats in France they'd been more house cats than outside cats for about a year.
The elderly cat went outside on sites, she never wandered away from the van. Freddie didn't cope well with being let out--- he headed for the nearest hedge and shrieked. I started to walk him on a harness and I also had 2 very large folding crates, made of canvas. I could bungee them together to make a long tunnel and they got used to being outside in these. In the motorhome they travelled together in one of them.

All told me did 1 yr 9 months full timing ( plus spent 3 months packing up house inbetween) It's labour intensive looking after cats in a motorhome. Cleaning, emptying, filling litter tray ( believe me you want to clean out a used tray pretty quickly) making sure they can't escape on a busy site, or stopping on an Aire etc. You can't just wind down the cab window and forget to put it up again!
I never paid for cats on sites. Just twice in France I was charged for an "extra" dog using ACSI ( though it allows 2 people and I was lone adult)

It really does depend on your cats natures, how long you will stay in one place and how much organisation you need to put into make sure they're safe.

I used crates like this. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOA-Foldi...hash=item4840022f70:m:mkAyd9NqZ4JUS6WVeiq_uZQ

Thank you so much for your reply, very helpful indeed.
I did think of making up some kind of light weight run for them, harnessed walks with the dogs is another, they all get on well together.
One good thing is they do love cuddling up with us, they are very much home birds......but at the end of the day we will do what is best for them.

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[Mrsambulancekidd]

I have fulltimed for 7 years now. I have had 2 cats adopt me during this time temporarily.
They both dealt well with the full timing.

What I did was for the first 2 weeks kept them in doors, fed them and litter tray etc. For feeding time I would whistle just before feeding time. This got them used to the sound as they connected it with food. I then went to a CL and let them out just before their usual feed time. 5 minutes later I whistled and put the food out in the van. They soon got the idea. From then on I could let them out any time they wanted. They never went very far and came to the whistle pretty much every time.

On days that I was driving on, I wouldn't feed them before we set off, but would still let them out. They would come back on the whistle before i was ready to set off have their food, use the litter tray and we would be off.

One of them sat in the passenger seat as soon as the engine started and would stay there until we parked up again. She would pop her head up when I slowed down for roundabouts and junctions. On the first trip she jumped on the Dash board, but as we went round a corner she slid from one end to the other. She wasn't impressed and quickly went back to the passenger seat and went to sleep. Never an issue after that.

I would say though that if you let them out, be prepared to postpone moving on, as cats can and do go wandering for a few days. Never happened to me but I did plan for it.

I laughed so much when I got to the dashboard bit
The whistle is a great idea because I swear they both have watches somewhere under their fur, they are ALWAYS on time for food. They also have a particular treat they both go mad for which is another and probably better option to become associated with.
Thank you.

 

[PP Bear]

This lady clearly has at least 3 with her. Excuse the topic, but it shows that you can do as you please and enjoy their company.