janethornburg
North Carolina
Full Member
Joined: 07/26/2009
View Profile
 Offline
|
I have been toying with the idea of taking all or some of our 3 cats camping with us. So my daughters and I have been puting them in a harness several hours a day and taking them out on the leash some to see how they will take to it. We have had our jayco 23j home for a couple weeks now and have done a lot of driveway camping between trips. We have taken the cats out to check out the trailer and the two I thought might do ok have been wigged out by it, but that is ok. I expect it to be a slow process, and hubby isn't all that hot on the idea anyway.
Last night my youngest teenager and a friend spent the night out there. This morning they took our 9 month old kitten out with them for a while. She originally came from this friend's house. They didn't have the harness on her, which in retrospect was possibly a good thing. She was checking out the trailer and crawled behind the couch which wasn't a big deal because the storage under it is accessible from the inside. Next she jumped up in the book recess space that goes along the front of the camper. They were watching her, and then she disappeared. They could hear her but couldn't see her. My husband and I went out there and we figured out she was in a hidden space behind the cabinetry where the wires run through. The top of the recess space wasn't a solid wall and she jumped over it. We were debating how to cut a hole in to her, and I was using a hand mirror to see what was back there. She peeked her head back up and I almost strangled her trying to get her lifted back up and over that short wall back in there but we got her out. She could reach up to look over the wall barely but she couldn't get enough purchase to jump back up and out on her own.
One up for Hubby on not taking the cats camping!
Jane
Better Half
2dd
3 possible camping cats
3 large non camping dogs
1 nonncamping horse (unless there is a show)
Ford F150+1976 Starcraft popup
Ford F150+2000 Coleman Seapine popup
Ford F250+2011 Jayco 23J
|
louiskathy
Oregon (presently)
Senior Member
Joined: 03/23/2003
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
My aunt and uncle took their 3 cats along but always kept a harness and a long leash on them. That way if they crawled behind anything they could figure out where they were and pull them out. They learned to just lie down whenever they got "snagged". Not a great idea, maybe, but when you are just getting them used to things, it might not be a bad idea. Cats like to crawl behind and under everything they can fit in or not fit in. I've heard of cats crawling into couches and you don't know they are there and you sit down... not good.
Kathy
|
old guy
Oregon (pronounced Or e gun)
Senior Member
Joined: 03/15/2006
View Profile
|
we used to camp with friends when they were still alive, and they would bring their cat. I have never seen a lease on that cat. she would do all the exploring she wanted to and even chased squirrels. and she was always in the shade tree or waiting at the door when we got ready to go home. OH yes, she would love to terrorize our little dog.
|
CA POPPY
Santa Clarita, CA, USA
Senior Member
Joined: 07/07/2003
View Profile
|
Cats' penchant for exploring hidey holes can be deadly. There have been a few sad accounts on this very forum because a cat was in a slide area of the RV when the owner didn't know and closed it. I'm glad you got your kitten out with no damage to her or the trailer.
|
fpresto
Maryland
Senior Member
Joined: 08/01/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
We take our two cats with us and they love it. However, we have some very hard and fast rules. The number one is that the slides never move unless both cats are in the truck or in a cage. The second is that the door is never opened from the inside unless a check is made to locate the cats. When opening from the outside the door is only cracked at first to make sure no cat is lurking. Neither cat has ever tried to make a run for it but we will will not let our guard down as you never know about cats. I also made a through check before the first trip to verify that there were no places that they could get into that I couldn't get them out.
USN Retired
2007 Cedar Creek 30 RLSTS
2008 F350, DRW, V-10, B&W hitch,
Pressure Pro, JT Strongarms
|
|
|
janethornburg
North Carolina
Full Member
Joined: 07/26/2009
View Profile
Offline
|
I thought we had checked but apparently not good enough. Now before they can camp with us we will have to close off the top of the recess book shelf that she got in behind. I also have to start looking everywhere in the trailer for any other hidey holes from a curious cat's perspective.
I'm just glad we got her out. Thought she would be mad at me for having to hold her up by the neck until I could get her leg above the wall, but apparently she thinks I am her savior. She threw herself ontop of my feet this morning and started purring loudly out of the blue. She is mad at my daughter who took her out to the trailer though. She will forgive and forget soon.
|
