Posts
This last adventure on the Blue Ridge Parkway was the longest trip with the cats. I had complained to my friend, Glenda, (www.casitaescapes.blogspot.com) that my cats had been totally freaked on the last trip. She suggested that they just needed more time to adjust to the trailer than short weekend trips.
She was right and they did adjust. They ate and slept like they were home. But I did not adjust! In fact I got worse as the trip progressed.
My two major complaints were putting up with the kitty litter box and my constant fear of losing them.
We chose to place the cat commode in the bathroom. Logical, yes. The last trip we tried a smaller kitty litter box. Small trailer (remember we are in a 16' Casita); I thought the cats would adjust. This did not work. Sheba, the Siamese, was just too big to be able to complete her toiletry in her fastidious manner. So we took the regular size kitty box and left it in the bathroom at night. This resulted in kitty litter sticking to the bottom of my feet when I got up in the middle of the night. I started wearing my crocs into the toilet!
The cat litter seemed to scatter everywhere! I know I cleaned three times more than usual, sweeping and shaking the rugs (and the comforter and the sheets.)
We took halters and leashes for both cats. They kept the halters on all day but, feeling sorry for them, we took them off at night after the door was locked. They hated the halters and tried to chew them off.
We also took a very large wire cage as I thought that they would enjoy being out of the trailer for a while each day.
They hated the cage! They hated being outside! And Sheba pulled out of her halter one time while out, running completely free. Thankfully, she ran toward the trailer door and we obligingly opened it.
We have met many other campers who were successfully camping with their cats. Several years ago we met the authors of "On Burroed Time" and learned how they had traveled all over this country with their fur babies in a tiny camper. They were so careful and the cats even had long leashes on while they were inside. But, according to their blog, one still escaped!
Every time we started to enter the trailer, we had to locate the cats for fear they would jump out the door. (Our Casita has no screen door.) And every time I left the trailer, I would wonder if I had shut the door securely. Often I would be visiting on the far end of the campground and would begin worrying about the door.
We have seen so many "lost cat" posters at the rest areas and in the campgrounds. It breaks my heart!
 |
| Sheba |
 |
| Princess |
 |
| Princess hiding behind the pillow |
 |
| Sheba being mellow |
Love the new look and title of your blog!
ReplyDeleteYou are very fortunate to have someone to take care of your fur babies when you travel.
A couple of years ago we were camping in Florida and a yellow tabby tomcat kept doing his best to get into our truck and trailer. When we started to leave, he jumped up in the cargo bin on front of the Aliner (before we got the Casita) and was determined that he was going to go with us.
He apparently loved to travel, but had wandered off and the people who owned him had gone off without him.
If there was any way we could have taken in another pet at that time, we would have adopted him.
Good to know that your kitties will be safe. :)
Thank you for your kind words...and thank you for listing my blog on your blogroll! I was pleased, surprised and then terrified. (As I have mentioned, I am inexperienced at this blogging thing.)
ReplyDeleteYellow tabby toms are special. We stayed in a kind of run down and desolate camp before leaving AZ last winter. No one around except this meowing yellow tabby. I worried about him all night thinking the coyotes were devouring him. The next morning, while paying for the night, the manager informed us that the cat ran the campground!