On Traveling/Camping With a Cat

     First, it takes considerable advance planning, much of which is based on our prior unhappy experience.  Having the litter box in the shower is bad.  It is not pleasant to step on litter in the shower stall.  It happens even with one of those hooded boxes.  My search of the net turned up a plastic bucket with a cover, said cover having a cat sized hole in the lid.  For the nominal price of only $180 US, the maker claimed that the cat would shed all of the litter from its paws as it climbed from the chamber. I ask, what is harder to believe: 

    1.  The advertising claim. 

    2.  That our 11 year old cat would actually climb down into a hole on a plastic bucket to do her business. 

    3.  That someone would charge $180 for a plastic bucket you could buy at Home Depot for $5. (Assuming the internet reviews are from real people, it doesn't require belief to realize that people actually paid that price for a plastic bucket, although to be fair, it does appear to have an ergometric hole in the top that would be difficult to duplicate with my jigsaw.  

    So, I bought an ordinary litter box a fitted it into a cabinet in the RV.  3 weeks in, it is working well, except for our plan to use the litter made from recycled paper.  It didn't pass either the clump test or the smell test.  

    On past trips, we kept Eliza (the Cat) in a cat carrier while driving.  Besides being clearly unsafe (although arguably more safe than her crawling on my head while driving), her incessant crying was very hard on the nerves.  It took maturity to truly understand my Nana's frequent complaint "You're getting on my nerves". We found a compartment under the bed.  It looked to be adequate in size and shape, and was far more safe and secure.  More importantly, being as it was at the back of the RV, we wouldn't hear her crying. Unfortunately, the lack of ventilation in the cubby promise to end the crying problem permanently, and lifting up the bed to let her in and out would be difficult (in fact, when the bedroom slideout is in, you can't open it at all.  I purchased a pet door normally used to let cat go in and out of doors. I drilled air holes in the plexiglass door for ventilation and installed it. It can be set so that she can go in, but can't get out. This makes it easy to load her in, provided you can find her.  I have cautioned Stefani not to use the words "trip", "leaving" or the like where the Cat can hear within 24 hours of departure.  But even without those words being spoken, there must be something about the change in routine on the morning of departure that sends the Cat scurrying into some impossible place requiring thermal imaging to locate.  Images of her being crushed, mangled or permanently trapped in the machinery of the RV cannot be casually brushed aside.  By the way, I have heard that a cat will not go into an opening that is narrower that the width of her whiskers. This is not so, although it could explain her reluctance to exit through the same opening.  So, we start each travel day frazzled and behind schedule.  

    In the beginning, travel days were surely days of terror for Eliza, even in the womb of her cubby.  Perhaps even as terrifying as piloting a large vehicle through rain, cross-winds, steep grades and avoiding even larger vehicles.  However, as time goes by, we both seem to have become more at ease with the situation.  She seems much less neurotic when we let her out after a long drive, and even has some curiosity about getting familiar with yet another change of scenery.  

   We think, on balance, she is happier being with us on the road than being left behind at home in the care of relative strangers.  She wouldn't come out and say it, but the chilly receptions we used to get when we returned home speak volumes.  We wonder how she will react to returning home after 4 months away.