How many people caravan with their cat? You see lots of families travelling and caravanning with their dogs, but very few witht their loved feline companion. When we saw a photo of “Missy” and found out that she was on the road full time with her ‘parents’, we had to ask her mum Tracey what it was like to Caravan with your Cat!
First Question: I guess we asked ourselves repeatedly – can it be done? We thought no we are pet free, it leaves our options unhindered, great we’re decided, no more pets, maybe house sitting to get our pet fix.
Well that changed when we saw a picture of Missy, or Gypsy Rose as she was known then. Her Breeder Emma from Ridgeview Cattery on the Gold Coast was a page I followed, her facebook page has been one of my favourites for a long time. I was a British Shorthair breeder myself many years ago and Emma’s cattery was run on the same strict values and ethics I had during my breeding time, so I couldn’t help but follow her page, despite agreeing we would not get another pet, as it turns out, Gypsy Rose has my own prefix in her pedigree, how coincidental.
Gypsy Rose came to us at 12 weeks of age from her breeder and moved straight into the caravan with us, it was initially trial and error with how we set things up for her including where to put her litter but eventually we got it all sorted. Then came the Harness training and getting used to the fact that the awning area is as far as she can go, without her lead on. Considering this is the only home she has known since leaving her breeder, it is a lot easier to train a cat to become a nomad, but it still wasn’t without issues, Gypsy became Missy after a while as it suited her better.
Birds didn’t take well to her being in the awning area and bomb dived her regularly, haha which drove her crazy, you have to watch the bugs and wildlife that enter her zone and remove either her or the visitor quickly, after all, its all about being a responsible owner. There were also a few times she disappeared into cupboards and we couldn’t find her, heart failure!! But these are all things you learn to keep a better eye on.
Missy’s litter is kept under the table and is cleaned out as soon as she uses it, much the same as we did when we were house dwellers in the past, I have a water fountain to keep water fresh and aerated while we are plugged into power, but of course the normal bowl when we are free camping, we also only use either boiled (and cooled down in the fridge) or bottled water for her to ensure there are no tummy upsets (and what follows it) as we move from place to place.
When we are actually travelling we are lucky enough to have the dual cab 4wd and the entire back seat is Missy’s, we have a fold up dog crate, beside that is a big folded up cloth sleeping back that she sits on to watch out the window, her litter sits behind my seat on the floor and she has her water bowl accessible to her as well. Since we have done this, she has been an excellent traveller, when she was stuck in her crate, she just howled all the time, we worked out she just wanted to be able to access us, if she so wished.
When in camp, she has educated herself really, if her fence isn’t up, she will not go past the step of the caravan, she just sits there and watches the world go by, if something scares her, she just runs back inside.
Her fenced up area covers the entire awning area and we just step over it. When she was a kitten she never went outside without her harness on, but she soon learnt not to bother trying to jump over the fence and she just sits around under the shade and appoints herself the security guard of the area, she even growls at night if there is someone outside haha well she only developed this during our 5 month stint in Yulara so will see if it happens elsewhere, but she is certainly great at letting us know if something is around outside.
We have been here in Yulara working since October and although having a cat here is frowned upon and not really allowed (there is a huge feral cat problem out here) because we are staying in our own caravan in the tourist park and not staying in provided staff accommodation, they have pretended she is not here ? so there are always options if you have a pet.
There has been jobs we liked the look of but because they don’t want pets, either dog or cat, we are not eligible for it, so we look for other roles. There is heaps of work around so having a cat does not restrict us we think. We are heading off for a new role up towards Katherine in a week or two for another 5 or so months, so Missy will get to experience a new area.
Having a cat is a huge responsibility and you must be committed to doing the right thing by not only your cat but the environment you are in. When it’s been really hot here, air con has been used constantly, but then those who don’t have a pet do exactly the same thing, it’s the nature of the area we are in. We have 2 Sirocco fans that are on constantly and a cool mat straight out of the freezer for those extreme heat days.
Overall, the benefits far outway the restrictions, the joy our little munchin brings to us is something we would rather not be without and the silly faces, the weird positions she puts herself in to fall asleep and the greeting we get after a long day makes everything all worthwhile.
Thank you so much Tracey – a wonderful story of life on the road with Missy – possibly the cutest cat we have ever seen!!!
Brilliant story, my partner and I are about to move to Cairns and we have a 25ft van. We have 2 inside cats so we are looking for an annex for them both to have more room. Monte is 14months and Harriet 9months. This is the only part that is terrifying for us as we adore our babies. We so appreciate any advice that we can get.
I bought a cat enclosure from pet city, it comes in two sizes. 1.2m square and high or 1.8 square and high. We bought the 1.2 but it was too small for our two rag dolls. So we exchanged it for the 1.8 and they enjoyed being out in fresh air watching the world go by in total safety. Expensive ($400) but totally worth it.
Pet City sell cat enclosures 1.2 or 1.8 square and high. We have the later and our two rag dolls love it and they sleep with us in the van at night
We are taking our rag doll on his first camping next month. We were wondering do you let them sleep inside your van or in their enclosed area.
Our cat is used to going on a leash also
We have always taken our cat caravan camping. He travels well in the car with his litter box behind the front passenger seat. When we pull over for morning tea/lunch (in the van) he comes too. His litter box in the van is in the bathroom and gets cleaned immediately after he uses it. He is an inside cat at home so being confined to the van is no problem as the area far exceeds that if he were to be boarded in a cattery. He is harness trained so can go for walks or be attached to the van while we are outside with him. He does not chase or catch birds/wildlife. Cats are extremely clean and quiet. I personally don’t think you can discriminate against people who travel with cats – it’s wrong.
We also want to take our house cat with us when we go caravanning, Angel is Burmese. Our main concern is when we free camp how do we keep her inside the van or go out and leave her behind. We don’t believe that we could leave her unattended in a cage under the awning. The flyscreens are so flimsy in the van and we don’t believe we could leave the windows open with the fear that she will escape. How have you or others fixed this problem, any other tips would be greatly appreciated another tips.
Robert
Robert,
Have you considered upgrading your window flyscreen to a security mesh or anything more durable?
You could screw a 2nd frame over your current fly screen frame if using a large profile screen.
We are wanting to travel with cats & are toying with a collapsable cat run idea fitted with access to the caravan….maybe even with access to a caravan roof top perch…a work in progress.
Hi Willow. I would love to see this set up if you do t mind sharing. I am full time camping with my baby and want to make his time as enjoyable as possible so always looking at upgrading ideas.
Mel
Henry and Carol looking for some ideas to attach cat encloseur to caravan to travel Australia 30/12/2022 hoping you have some ideas.
Hi there would love to know if you manged to make the collapsible cat run for the caravam
FYI. We have purchased a collapsible play tent for our 7 month old kitten. It works like an umbrella so 2 seconds to set up. Able to peg down as well. Millie is happy to spend time in it while supervised. It fits her bed, food and water bowls and scratch pole easily with plenty of room to spare. It is roughly 1.8 metre square. Purchased from Amazon
Hi Willow, I too would love to see your ideas. Cat runs and stuff. We want to go away and take our Maine coon. Would love to hear anything that could help.
You can replace fly screen, with a metal cat proof screen material. Works a treat.
We are heading off on our first van trip and cannot leave our 8 month old Russian blue behind as he is so attached to us. We are finding it difficult to find a caravan park that takes a cat. A lot are happy to have dogs but refuse cats. I assure them kitten will either be in van or on a lead. Suggestions please for SE Qld cat friendly parks.
Also concerned about the fly screens like Robert.
Loved this information. I bought a Norwegian forest cat and has been wondering how it will all work. She is going to be 8 months old when we finally get her in April. We also live in our van and work as care takers at a caravan park at the moment. I will have yo train her when she gets here. Have you got any other advice form me?
We are about to head off to Rockhampton, Qld from Victoria with our 2 Maine Coons. We have bought a caravan for the trip and will be taking 2 cars as we are moving permanently. I was wondering if we can leave the cats in the caravan while driving as this would be far more convenient for their litter boxes, beds and water/food bowls. Having 1 in each car is doable but not overly comfortable for any of us due to their litter boxes etc.
Hoping for some helpful advice, thanks in advance.
I’m deciding on buying a large van with my 2 cats .
Good article, it’s a shame I don’t have a caravan to try the experience hehe