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The RV Princess

Our RV home has a cat. She is a nine year old beauty with bright blue eyes, more white fluff than a cumulus cloud, and a whine in the key of B flat major. If she likes you, her snuggles will change your life. But it is more likely that she will lure you in with her beauty and fluff only to snap at you if you pet her incorrectly. She stomps all over us at night in her little white booties, and still tries to do that thing where she has to run from one corner of the house full-speed to the other even though she only has less than 26 feet to do it in.

(photo by Lili Eyries)

Living in such a small space with a cat can be an added hassle for sure, but I love having Aama with us. We are quite attached to each other, so I can’t imagine being away from her for over a year. She makes the RV feel like home to me.

Here are some tips on how to prepare yourself and your cat for RV life:

The Thunder Shirt is a miracle. You know how we swaddle babies to calm them down? Well, you can do that to your cat too! It’s so effective, and far less invasive than a Xanax pill (which my vet actually recommended). I put the Tunder Shirt on her and she calms down immediately.

Microchip. It’s the size of a grain of rice under their skin. Most shelter cats already have one implanted, you just have to call to activate it and pay the small one-time fee. They record your information and if your pet is found and taken to a vet or a shelter with a scanner, they can contact you even if there is no collar.

Speaking of a collar, get a collar with a tag. Hers has her name, my name, my cell phone number, and the word “Microchipped” on it. Aama has never had a collar before, but she doesn’t seem to mind it. Since she isn’t a door-darter, I only put it on her when I know she’s going to go outside.

Leash Training. There are leashes made especially for cats that put the pressure around their chest and torso instead of their delicate neck. Aama was fine with the leash from the beginning, I think because she was used to the Thunder Shirt already. I’m lucky, she is only mildly interested in the outdoors and when she does go out, she stays close. But I wanted this option for rest areas and busy places, so I could keep her safer.

Escape and Recall training. If Aama were to get outside without her leash, I wanted to have a way to bring her back. Before we left, we practiced this outside our house. She would go out and I would get her to come back to me by the sound of her brush clanking on the ground. She loves to be brushed so it was an easy reward. You can also call a cat back with their name and reward them with an edible treat.

Make sure your cat has lots of non-moving RV time before any movement occurs. Let them get comfortable and figure out the space without the added stress of movement. Aama spent several days in the RV before it ever moved. She had her sleeping spaces, her hidey spaces, she was comfortable with her food, water, and litter box, and she had plenty of time to smell all the smells.

The first time the RV moved was super stressful for Aama. We kept the trip short, only 30 minutes or so. I put her in her Thunder Shirt and brought her up on the bed with me. I showed her how to get under the blankets and that worked well, until we stopped at a red light. Thinking we were done, she darted out and panicked when we started moving again. She has now figured out that she likes to be in a place where her head is covered and she is squished, either top to bottom, or side to side. She knows when we’re about to move when we put the slide in and she gets herself set up in one of her spots. And, after the red light incident, she waits for me to come tell her it’s okay to come out. She doesn’t love it, but she has gotten used to the fact that she’s not about to die. It's counter-intuitive, but I think letting her roam free and not in her cat carrier is actually a big key to her feeling safe and secure.

Hiding

Is it over yet?

Scratching post. Cats will scratch, it’s just part of who they are. Getting them to stop is like asking them to not purr. If you don’t want your RV furniture all torn up, buy one of those cardboard scratchers, they are narrow and there are lots of places to put them in the RV. Aama was already using one, so she had no trouble using it in the RV. Sprinkle some catnip on it to get them interested. Another idea that I have not yet executed is to wrap sisal rope around the leg of your table – if your cat prefers the upright scratching experience.

Pet hair mini vacuum. I like to keep things clean so I bought this hand vacuum on Amazon. It works really well for pet hair and cleaning up litter. It is not cordless, but the corded ones are more powerful. This one is quite small and packs away easily for RV life.

I have found this litter to work the best for odor control. It is made of various types of wood shavings. When we are parked, we keep the litter box out of the way, up front near the cab, which is also conveniently under the vent fan. I keep sandwich bags handy to scoop up smaller amounts of soiled litter, more frequently.

#RV Life #RV Cat #Thunder Shirt #Cats On A Leash #Aama

Week Zero - Getting Ready

The entire month of April leading up to our departure has been full of things to do to get ready.

I made new curtains for the loft to replace the drab, colorless ones it came with

We took out the stiff, sterile padding around the table and replaced it with comfy, homey cushions.

Before:

After:

Aaron designed and made a utensil holder from mason jars, copper wire, and pallet wood, that cleverly stays in place behind the stove.

My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came for a visit from Brooklyn. Leo loved going up and down the ladder into the loft.

We had a going away party at our house where friends marked their suggestions for where we should go on a map, which is now hanging in the loft.

We used the RV as a moving van and transported our stuff to Aaron's Dad's house and a 5x10 storage unit, both in Bremerton. (You can read more about that here)