Allowing them to ‘scent’ the space.
The next part of getting the cats ready to travel in the motorhome was getting them comfortable with being in the motorhome. Back then we still had not decided we were going to go travelling yet. This was just so that we could take the Cats away on holiday with us!
We waited a short while after the harness trails so as not to introduce too many new things at once. We didn’t want to risk stressing them out. Plus, like I said in our previous post, we do everything at their pace.
I remember before we had Millie, when it was just Rosie and Tinkerbell, we took the pair of them to sit out in the T4. We wanted to see what they made of it. Needless to say they were not terribly impressed. They wanted to hide in every nook and cranny and wouldn’t settle. After that we didn’t try again until 2 vans later.
Spending time in the van, stationary
We did the same thing as before. We took the girls out to the motorhome and let them roam about whilst we were stationary outside the house. All 3 of them were quite nervous. Eventually they started climbing on the seats to look out of the window and had a sniff around.
The next time we took them in there, we also took in a couple of their toys and a jumper that we had left out in the house for a couple of days prior. We did this because when we noticed them sniffing before, we remembered a documentary we had seen. Cats scent up their familiar territories so we wanted to try and put some of their, and our, smell in the van.
Short trips
After a couple of times of doing this, we decided to take them for a short drive. We used to live very close to the beach so we thought it would be the ideal spot. There was ample parking for the motorhome and it wouldn’t be too crowded (it was autumn so not busy at the beach!).
The only time they would travel would be to go to the vet
They didn’t travel well at all, they cried the whole time. We were used to this though. To be fair to the girls, the only time they would travel would be to go to the vet so they weren’t used to being in a vehicle. The end destination wasn’t much to their liking much either!
Different carriers for travel
Then we decided to try different carriers. Thinking along the lines of scent, we wondered if they associated the carriers with trips to the vet? We weren’t going to take their regular carriers away with us anyway because we wanted folding carriers for easier storage. So we purchased 3 new carriers and left them out in the house so the girls could familiarise themselves.
It’s possible we might have gone a bit OTT
Eventually, we decided the time was right to take the girls away for the night. We picked one of the few campsites nearby, about 35 minutes away. With high hopes after our practice runs, we loaded the girls and all their stuff in the motorhome. We wanted to make sure they had all their home comforts; their normal food, bowls, toys and even a scratching post. It’s possible we might have gone a bit OTT, bringing almost everything they had. We filled the motorhome but being the first trip, we wanted to it to go as smooth as possible.
No instant Success
I would love to say that after our careful planning and preparation, it was a roaring success. But I don’t want to lie to you. We weren’t expecting them to be at ease straight away but were hoping they’d be more settled. The drive there was as expected, they were not too enamoured. In fact, Rosie managed to chew a hole through her carrier window. Not bad for a 35 minute journey. (thankfully it was her old carrier as only 2 of the 3 had turned up in time for this trip)
Once we were pitched up and they were out of their carriers, they did start to relax. It was actually alright as the evening went on because we left them to explore but also gave them lots of reassurance and fuss. They ate dinner fine so that was a good sign to us. Bed time was a different story though. They did not settle at all and were very vocal and fidgety. We put it down to their first night away from the house but left any van activity for a little while.
Take Two
By the time we tried again, we had changed vans and now had the Adria. As mentioned previously, one of the deciding factors on changing to the Sonic was it had enough space for all 5 of us. We liked the look of the large dash for the girls to lounge on. We also loved that it had access through to the garage from the habitation area. This has turned out to be one of the most important things for them. They like somewhere to be able to run and hide if needed, a bolt hole of sorts. We are lucky to have this option on the Pulse as well and I think thats why it has worked.
Dusk is of course, when most Cats come alive
We slowly realised something else since we first took them away. Not only was the bolt hole important for them (the Sun Living didn’t have access to the garage from inside) but the blinds were as well. Closing them at night was a big deal.
Viewing Windows
When we took them away we shut all the blinds, as we usually would. We put them being unsettled down to being away from home. Actually, they hated not being able to see out of the windows! In the house, even though the curtains would be shut at night, they would often still be on the window sill looking out at all hours. Dusk is of course when most cats come alive. It would be their natural hunting time in the wild and even though they were indoor girls, they would still like to be watching out in to the night.
Familiarising in a new van
We started the familiarisation process again with the Adria and decided to take them away. This time, for a few days. We were going to meet Jon’s sister and family about 2 hours from home. We didn’t want to leave them behind and thought it was the perfect distance to try.
By now, we had also decided that we wanted to travel full time so we knew that we needed to bite the bullet. We needed to start taking them with us more if we had any hope of it working.
The journey was actually not too bad with only one stop on the way, much improved from before! And once we pitched up and they were free to roam about the van, only Millie was not too impressed. She hid under a step and I must admit, we were both apprehensive that she wouldn’t come out but eventually she did.
The nights were not great for any of them, they all cried and wouldn’t settle, running up and down, jumping on us, scratching at things and after 2 nights, we decided to head home a day early.
Perseverance pays off!
At the time it was dis-heartening but we persevered and took them away again later on in the year. This 3 day trip was about 4 hours away so we gave ourselves plenty of time. Amazingly, it went well! The girls were also much better during the night. That they were used to having a couple of blinds left open and they were starting to work out their favourite spots. We even managed to take them out on their leads this time. It was very brief and only Rosie took to it but it went well. We started to feel better about it and suddenly it didn’t look like it was going to be impossible!
We took them away with us every time we went away now. Each time learning something new. For example, always have a supply of puppy pads for the journey! We also took less stuff so no more cat beds required. Just some blankets that were kept in the motorhome for them to snuggle on. We still have those blankets now, one sits across the dash and one goes in the garage. We also adopted a meat treat in with their dinner time routine which is still a hit now! Originally it was to make sure that they ate whilst away (as none of the will resist a pouch!).
A forever, loving home on wheels
It took time, patience and a lot of trial and error but we are over the moon that our girls are with us in the van. There was no way we were leaving them at home. For us, it had to work but we would never do anything that stressed them out. We rescued them and promised them forever, loving homes and thats exactly what they will always have with us.
People often ask us if they like life on the road and if they cope with it ok. As soon as you see their little snoozy faces, you know they are ok. In fact, we worked out that they get to go outside more now than they did at home. Plus they get to explore loads of new, interesting places!
To anyone wanting to take their cats, we would always urge you to do what’s right by your cat. You know them best and you know their habits and their preferences. I will say this though, they are a lot more adaptable than we ever gave them credit for.