So we’ve spoken about why, we’ve spoken about the what ifs and we’ve spoken about what you need. So how exactly do you travel with a cat? What can you expect from the day to day?
Create a routine
Cats are creatures of habit. They like routine. If you want your cat to embrace life on the road, try to build in a routine that works for both of you. This will help your cat settle into its new environment every day, because it knows what to expect.
For example, I try to play with Sjena first thing in the morning before giving her her breakfast. If we are camping she roams free whilst we pack up, and then we put her into the rucksack. We try to let her out to stretch, sniff, drink and eat at lunchtime, and in the evening when we stop we let her out and give her some more water. She roams whilst we set up the tent, and we lay out her bedding once the tent is ready. If we are camped somewhere safe, we leave the tent door slightly unzipped so she can come and go as she pleases. If not, we zip her in, and let her out on her harness and a long line when she wakes up at 5:30am wanting to go out.
Consider the cat’s needs
A bit like travelling with kids (I imagine) you have to be more aware of the small being without a voice. Sjena relies on us to make sure her needs are met and it does take up extra brain space! We have to be aware that she might need to stop for a toilet break even when we are fine, or let out to stretch her legs while we have been cycling all day. When we do stop, we try and make sure it is in a suitable place for her – ideally with bare earth for scratching in and far enough from the road that the traffic won’t bother and spook her.
Consider the cat’s safety
When we wild camp, we always try to consider how safe the location is for Sjena. Is she likely to stray onto the road? Are there dogs around and does she have a somewhere to hide? When we first began wild camping I didn’t feel confident in either her recall or her understanding of where Home is, and therefore didn’t feel comfortable letting her off the lead. But as we have all settled into our new routine, she seems to recognise that the tent is Home, no matter what the environment looks like outside the tent flaps. With this understanding, I trust her more and we let her roam free and explore if we feel the environment is safe.
Arranging accommodation
We mostly wild camp, but occasionally we try to organise accommodation through Couchsurfing, WarmShowers or AirBnb. Mostly these have a filter to find hosts who accept pets, and we always mention her in our request, but it obviously limits the number of places that will accept us!
Toilet habits
Mostly Sjena goes outside at her own discretion, and we are aware of her habits so we can ensure we let her out at the right times.
If we are sleeping indoors, we make sure we are aware of her behaviour and if she shows signs of needing to go to the bathroom we can let her outside. (She tends to pace and meow when she needs to go.) When we were volunteering, we made her a litter tray from a large bucket lid and some wood shavings, just in case we weren’t around to let her out.
At one point we were anticipating a long overnight train through Serbia and had to think of what Sjena would do if she got caught on the hop. I didn’t think she would take too kindly to being placed over the train toilet! Instead, I packed a bag of woodshavings and planned to fold the sides down so she could scratch around in the bag.
In the end, we didn’t catch the overnight train, but on the shorter train we did catch she stubbornly held herself for 4 hours until we got to our destination and she immediately relieved herself in a plant pot on the platform …..!
Have you travelled with your cat? How did you navigate your daily life? What routines did you develop (if any?)
Leave your thoughts in the comments!
If there is anything more that you would like to know about travelling with a cat (or any other animal for that matter) let me know in the comments and I will do my best to answer your questions!
Fair winds 😊
with Fair Winds 