Introducing my cat to new things (such as the new RV we had to get due to the old one pretty much… rotting apart…) is so much fun for her and me. I love it! But there were some ups AND downs about it…

Ninja was so used to our old RV which was 3 feet longer, white, and a fifth wheel style. The new one is gray, red and black and a travel trailer. When she jumped out to find our RV when we arrived, she ran around in circles crying in search of our RV steps with no luck in finding them. She had only spent one night in the new one, and she hadn’t seen the outside because I carried her from the car at night to sleep at a gas station in between cities.

So she had no clue about the new place. She jumped in all the empty (and full) boxes and such and had fun discovering everything new there was to discover. Boxes, of course, being the favorite.

She’s finally familiar with the new one after a full day of coming in and out as we move everything in and into place. Her new litterbox is installed like the last one in the last RV, but this time under our bed. And she has a lot more places to lay around too. I think we all like the new rig much better!

Need help installing your cat door? Check out my post on Cat Flaps and Doors. You can get yours from any local Home Depot.

I went back and forth on trying to decide whether or not to take my cat, Ninja, along with me on my month long road trip from Florida to Utah to California, to Texas and back to Florida. It was going to be a long month and my options were to take her along or to leave her at home alone with the neighbors checking in on her… but I knew she would be bored out of her mind!

So I decided to bring her along with, as much as she LOVES hotels and isn’t too bad about getting car sick. I actually do not give her any drugs or anything when she travels; she is very used to it and does great. She has a certain meow for needing to go to the bathroom, and a certain one for feeling sick. She also has one she does for when she’s bluffing, hehe…

I keep her litter box in the back of the truck behind the passenger seat and she eats the night before we leave but not again until we get to our location the next night. This is by her choice, not me “starving” her… she knows she will puke it up if she eats in the morning or during the trip so she waits until we stop for the night.

She loved the hotels like usual, and we only stayed at pet friendly places like Best Western and La Quinta.

For the first time I took her out with us on drives into the desert and I let her roam around on isolate roads where I knew cars wouldn’t be coming fast. I walked along with her and she LOVED rolling in the hot desert sand. She loved it so much that on this trip when she made her car sick cry, I would take her out and she would roll in the dirt and then jump back into the truck as if to tell me that the layer of dirt would keep her from getting car sick – and somehow, it did!

She had such a good time on this trip and in the desert that I am completely confident that she will be a great traveler and companion on the road with my starting this December when I tour around the east coast for a year. I’m excited to have her along. I’m sure there will be many “Cat Travel Tips” from me in the future.

My number one goal is to make her as comfortable as possible she will be happy. Also, with my cat, I don’t feed her before we head out. At least 3 hours before she doesn’t eat otherwise she is more likely to get car sick and puke. Then that just makes her whole trip miserable.

I also have never had to give her any medication before going on a plane or in a car to “calm her down”. Probably because she has been traveling with me since she was a kitten.

I make sure to bring everything she needs with me and have a litter box for her, treats, food, water and a bed on hand anytime I think she may want it. I also try to provide what she needs BEFORE she has tell me she wants it. I can do this having traveled with her so much and being used to her needs. She will drink while traveling and pee, but she prefers to go to the bathroom (number 2) before leaving or just as we are leaving and she actually prefers not to eat before or during the trip. She will eat when we GET there. Or at least to the hotel in between stops! But eating in a moving car or plane is not for her.

Here is a video of her on the last road trip I took from Florida to Idaho, and back. She did great and laid not only on her bed, but on all of our warm winter jackets! Notice how calm and unbothered she is. This is what a stress-free traveling cat looks like!