We've been taking our cat aboard our sailboat - which is our summer cottage. We've done research and talked to people with cats on board, and since we got 'Cappy' we've been leash training him with a walking jacket.
We've had him on the boat a number of times for short trips and he's doing great. We keep our 34' boat out on a mooring, so it necessitates getting into a small dingy and motoring out to our boat. The first time we took him out on the dinghy, I held him very, very close to me, while he shook and shivered. Now, he jumps up onto the front and puts his front paws there and watches the boats go by, head held high like he owns the place.
When we reach our sailboat, he jumps right up onto it now. Once on the boat he goes down below and settles himself on a couch. We have his food and water and litter box there, and he's fine. On the boat we take his leash off.
He's a very, very curious cat, however, and when we're on the dock he doesn't understand why he can't go on every dingy and every boat there!
On Sat. when we got back to the dock, he jumped out of the dingy, and he wasn't leashed, but we weren't worried because there's really no place to go. Well, he jumped up onto someone's powerboat and started walking on the outer edge of it, not realizing that there was NO place to go but into the water. And that he did - much to our consternation and meowing the whole time!
My dh was ready to jump into the water to get him, but he swam quickly to the dock and climbed up. We wrapped him up in a towel, and I carried him on my lap all the way home in the car which he shivered. (I know. I know - not the best, he should have been in his carrier - but just this once, he needed comfort!)
He is quite a swimmer - as all cats are according to what I've read. He doesn't wear a life jacket because I've done research on this as well, and they don't make a life jacket that really fits a cat. If you put a small dog life jacket on a cat, it affects their balance and walking. Also, those life jackets are designed to hold a dog's head out of water - but they, in effect, put a cat's head under the water. (Which is not a good thing.) Most 'cruisers' I've talked to, don't put life jackets on their cats.
We haven't been back to the boat since this happened, so I hope he's not freaked out!
lin
We've had him on the boat a number of times for short trips and he's doing great. We keep our 34' boat out on a mooring, so it necessitates getting into a small dingy and motoring out to our boat. The first time we took him out on the dinghy, I held him very, very close to me, while he shook and shivered. Now, he jumps up onto the front and puts his front paws there and watches the boats go by, head held high like he owns the place.
When we reach our sailboat, he jumps right up onto it now. Once on the boat he goes down below and settles himself on a couch. We have his food and water and litter box there, and he's fine. On the boat we take his leash off.
He's a very, very curious cat, however, and when we're on the dock he doesn't understand why he can't go on every dingy and every boat there!
On Sat. when we got back to the dock, he jumped out of the dingy, and he wasn't leashed, but we weren't worried because there's really no place to go. Well, he jumped up onto someone's powerboat and started walking on the outer edge of it, not realizing that there was NO place to go but into the water. And that he did - much to our consternation and meowing the whole time!
My dh was ready to jump into the water to get him, but he swam quickly to the dock and climbed up. We wrapped him up in a towel, and I carried him on my lap all the way home in the car which he shivered. (I know. I know - not the best, he should have been in his carrier - but just this once, he needed comfort!)
He is quite a swimmer - as all cats are according to what I've read. He doesn't wear a life jacket because I've done research on this as well, and they don't make a life jacket that really fits a cat. If you put a small dog life jacket on a cat, it affects their balance and walking. Also, those life jackets are designed to hold a dog's head out of water - but they, in effect, put a cat's head under the water. (Which is not a good thing.) Most 'cruisers' I've talked to, don't put life jackets on their cats.
We haven't been back to the boat since this happened, so I hope he's not freaked out!
lin
I'm glad he was able to swim!! 
His instincts told him so!
