camping cat

janelle

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We have an indoor cat and want to take with us camping on Memorial Day weekend. Is there any precautions we should take such as shots? Also should I take her outside for a little while each day so she gets used to the outdoors and noises before that weekend?
 

tnr1

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Janelle...first...wecome to the site. I would buy a harness and first see how your cat reacts to being outdoors...some indoor cats don't 1. like being on a harness and 2. don't know what to do outside. I'm a bit perplexed why you plan to take your cat with you since you would need to have someone basically watching her/him the whole time...plus you need to make sure that you cat is UTD on all it's shots....talk to your vet about what additional shots he/she recommends for cats that spend time outdoors.

Katie
 

carolanne

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U do plan to keep her on a leash? Does she walk on a leash now? I have never traveled w/a cat other than what was absolutely necessary. If you were involved in a car accident would she be safe? Would she/he be properly identified in case you were to become separated? My cats c/o in the car just going 5 min to the vet. How do yours behave on short trips? Just questions, no answers.
Best of luck.
 

hissy

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You need to make her entirely comfortable with the harness and leash first, before even entertaining the notion of taking her camping. We used to take Smudge camping with us in Alaska and she loved to travel and knew about harnesses and leashes. Plus our german shepherd would watch over her when she was outdoors, and herd her back if she got to far. But it was a long process to get her used to the gear she had to wear to keep her safe.
 

squirtle

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I went camping for the weekend not to long ago. I wanted to bring Dori with me so bad, but decided it was inher best interest not to go. She is an indoor cat, and hates going outside. She gets very scared, I even tried to train her on a harness when she was a kitten, but she hated it. I think that most cats become uneasy in surroundings other than what they are used to. And I also think it would be very important to think about what would happen to her in an emergency situation. What if you were in an accident, what if she got lost- does she have an id tag or is she chipped? Being in a strange surrounding I think it would be hard for her to find her way back.... If she does good outside I think it would fun for her to go camping

Another thing to think about, if you haven't all ready, what about times when you are away from the campsite, possibly swimming or hiking? What would you do with her then? We went camping at a spring a few weeks ago, our neighbors brought their dogs, who are not allowed to be left unattended at the camp site, they both couldn't go swimming at the same time because someone had to stay with the dogs, and to make it worse, dogs weren't allowed near the spring.
 
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ghostuser

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Listen to Hissy, and you can never go wrong.

While in the military Ann and I traveled from the East Coast to Alaska, towing a camping trailer all the way, with 2 younguns and our indoor Siamese. We were nervous all the way, but never lost her. She wore a harness, but we could see that she would have darted out if we did not watch her like a hawk.

Coming back to the "lower 48" a couple of years later, also camping, we had our two Burmese. We were equipped this time with a large cage, and they fared well, other than for getting seasick on the ferry between Juneau and Prince Rupert.

Cheers, and good luck,
 
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