Date:         Fri, 26 Apr 1996 22:59:23 -0500 (CDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <ddes@zeus.anet-dfw.com>
Subject:      Re: Cats Onboard [was: road hazards]

Cat lovers,
	I recently took my cat on a 4-day trip to Dallas in my '73 camper.
I hope these comments will be somewhat interesting to others
contemplating such trips with their feline friends...

Kirk D. Hilliard writes:
> 
> Sandbox: The PO had bolted a lap belt behind the passenger's seat for
> use with a bug seat that he occasionally placed there, and it does a
> wonderful job holding the sandbox.  The sandbox has a rim around it
> which helps somewhat to stop flying sand (from over zealous exaction,
> not from acceleration).  I have considered switching to a covered
> sandbox, but this would be new to them and I really want them to be
> comfortable with with the sandbox.  It is a mission critical item!

I would buy the covered sandbox ahead of time and let them get used to
it.  Mine is covered and my cat spent a lot of time inside it the first
two days on the road.  She seemed to think of it as a sanctuary, and was
always calm while inside.  I am sure that being enclosed inside there
helped her nerves a lot.  I suppose a cat carrier would serve the same
purpose, but I didn't think I had room for the catbox *and* the cat
carrier in the van, so I didn't bother with the carrier.  Turned out I
never needed it.
 
> Food and water dishes: Their water dish does a good job staying put on
> the carpet, but their food dishes slide around a lot.  I was quite
> surprised that with the water dish half full no water spilled, even
> when the food dishes went flying all over the place as I took a tight

I have a plastic water dish with rubber feet.  It is very deep, and has
steeply sloped sides (not vertical though).  I found that if I filled it
only 1/4 way, it never spilled a drop, even in spirited driving.  I had
to change the water so often (due to contamination by cat hair, dust,
etc) that the low water level wasn't really a problem.  The dish is
pretty standare - I bought it at a pet store.

> Cats sliding off the counter top: I worried a little about taking
> corners when a cat was sitting on the counter top.  They didn't hang
> out there much, but they occasionally sat there to look out of the
> window.  I think that I will put more of that non skid-matting on the
> counter top and table.

My cat slid off once or twice.  I tried to discourage her from sitting
on the counters.  She did like to sit on the dashboard, and never had a
problem sliding from there.  People got a kick out of seeing her there,
too.

> The problem that I had was that one cat (Tasm -- the evil creature who
> is, at this very moment, trying to walk all over my keyboard) tried
> several times to crawl in front of the hand brake lever and get in
> front of the pedals.

I had this problem too.  In fact, this is the first place she went when
she finally decided to leave the litterbox.  Right down under the brake
pedal.  Fortunately, I was on the freeway at the time and didn't need
the brake.  I never found a good solution to this problem - I just was
careful to shoo her away when she was heading for that area.  

> Cats overheating: I am quite concerned about this.  That is why I want
> to make all windows safe to be left open.  When stopped I will crank
> the louvered windows open and, if necessary, turn on the fans. 

I took my cat through some hot areas.  Since I don't have the louvered
windows installed yet, all I could do was open the roof vent and crack
the front windows.  She did pant a bit at times, but seemed otherwise
okay, and had no interest in water, so I assume she was okay.  While I
was stopped (in the shade), she rested quietly at inside temps which never 
exceeded 95 degrees (which was just a couple of degrees over the outside 
temp).  All in all I think cats are pretty tough, and while of
course I would never want my baby to be uncomfortable, I think she can
stand a little heat, just like I can.  Someday, I'm going to get that
air conditioning working...

-David

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David Schwarze                   '73 VW Safare Custom Camper       (Da Boat)
Dallas, Texas, USA               '73 Capri GT 2800                (Da Beast)
e-mail: ddes@anet-dfw.com        '87 Mustang Lx 5.0          (13.986@100.81)
http://www.teleport.com/~des     '93 Weber WG-50                  (Da Piano)
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