[Cats on narrowboats]

1 hour ago, MartynG said:

Some people are fortunate to have found a cat that owns a boat and allows a human to live on their boat. I don't agree with keeping cats locked up indoors or caged.

Our neighbours cat has visited us since he was a kitten. I am sure he thinks our garden belongs to him.

I agree cats can live to 20 or so.

 

Cats are more independent than dogs. I would trust  cat to return home more than a dog although there are no doubt exceptions. 

Our cats aren’t usual moggys, they are pedigree British short haired and therefore this breed are usually kept indoors. They have an outdoor cattery which they have access to whenever they like, day and night, straight from the house to outside. It’s 10x10ft. Plus we live on a very busy main road which is another factor as to why they are indoor cats.

 

I’m really hoping they take to their new boat life, outdoors🙂

[Cats on narrowboats]

On 08/01/2022 at 09:22, LadyG said:

They have endemic homing skills, but will back track to where you have boat moored. 

Mine has fallen in several times, probably running up offside gunnels then turning round. He got a fright last time and has been safe since. 

I introduced him slowly to cc, now he can be let out almost anywhere, obviously not too near a road, and generally he will have a pee on grass close to boat. But he is very adaptable, so I can moor up in towns as well. 

He was a rescue cat, very aware of traffic etc, loves it in winter when he gets long glossy dark coat, sleeps all day on my white duvet, pops out for a few hours as appropriate (cat flap), summer he is out a lot more, very active, very few kills, I usually rescue mice by throwing a towel on top. There once was a baby rabbit, very difficult to get through cat flap, very scary for me, I expect it survived. 

Cats have a special legal status in UK, countries with endemic rabies have different laws.

Mine is just not an indoor cat, he loves boating. 

I used the Feliway for a few days, and was careful when I let him out at first when towpath was on different sides. He once jumped on a departing boat when I had shifted to the other side, my fault, fortunately he was spotted! 

There is a litter tray, he uses it more in winter, I feed Royal Canin Digestive kibble (buy 10kg online) which results in better poops, ie no odour. Not sure they will share a tray, but will adapt to very small cat litter houses

Thank you for the advice. Our two cats are indoor cats and have been since we had them there outdoor life and living on a boat are going to be completely new to them both in all aspects. We are looking to be moored for the first year of being on the boat anyway as we will be working on it due to it being a project. There is lots for us to think about and adapt too, both us humans and the cats lol 

[Cats on narrowboats]

56 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

How long do cats live, this one would be about 15 years old by now

Our childhood cat lived til she was 20 🙂

[Cats on narrowboats]

On 08/07/2012 at 15:27, DeanS said:

We moved on board a year and a bit ago. Our cat grew up on land, so boating was a new thing. They adapt very quickly. When cruising , the engine tells them...."it's not time to go outside" and ours settles down for a sleep. When the engine is off...it'll want out. When CC-ing, we put him on a rewindable leash, and attached it to a tree of something, and he was happy. In a marina, he and us, have learned that you cant keep him locked in the boat, and if you let him out, he'll come home...at a time of HIS suiting, not yours. He meeows outside the hatch door at about 2am, we feed him, and then he curls up at our feet, and sleeps a full 18hrs till he wants out the following night. If we were cruising, we'd keep him on the leash again. We lost him once...he escaped while we were filling diesel. We had to ride back 20mins on our bikes to look for him, and apparently he had been jumping on everyones boats looking for us....so they do know what a boat is, and where their dish is filled. He popped out the fence, and hasn't gotten lost again since. At the moment he's passed out on the middle bed.

We are looking to move onto our first narrowboat this year and we have had two indoor cats for the last 3 years, they have an outside cattery which they absolutely love however we know they are desperate to go out and roam, so we are very excited about this new adventure for them. However, there is that slight doubt and worry in the back of my mind that they’re going to get lost and not return back to their new boat home - this comment has put me at ease and I’m really hoping our two fur babies take to it as well as yours has. Any tips or tricks would be most welcome! Thank you😊