Cats on board

[droshky]

We are ccers who don’t live on board. Our cat isn’t happy, I’m told, being left at home every fortnight tended by a fleet of assiduous carers. Can you introduce an adult cat to life on board?

[matty40s]

2 minutes ago, droshky said:

We are ccers who don’t live on board. Our cat isn’t happy, I’m told, being left at home every fortnight tended by a fleet of assiduous carers. Can you introduce an adult cat to life on board?

Yes, you can even get them to move onto another boat if you move boats.

Problem is, if you dont liveaboard, the cat will not feel at home when you take it just to move a few hours/miles.

Edited June 17, 2021 by matty40s

[droshky]

Very good.

 

I think a further question or two (how does it go? Any recommendations?) was kind of implied. If I had a sabre-toothed tiger or a crocodile I could take him there but it might not be advisable without taking further measures 

[Richard T]

13 hours ago, droshky said:

We are ccers who don’t live on board. Our cat isn’t happy, I’m told, being left at home every fortnight tended by a fleet of assiduous carers. Can you introduce an adult cat to life on board?

Its worth reading the Oleanna blog. They have a cat on board https://oleanna.co.uk/

They also post on the forum as @Alway Swilby

[Naughty Cal]

Cats can and do get used to being onboard.

 

Some friends of ours introduced their adult cat to leisure boating at weekends and holidays and she loved it.

 

A few years ago they sold up their boat and their house and bought a large catamaran, moved on board and set sail around the world. The cat is still with them and loving it.

 

We get regular updates from her

 

 

[Lady M]

We take our house cat on the boat when we go cruising on our boat.  It seems to work best with cats that are close to their humans.  However, the cat never enjoys the transfers and we do have a rule that we stay on the boat for a minimum of 3 nights to make the disruption worthwhile.  Otherwise we found that they do become accustomed to having two homes.  We offer distinct fixed areas for feline eating and toilet on board. We avoid stopping near roads or canal junctions.  We also open the cratch cover on just the land side when we stop.  We try to keep the cat in overnight and don't let her out in the morning if we plan to move.  We also shut the cat in when we are doing locks and only let her out into the well deck under supervision while on the move.  (No paws on the gunwale.)

[Jim Riley]

They'll soon get used to a new source of prey, water voles, rare small birds, snakes etc etc. New waterside gardens to rake up seedlings in fair exchange for a fresh turd. 

[Alway Swilby]

Our old cat was 12 when we moved aboard full time. She got used to the life very quickly. One tip we took note of was to have the engine running when first taking the cat on board. With so much new going on the noise of the engine is just part of it. She never bothered about the engine.