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ChrisRichmond94

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36 minutes ago, ChrisRichmond94 said:

Hello, 

 

Has anyone got any experience with pets aboard Narrow Boats? Perhaps you currently have a pet or have done so in the past? How have you found it? I'm specifically interested in cats. 

 

Thanks. 

We had a cat lived onboard with us full time between about 1993 and 2001. We lived and moved around some of that time ccing and at other times on a mooring. Our cat loved it, he would hop off and go exploring into wherever and always return. Sometimes he wouldbe a few hours but always came back evenings wherever we were. He did start falling off the gunwhales as he got older so we rehomed him to one of those house things in 2001.

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Guess it depends on the pet, and how much space you’re willing to give up in some cases.

 

Our Cocker Spaniel was fine on the boat apart from getting up the back steps (went down them no problem), where as a friends dog was terrified and sneakily abandoned ship as they passed under a bridge (trapped on off side so was there when they realised).

 

When we were moored at Overwater a few berths down was a boat who had cats, rabbits, cavies and i think budgies, most of the saloon was filled with cages :( 

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I've had no issues with 3 labradors (consecutively not concurrently) who have all taken to the boats like ducks to water. Cats are more independently minded so, whilst some are clearly cut out for boating life, the number of waterside "wanted" posters suggests many go a wandering with scant regard for the Ship's programme.

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I think a lot will depend on the inherent nature of the beast, I am getting one from the RSPCA Halifax this week, I'd looked on their website and selected one but they told me that he might be too nervous for boat life (they re-home two hundred cats per year!)

I am waiting for another who is described as very laid back.

My last cat was a former stray, and he was fine on the boat, after a few days of hiding, initially in the bilge!

I then made sure he could not get in to the engine bilge for obvious reasons.

He fell in twice, once he had obviously had to swim. I think he walked along the offside gunwales and turned round. I always made sure the canal edges were cat friendly when I let him out, also he was reasonably athletic.

I would recommend Feliway which is a calming aerosol.

I fed mine on Royal Canin for sensitive tummies as it produces a nice clean output. He would pop outside for a pee if I stopped for lunch, but he went a bit further at dusk, which is the natural time for these crepuscular animals to prowl. 

I intend to keep mine on board for two weeks to make sure he does not run off, but I assume your own cat will adjust quicker if he has been living with you in a house. I think there was a TV  program where some cats had GPS tracking and some went a mile or so every night. I try to find a mooring not near a bridge, a lock,  or a road, as they might have difficulty finding the way back. Also when I let mine out I fed him a treat when he came back to call.

I had a cat flap in the door.

 

Edited by LadyG
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I rehomed a 1 year old cat from Gumtree about a year ago, he's settled into boat life nicely. Sleeps under the sofa all day, I usually play with him in the evening for a bit and then he goes out around midnight and returns at 6am. Always back for feeding time. He covers anywhere from 1-8 miles a night, I've got a Tractive tracker which I highly recommend. Usually when I move to a new spot, he cautiously covers a mile or so, then the next night he goes a little further and so on.

 

He's fallen in too many times to count but I've only fished him out twice - the rest of the time he swims to the back, hops on the rudder and then climbs up the fender. I also have some coir matting over the bow for him to climb. Biggest issue is a wet moggy appearing in bed at 3am stinking of canal diesel and then having to shower the diesel off him...

 

If you cc, you need to bear in mind where you moor as it's not good to be next to main roads or busy towpaths with fast bikes. 

 

The only major issue with a cat is that they - or mine at least - likes to bring back perfectly unharmed, alive wildlife. Multiple voles, a bat, two birds and a huge rat. He's only brought back a couple of things which he's killed, the rest are delivered with a mother's touch and promptly released in the boat... They end up hiding in the bilge or under the cooker, and are a real pain to get out the boat. The rat got into the walls and all humane traps failed, eventually a big snap-trap got it.

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4 hours ago, ChrisRichmond94 said:

Hello, 

 

Has anyone got any experience with pets aboard Narrow Boats? Perhaps you currently have a pet or have done so in the past? How have you found it? I'm specifically interested in cats. 

 

Thanks. 

 

No experience with cats but we have had boating hols with our previous Jack Russel Dennis and we had him with us for our five years of boat ownership.

 

He took to boating like a duck to water (pun intended). 

 

 

 

Screenshot_20230131-180712_Photos.jpg

Screenshot_20230131-191659_Photos.jpg

Edited by M_JG
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I'd worry about a fixed collar like the GPS tracker which could get hooked up on trees or fences, I gave up on cat collars as they never lasted more than a day or two.

Edited by LadyG
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Just now, LadyG said:

I'd worry about a fixed collar like the GPS tracker which could get hooked up on trees or fences, I gave up on cat collars as they never lated more than a day or two.

It's on a weak quick release, it pops off occasionally...but luckily the tracker's always been somewhere I can retrieve it easily.

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Just now, LadyG said:

So does it come with tracking software?

Yep, you pay a subscription fee as there's a SIM card in there which uploads data to Tractive. You can then log in via the Tractive app or the website to see the current location, make the tracker flash or beep and also see the location logs over the past month or so. It's actually very good.

 

It's been really useful when it's time to move on and the cat's gone walkabout, rather than wait for him to come back I can just dig him out of the bush he's sat in and off we go...

 

I've also got him trained to come back with the beep of the tracker. Only works when he's hungry though.

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I've got a mouse on one of the boats.  It is a stowaway rather than a pet and slightly nervous of humans. 

 

Previously had dogs never had any problems and my mum had cats on her narrow boat while we traveled around the system. The cats were happy enough. The only thing which occasionally happened was if the cat was out and we moved the boats to get a better mooring spot the cat would come back and get on the wrong boat. 

 

One time we moved about 100ft and another boat with a dog arrived on the mooring we had been occupying. The cat came back and got onto the boat and ended up in a confrontation with the dog. 

 

For some reason the cat is geolocating rather than using senses like dogs do. It was convinced that it was getting back onto its own boat. 

 

This happened on more than one occasion where we had moved a short distance. Another time we moved about 300ft and the cat simply waited in the hedge by where the boat had been rather than trying to locate the boat. 

 

Totally different to dogs. I don't like cats. 

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For those who are hirers, cats are still possible.  We have taken both our cats away every year.  The approach we use is to train them to walk to a lead.  Confuses the dog walkers but the cat is always happy to chat to the dog.  This one has no fear and is happy to jump on any boat available so careful guidance is required.  He was equally interested in the pubs at Gas Street and had to be encouraged not to explore the bars despite the noise and crowds🙂.

 

 

Llangollen 1.jpg

llangollen 2.jpg

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2 hours ago, cheesegas said:

I rehomed a 1 year old cat from Gumtree about a year ago, he's settled into boat life nicely. Sleeps under the sofa all day, I usually play with him in the evening for a bit and then he goes out around midnight and returns at 6am. Always back for feeding time. He covers anywhere from 1-8 miles a night, I've got a Tractive tracker which I highly recommend. Usually when I move to a new spot, he cautiously covers a mile or so, then the next night he goes a little further and so on.

 

He's fallen in too many times to count but I've only fished him out twice - the rest of the time he swims to the back, hops on the rudder and then climbs up the fender. I also have some coir matting over the bow for him to climb. Biggest issue is a wet moggy appearing in bed at 3am stinking of canal diesel and then having to shower the diesel off him...

 

If you cc, you need to bear in mind where you moor as it's not good to be next to main roads or busy towpaths with fast bikes. 

 

The only major issue with a cat is that they - or mine at least - likes to bring back perfectly unharmed, alive wildlife. Multiple voles, a bat, two birds and a huge rat. He's only brought back a couple of things which he's killed, the rest are delivered with a mother's touch and promptly released in the boat... They end up hiding in the bilge or under the cooker, and are a real pain to get out the boat. The rat got into the walls and all humane traps failed, eventually a big snap-trap got it.

 

After my 17 month old labrador went missing on countryside walks for the third time in a week (he'd get the scent of a dog out of sight and run off after it. His recall is great in training class but variable in the real world) I got him a tractive tracker. As you say a great bit of kit. 

 

The strange thing is he hasnt run ff since having it fitted.

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2 hours ago, magnetman said:

I've got a mouse on one of the boats.  It is a stowaway rather than a pet and slightly nervous of humans. 

 

Previously had dogs never had any problems and my mum had cats on her narrow boat while we traveled around the system. The cats were happy enough. The only thing which occasionally happened was if the cat was out and we moved the boats to get a better mooring spot the cat would come back and get on the wrong boat. 

 

One time we moved about 100ft and another boat with a dog arrived on the mooring we had been occupying. The cat came back and got onto the boat and ended up in a confrontation with the dog. 

 

For some reason the cat is geolocating rather than using senses like dogs do. It was convinced that it was getting back onto its own boat. 

 

This happened on more than one occasion where we had moved a short distance. Another time we moved about 300ft and the cat simply waited in the hedge by where the boat had been rather than trying to locate the boat. 

 

Totally different to dogs. I don't like cats. 

Cats grow on you because they just know more about you than you do. I left the mooring one day and the cat was not on board. He sat towpath side and watched it as the bow passed, he was in no doubt that I would realise my mistake and reverse. He never looked at me.

I think they scent the boat, and maybe this is why they pee as soon as they disembark. Early days he jumped on to another boat when i had moved the boat, not realising he was not on board. Fortunately I saw him and was able to stop the other boat before he ended up far from home.

Edited by LadyG
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We got two kittens last year they love the boat .we are carefull where they get off too much foot/dog traffic at times . Both love to sit by the towpath side window tarting as people see and comment on them.  They have fell in but swim ok and we have rescue nets etc on board. 

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Our Jack Russell terrier looks very much like the smooth haired one in your picture, Nightwatch. He will lie/sit on the roof, then every so often walk along towards the bow and back, whilst on the move, just to stretch his legs. We get comments from people concerned whether it is safe for him to do so, but he has done this for over nine years!

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