So How are the cats doing? Cats on Board a skippers perspective

Cats on Board

If you are reading this blog, in preparation of your own cruising experience, and you wonder whether to bring your cat, I can only answer with an heart felt : "YES!". 

Life on board brings its own set of challenges, and we get many questions about how we do this or that on board. But the most asked question, is without a doubt: “So, how are the cats doing?” Quite good actually. Both cats have lived up to their role as pest controller, and have caught and disposed of bugs.

This brings us to the second most asked question: “Do cats get seasick?” This is an easy one, myth confirmed. Cats do get seasick. We have found, that they especially do not like it when the waves are on the bow and over about a meter and a half. But they are also adjusting. The worst bout of seasickness was experienced when we just left La Rochelle, and the cats experienced living on a rocky boat for the first time in their life. After that, they only became seasick twice, both times we where motoring against some nasty waves. However, even this they are adjusting to. Yesterday, both cats had their dinner when we motored against waves of about a meter.

Tuxington is getting used to life on board fastest, which is not surprising since:

1. He is the youngest cat, with only a year and a half and
2. he grew up up as a street cat, geared for survival, next to an ICA supermarket in Norway. He is always hungry, and will eat what is served.

Our biggest concerns around the cats are: The cats falling overboard, running away, the cats not eating or drinking. The first concern is addressed by keeping them inside when we are under way (unless posing for pictures or movies) and only letting them outside when we are on anchor or moored and on the deck, ready to scoop them up when they fall overboard/ catch them when they try to explore the outside world. Because SaltyPaws had quite a high free board, they can only get off at the swimming step, and this area is easy to monitor. The drinking water concern is addressed, by making sure there is a bowl of fresh water in all areas, and by adding some water to their dry food. At this point Luna's star like qualities become apparent. We have been feeding her wet food, as she did not like to eat dry food on the initial sailing legs. However, true to a Hollywood star, she has now become quite pretentious about the food she is being served. When served dry food (the very same dry food she was happily eating in Norway) she will test a bit, chew a couple of times, and then spits it out again, while making a face saying: “This is NOT the food that I ordered!”. So she is on a diet of wet-food now. We are now slowly trying to get her back on dry food.

Our preparation had clearly paid off. We have been taking the cats for a drive in the car in Norway many times, and we also brought them on the winter sport holiday (3x a 5 hour drive). I think this is a good test, to see how adaptable your cat is for the adventurous lifestyle. I haven't had the heart to throw them overboard, to teach them how to get back in the boat, but as the water is getting warmer, this is more and more likely to happen.

We created some cat-napping stations, by putting blankets and other soft items of clothing in several occasions. They also very much enjoy the cat scratchers, kindly donated by my Norwegian colleges. We keep their nails clipped, and they only scratch the placed where they are allowed to scratch. NB for those of you who are considering declawing the cat, so the boat remains intact: DONT. Not only is declawing inhumane, and illegal in many countries, it also prevents your cat from being able to climb back on board after it has fallen over.

If you are not interested in the cat's toilet situation, the post ends here...

Ok so you are interested in this subject after all. As for the cat head, back in Norway we have tried to get them used to a doormat, instead of kitty litter, with the idea that we could just tow the doormat on a line, to get it clean again. While for some cats this can clearly be a successful approach, our cats did not get used to this new way, and started to get creative with where they thought the cat head was. Also, we have tried to make them use the toilet, which can be successful, as clearly shown by a number of you tube videos. Also, our cats did not like this option either. In hindsight, this would not be a very good idea on a boat, since the toilet seat is quite slippery, and the boat is usually rocking in some kind of motion. In the end we just settled for a traditional litter tray, which is completely covered, and has got a door. This has worked quite well, both in transporting the cats in the car, and on the boat. We have put a towel in front of the cat head, to prevent kitty litter to spread throughout the boat.