Vanlife with a cat? While traveling with your dog is incredibly common, is it even possible to live vanlife with a cat? Yes! You have to consider just a few things to keep your furry companion safe and comfortable while traveling in a campervan.
Is Vanlife With A Cat Possible?
Yes, it is entirely possible to do vanlife with a cat. However, it is more complicated than just hitting the road and immediately putting your cat in the van. You have to think about how you are going to keep your cat happy and healthy during your travels? There will also be things you will need to compromise. You may have to travel to more neutral weather, so it’s not so hot or cold in the van. You may have to add roof fans to your van that may make you less stealthy.
Vanlife with a cat is an option; the question is, do you want to accommodate your van for your cat? For some people, that answer is no. For us, the answer was YES!
What Is It Like To Travel With A Cat In A Van?
Vanlife with a cat is terrifying, exciting, awe-inspiring, brilliant, and 100% worth it. Our cat Honey has been traveling with us in the van for eight months. We were so terrified of traveling with her because everyone seemed to only travel with their dog in a van, but it felt like there was no one traveling in a van with a cat. Later, I found out that is not true; plenty of people do vanlife with a cat.
During the first month of travel, I was terrified. I was scared that Honey would get out and never come back or that she would get eaten by something. At first, she cried while we were going on a road trip. Slowly Honey and I started to get comfortable. She now loves road trip days and sits with our dog Odie on the couch.
She brings me so much joy while traveling. I love watching her run around and explore the new places we travel to and then cuddling them at night in bed. I could not imagine traveling without her.
9 Campervan Tips For Vanlife With Your Cat
Before you start traveling with your cat, there are a few things that you should do for the safety and happiness of your cat. We did a lot of research before building the van and hitting the road. We learned these tips over the last few months. These are the ones that work very well for us.
1. Teach Your Cat Their Name
When doing vanlife with a cat, your cat must know their name. While traveling, you will often need to get your cat’s attention. Like a dog, cats can get out in places like gas stations where they really should not be out. Also, some locations can be dangerous for small animals. If they get out of the van, you need to get their attention and call them back quickly.
The way we taught Honey was with cat treats. We would sit down with her and give her a cat treat every time we did; we said her name. It’s incredibly similar to how you would train a dog.
In that same vein, cats need a callback. Teaching your vanlife cat a callback is one of the easiest things to teach a cat. All you have to do is put down their food and say a callback word. Sometimes we will let Honey roam around the area we are camping. If we cannot find her and the sun goes down, I will call her name and yell yum yums. Honey will then come running up to the van.
2. Teach Your Cat To Walk On A Leash
When starting to teach your cat to walk on a leash, you will want to get a good harness for them. Many harnesses cats can easily slip out of.
A few people recommend these:
It can take some time to get used to even wearing a harness. Training a kitten to walk on a lease is the same as training a puppy to walk on a lease. With an older cat, it can be a little more complicated. When you start walking with your cat, you let them lead at first. Then you can begin to bring out the treats and start teaching them like you would a dog.
3. Get Your Cat Used To The Van
When you first get the van, you need to let your cat get used to vanlife. You will want to sit with your cat in the van so that they can get comfortable in the new space. When we first got the van, we would sit with our cat Honey in the mornings or the evenings when we finished for the day. We just let her explore the van for a bit. We wanted her to feel comfortable and understand this was her new home.
4. Get A Cat Carrier
If you don’t have one already, you should get a carrier. You’ll want to introduce your cat to the carrier slowly; leave it out in the open for a week. Then you can start putting toys, food and a nice bed inside.
When we first started traveling with our cat, we did not feel comfortable letting our cat Honey roam around the van as it was moving. So we found a collapsible carrier that folds flat and introduced her to it.
For the first month that we traveled, we placed her in the carrier while we were going anywhere.
Eventually, both us and Honey got more comfortable, and she now sits on the couch with the dog staring out the window as we are driving. We still put up her carrier when we are traveling because we want her to have a safe place to retreat if she wants. Sometimes, if only one of us is in the van, we will put her in the carrier, but that is rare.
5. Go On A Test Drive
If you are thinking about vanlife with a cat and have not bought a van, you can start going on a test drive after getting your cat a carrier. You do not want your cat to crawl under the chair or jump on the dash while you are driving. To start, take your cat on a short trip in a car. It shouldn’t be a long drive at first. You’ll want to get them used to the motions and feeling.
The first time we took Honey on a car ride, she cried and cried. After a few short trips, we realized she did not like to see the movement outside. So we started covering her carrier so she couldn’t lookout. Eventually, Honey got comfortable and did not mind the long trips. We started doing this before we got a van. We recommend taking short trips in a car after getting your cat comfortable with their carrier because it can take some time for your cat to get used to being in a moving vehicle.
6. You Should Microchip Your Cat And Get Them A Tag
You should both microchip and get your cat a tag if you are preparing for vanlife with a cat. As everyone knows, cats aren’t like dogs; they can easily slip out of harnesses and collars. Also, most of the collars made for cats have a quick release if they get stuck. Your cat should be microchipped so that If your cat gets out and loses its collar, whoever finds them can hopefully help reunite you with your furry companion.
We like having a collar and a tag on Honey because it helps other people know she isn’t a stray. I have both in case she does lose her collar and someone finds her, they can scan for a miro chip.
7. Have A Cattery
Not every place you visit is a good place to let your cat roam. Some places can be dangerous, and most campgrounds frown upon allowing your furry friends to roam outside. To fix this, we bought a cattery.
Our cattery is a small pop-up enclosed tent. This way, we can let Honey out even when we are in an RV park or in an area where something could eat her. The cattery makes it so we can keep an eye on her, and she can get the sun and outdoors she needs just as much as us in a van.
We chose this size cattery because we only have one cat, and we wanted something large that could fold flat and take up very little space. What your cattery looks like and how big it depends on you, the number of cats you have, and the room in your van.
8. Make Sure To Have A Scratch Post
Learn from our mistakes, and have a cat scratch post or pad. When we lived in our bus and first got our cat Honey, we did not have anything for her to scratch on. When you do not give your cat something, they will find something on their own, in the bus that ended up being our bench.
We had to repair the bench once we figured this out. Even with a scratch pad or post, your cat will probably put their claws into your van, but giving them an option significantly reduced the damage to your van.
9. Give Your Cat Their Own Space
In a van, space is limited; however, to do vanlife with a cat, your cat needs their own space. When we are not driving, Honey’s space is the front of the van. We feed her on the floor of the driver’s side because she makes a giant mess while eating. The front of the van is her space where she does not need to compete with the dog or us. She will sunbathe on the driver’s seat and sit on the dash looking out the window.
Even though space is limited in a van, your cat will need a space for food, water, toys, and litter. When thinking about having a cat in a van, it is crucial to think about where you can adapt or change your layout so that your furry little friend is comfortable and happy.
Where To Put The Litter Box
Where to put the litter box is one of the bigger questions when it comes to vanlife with a cat. The answer varies from van to van. When planning the layout of our van, I knew we needed to think of a place to put the litter box and Honey’s food. We decided to give half of the space under the bed to Honey and Odie. We have a regular-sized litter box placed under the bed.
Other people have made their own litter boxes and placed them in their couch. Sometimes people put the litter box on the floor of the passenger’s seat. Others have cabinets they’ve built to hide the box secretly.
A lot of deciding where to put the litter box depends on you. We wanted it somewhere easy that we could reach without a problem. Other people like it tucked away so they cannot smell the litter at all. So long as you keep the litter box clean, you shouldn’t have any issues with smells. Also, if you allow your cat outside, they’ll usually start going to the bathroom outside more.
How To Keep Your Cat Cool In The Summer
When traveling full time with a cat in a van, you have to think about the temperature for yourself and your cat. A temperature that might be bearable or slightly uncomfortable for us can be deadly to your cat.
When traveling in a van, you often have to travel with the weather. When we are traveling, we are constantly checking the weather. We do not ever want to be in a place that may be too hot for our furry friends. This might not be a big problem if you have a rooftop AC in your van. However, most vans are not built with a rooftop AC, so here are a few tips we have to keep your van cool:
- Have great insulation
- Use sun reflectors
- Park in the shade
- A MaxxAir fan
- Crack the windows
We have two max air fans and two small wall-mounted fans in our van. When it is hot outside, we have one of the max fans going in and the other out. We will also crack open one of our side windows. This creates a cross breeze in the van that keeps our pets cool.
You can also install a temperature gadget that will tell you if your van gets too hot or cold. They make ones that will send you a notification to your phone if the temperature goes past the one you have set.
How To Keep Your Cat Warm In The Winter
Keeping your van warm in the winter is similar to keeping your cat cold in the summer. You need to think about if where you are traveling will be too cold for your cat. You may need to adjust plans depending on the season.
Here are some tips for keeping it warm in the winter:
- Have great insulation
- Park in the sun
- Have a great heater
Also, if you want to go somewhere that might be too cold for your cat in a van, you might think about getting an Airbnb or a hotel. We all love our vans and cats, but sometimes we want to go to locations where this may be hard for our furry friends. Doing this is a great compromise, and it is good to get out of the van sometimes for both you and your cat. If you are going to a hot location, you might also consider getting an Airbnb or hotel.
