Boat cats

[Jammer]

A fellow I know who retired from cruising a few years ago had traveled far with his wife and cat. The cat had been harness trained and had been aboard since it was a kitten.


Any stories pro or con on how this has worked out for others?

[gmakhs]

It works well even without harness cats are really careful.

[pstadt]

Ours are pretty comfortable at anchor, sometimes even treading across the front cross bar and frequently climbing up on top of the helm dodger for a better look. They make good bed warmers too!
Underway, they tend to find their comfy-zone spots, burrowing under sheets or each other. No harnesses for these guys - started them sailing at ages 10 and 16 and there was no way they were going to tolerate anything strapped to them. All cats differ, so best of luck with yours!

Pat

[zeehag]

there is an international facebook group named gatos del mar. is for and by sailing cats.
lots of good fun and information of and by cats.
bubba daboatkat would love to see you join up with him. he has only sailed 10,000 miles with me so far, and has flown 6000 miles and ridden 3000 or so car miles. he is maine coon mix with a lil black nemesis of mexican multigene longish haired black with crossed green eyes. this nemesis is named chico da vato and he has sailed zero miles has not any car miles except to vet and back and no air miles at all, he is in for a huge surprise when we finish readying boat yet again for travelling hahahaha will need to peel his lil crosseyed self from overheads i believe...chico is still becoming familiar with his harness and tether.

[Jammer]

Without a harness, how do you keep them from going on maneuvers when you're at a dock?

[gmakhs]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Without a harness, how do you keep them from going on maneuvers when you're at a dock?

Mine is trained and comes back when I whisle or calling her name (both mean time for food in her head )
Usually the boat is not Inna slip but even when it is she goes around and comes back like a normal cat .

[Sojourner]

We are starting our go-around in just over a month, and are taking our three teenage kittens along We've been training them to the boat since they were about 6 months old, and they love it there. Still partly land based, you can see the disappointment in their little pointy faces when we go back to the apartment for a few days They are harness trained but not well, meaning they are fine wearing them, walking around in them, sitting at a cafe with us in them, but don't actually follow us, we follow them. There are some boarding ladders we made for them off the stern and beam of the boat, just old lines macramed up in to a nice loopy ladder. They never fall, and know where they can jump up or not with lots of water bottle training (the dodger is a big no-no, the anchor area, the bottom of the transom), and we have pet netting all around. At anchor they get the run of the decks but in marinas they're locked down inside. But the boat is bigger than the apartment so they don't seem to care. Here are the little monsters...lots more pics on the FB