We have two
rescue cats on board, found by the bins when only a few days old. As they were immediately brought aboard and hand reared we have had no problems with them adjusting. We rarely tie to a quay so they do not pine for the shore. We do not have life jackets or harnesses for them (they don't even wear collars) but we do have an eight inch high toe rail all around the
boat which makes falling off less likely. The only time they go for a swim is when we are tied up and they go
boat hopping and misjudge the distance home! They both swim well and can climb our stern ladder.
Puss and Fluff have travelled with us from
Greece to
Turkey,
Cyprus and
Egypt. They have documents from the EU pet passport scheme which show that all vaccinations are up to date and show the result of the rabies titre test. We have had no problems taking them to any of these countries.
They have had two stays in catteries, one of one month and one of six days. The six day stay was in
Egypt, despite researching and visiting prior to leaving the cats there, they returned to us really quite sick and took several weeks and lots of vets visits to recover. The one month stay was researched even more thoroughly (in Greece) and was successful, although Puss did come home with some scabs from
grass mite bites which cleared up very quickly.
Both cats hate the sound of flapping
sails and know that when the
engine starts they need to be down below, they spend a lot of time on our bed! Puss does appear to be a little seasick at times, her nose becomes white and she seeks cuddles from us if there is too much motion. Both cats will come into the
cockpit and sit with us whilst we are sailing but will immediately go below deck if there is any action.
We have an enclosed litter tray which lives in the heads and we have made a hole in the bottom of the door so that they always have access to it. We use a large
stainless steel dog bowl with a non slip foot for
water to avoid spills. Their preferred
food is dried but they do get wet
food once a day as in the summer heat they can start to get a bit dehydrated if only dried is provided (despite there always being plenty of fresh
drinking water available for them).
Puss and Fluff seem to be very happy cats, if a little 'needy', they are use to us being around constantly so get loads of attention and love. They have been with us for almost seven years now, couldn't imagine the
liveaboard life without Puss and Fluff to talk to!
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