Life Jackets for Cats

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Where do you folks put the litter box?

My daughter recommended a new litter box system to me called "Breeze."

The litter is compressed paper pellets. The bottom is a grid, and the urine goes below to an absorbant, deodorant pad. With two cats I change that about twice a week. It's supposed to last a week with one cat. The pellets you change once a month and otherwise just "de-lump" it each day.

It really is virtually odorless, and a lot less messy than any other kind of kitty litter, which the cats tracked all over. Since there's no odor, it's under my vee berth.

You change the paper pellets once a month. It says to use one bag of pellets, but cats like to bury and they prefer to have two bags in the box.

I highly recommend "Breeze" litter system.

[HopCar]

Rakuflames, How does the cost of the Breeze pad and pellets compare to clumping litter? Does it really eliminate tracking?

[zeehag]

try critters inflatables for life vest for cats. is only one i have found to provide support for kat head. when cats are tired they put their heads down. is why they drown. keep head up by having a support for cat head -- i also keep my cat on a leash -- while at dock and underway in big seas== bubba is on leash/tether. yes i do have special ladders for overboard cats--bubba has never use done--he has been aboard for 5 1/4 yrs now--all his life.
look for critters inflatables online--i dont know where else they are sold.

[Adamante]

Best way to secure a cat on board. Just lash the whole thing to the mast with Dyneema.

[zeehag]

ohmy....and here i thought that was for the obnoxious husband to be taken home in.....

[Adamante]

Originally Posted by zeehag

ohmy....and here i thought that was for the obnoxious husband to be taken home in.....

Like Alton Brown says, always buy a multipurpose tool...

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Rakuflames, How does the cost of the Breeze pad and pellets compare to clumping litter? Does it really eliminate tracking?

I don't know how to describe these paper pellets but they are much larger than a kernel of standard kitty litter. A few get kicked out of course, but it just doesn't track *at all.* The cost is about the same. the pads cost more but the litter lasts a month. You just can't beat that. At the end of the month I throw it away not because I'm aware of any issues but because it says to, and they're right about how long the pads last.

It's not expensive to set up, either. it comes with litter, 4 pads and the special litter pan it uses (a tray slides out to change the pad) for $39.95 at PetSmart.

The cats dig a lot in it. I think they just don't understand where the urine has gone, and they keep trying to bury something that isn't even in the pan. But eventually they realize it's gone and stop. It was kind of funny at first.

[HopCar]

Thanks Rakuflames! I think I'll give it a try. If you ever get to Miami, please visit my store so I can introduce you to Po, BW and Newbie my office cats.

[Bash]

What I've learned from more than a decade living aboard with a cat:

1. They swim better than I do (and I'm a retired scuba instructor.)
2. They will not tolerate a life jacket. It's not that they cannot swim in one, it's that they can't even walk in one.
3. If a cat goes overboard, it will scratch you to death if you reach for it. Therefore, lower a towel into the water so that it can climb the towel in the hopes of reaching your arm and subsequently scratching you to death.
4. When your cat comes back aboard, drenched in salt water, it will immediately go down to the nav station and sit atop your laptop computer to lick itself clean.
5. Then it will throw up.
6. The only solution to items four (4) and five (5) is to wrap the cat in a towel, hug it to your chest, and carry it into the shower, where you will proceed to rinse the salt water from both the cat and your chest. For best results, you must be fully clothed when doing this. It helps to take the iPhone from your pocket first, however.
7. Whenever you descend a companionway on a boat with a cat aboard, it will be occupying one of the steps.
8. When you step on a cat in a companionway, your injuries will exceed those of the cat, especially if medical bills and vet bills are compared.
9. When it gets really really hot on board, your cat will not mind a handful of fresh water being poured on its neck, especially if you make reassuring purr sounds.
10. If you open a floorboard anywhere on the boat and then turn your attention away for even a second, your cat will remain hidden in the bilges until the next time you start your engine.

[zeehag]

bash--you have done this before......

[roverhi]

We lost a kitten because we didn't have a way for her to to get back on board. Cats swim very well even though they hate water. They don't climb gel coat topsides for beans, though. Throw over a largish diameter rope or some other bit of material that a cat can get their claws into to climb back aboard. Toss the cat in and use a boathook if they need some guidance to swim around the boat to find the cat recovery mechanism. Took our cats no more than two swims to get the idea. If you wait till they do something you don't like before you throw them in, they get the point real quick. A harness that you can grab hold of to help or hoist them out is probably a good idea. I don't have enough skin and blood to donate trying to hoist a cat aboard without a harness.

[zeehag]

telescoping handle fish net..scoop ...... i am getting one from a friend.

when i introduced bubba to sea, i only placed a paw outside my kayak for him to knowwhat was there. he has yet to swim, but he knows he doesnt reallly want to....

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Adamante

Best way to secure a cat on board. Just lash the whole thing to the mast with Dyneema.

You beat me to it!

[SabreKai]

I had a cat named Admiral Nelson way back when I lived aboard. Got him as a kitten from a litter of marina cats. First thing I did was get a harness for him. I used to tie him on a long line to the cleat at the end of our finger, and he had enough line to make it to the main dock and about 2 feet extra.

One bright day he saw something on the main dock directly in front of our boat and took off at a run, jumping diagonally across. The look on his face as he snubbed short in mid air was priceless. Ker plunk. Anyway he motored back n forth for a while til he found the slack spring line and got back up to the dock. From then on, when ever he got too hot he'd jump in for a swim.

Later that summer Teri and I took the boat to Kingston via the Murry canal. On the way back, I set the genny up on deck so I could haul it up and set it as soon as we made the turn from the canal into Presquile bay proper. As we made the turn I had Teri kill the motor and I hauled the genny up. As the sail ran up the forstay and filled, I glimpsed a blob of fur flying through the air and landing with a splash a good 30 feet from the boat. Opps.

By the time I got the genny back down and the engine started we'd left the poor Admiral about 200 feet back. He made that distance like a champ and then circled looking for a place to climb. I scooped him up with a boat hook through the harness, dumped him in the cockpit and he just sat there with an annoyed look in face til he realized how cool he was. (August, about 95degrees.) After about half an hour the silly git took off over the side again. This time I put a towel down for him to use, and we anchored off to one side for the night, lit the barbie and had a pleasant evening swimming with the Admiral.

I suppose if I move aboard a cat might be nice but since then I've developed an aelergic reaction to cats.

[zeehag]

sabrekaii would be kins=da afraid biubba might just LOVE swi8mming--he likes playing in rain--- he stays on a leash.. i am still looking into the critters inflatables-- they are only critter pfd with a headrest, whi8ch is what kats really need-- they swim like crazy but when tired lay their head down and drown...until then he stays tethered

loved the story--is a good one.....gooood kitty!!!