Moving Aboard with My Cat

[troymclure]

Originally Posted by Aaza Dana

How on earth did you do that?

You slowly move the kitty litter tray closer to the toilet. My old kitty litter tray was in the bathroom, over the course of about a week i moved it next to the toilet. Then i slowly raised the level of the kitty litter tray (put telephone books under it) until it was same height as toilet seat.

That took maybe a week or two? Eventually move the kitty litter tray to ontop of the toilet. Annoyoing but if you have two bathrooms probably alot easier.

Then once cats are comfortable (i think i gave it about a fortnight) with kitty litter tray being on top of the toilet then go find an old or cheap large bowel (initially i used a colander) which fits across the top of the toilet. The colander i used had handles which balanced across the toilet seat but hung in the bowl.

Then after they are used to that (will take a while), replace the thing that hangs at toilet level with something that sits inside the bowl. I used an old large microwave container.

Then i started too slowly lower the amount of kitty litter in the conatiner. Then once there was just a bit in the contianer (annyoning cause you have too change it alot) i swapped the conatiner for a small metal bowl with just a bit of kitty litter in it. Once they got used too that (and they did so at different paces, one of them wouldn't go with metal bowl for ages, while the other would).

I stopped putting kitty litter in the metal bowl. Let them adjust to that.

Then i start putting water in the bowl. Again this will be met with much consternation and attempts to "dig" under the water.

Eventually they get comfortable with that, and thats when you remove the bowl.

And voila toilet trained cats.


As said if you have only one cat it will probalby be alot quicker. Ie One of the cats took about a month too adjust to the metal bowl (ie i had to switch the microwave container in whenever he wanted to go to the toilet) whereas the other adjusted straight away but that one took about a month too adjust to not having kitty litter in the bowl (again had too add kitty litter just for him) whereas the other one was fine with no kitty litter once he got used to the metal bowl.




or you could just buy one of these...

Litter Kwitter - The Original Cat Toilet Training Kit

Which would have saved alot of time in retrospect but heh... .

[Ocean Girl]

yeah but does kitty remember to close the seacock after pumping the bowl dry?
E

[troymclure]

Um lol nope, but then again neither do I ^^.

which reminds me that is probalby something i should remember to do when I go sailing.

thanks oceangirl.

[KateJoy]

She's black. l hear black cats are good luck. l found that out after l saved her, thought it was ment to be.

[Hans and Laura]

I felt very smug when I brought our 14 year old kitty aboard our boat, after all I'd read that cats make wonderful liveaboard pets. That smug feeling disappeared pretty damn fast when she died after going overboard and spending around 30 hours in the water. What I learned: cats are curious (duh!), and as sure footed as they are, they can still fall/jump over the side.
What I will do if I ever dare to have a cat on board again:
It will be down below while under way (not a problem with our girl as she would hide during any boat motion).
In the evening while at anchor or dock it may have free reign of the boat (if we're on board) but I will have something (carpet piece etc...) near the swim platform just in case.
While sleeping, or if we're off the boat, the cat will have to be contained in some way, either in a cabin or crate.
Our girl loved to roam at night while we slept and that's what did her in. She jumped off at dock one night and ended up under another boat's swim ladder. After 30 some hours in the water she survived but she died in my arms later in the night. Most likely from shock and hypothermia. She didn't deserve that fate.
We also had our pit bull puppy with us but he was never off his lead while in the cockpit (it was the perfect length and he could very easily do port and starboard watches), and was crated each night (he also did all of his potty duty on board but that's a different story).
We miss our kitty and I hope yours has a full and happy life aboard your boat!

[zeehag]

your story is EXACTLY why to keep cats on leashes--call them tethers --but it is not as cruel as containment to the cat . mine was on leash on board fro 1 1/2 yrs without fail. he came on board at age 5 weeks. he stayed on leash until he was 1 1/2 yrs old. he went sailing with me in gulf of mexoico on opb--he did well--we used the tether/leash with his figure 8 harness and he is just fine and does not have a problem. he is now 4 yrs old and still and always will be bubba daboatkat.he loves to sit up on the coach house roof and smell the air. we are going to invest in the critters inflatables brand of life vest for him as it is the only one that holds kats head out of water when they get tired of swimming.
i ALWAYS have my cat on a leash in strange places that call selves marinas--he does NOT get off my boat. ever. or off my opb. ever. cats are curipous by nature. they will get lost exploring as their kind of ADD works in such manner as to get he cat lost while sploring. i had one do that. so i use tether and keep cat on boat. with me. all the time. that works well. i did have one disappear from falling overboard before i started the leash thing.

[Hans and Laura]

Originally Posted by zeehag

your story is EXACTLY why to keep cats on leashes--call them tethers --but it is not as cruel as containment to the cat . mine was on leash on board fro 1 1/2 yrs without fail. he came on board at age 5 weeks. he stayed on leash until he was 1 1/2 yrs old. he went sailing with me in gulf of mexoico on opb--he did well--we used the tether/leash with his figure 8 harness and he is just fine and does not have a problem. he is now 4 yrs old and still and always will be bubba daboatkat.he loves to sit up on the coach house roof and smell the air. we are going to invest in the critters inflatables brand of life vest for him as it is the only one that holds kats head out of water when they get tired of swimming.
i ALWAYS have my cat on a leash in strange places that call selves marinas--he does NOT get off my boat. ever. or off my opb. ever. cats are curipous by nature. they will get lost exploring as their kind of ADD works in such manner as to get he cat lost while sploring. i had one do that. so i use tether and keep cat on boat. with me. all the time. that works well. i did have one disappear from falling overboard before i started the leash thing.

Unfortunately our cat would never have accepted a tether or I would have used one. I love to sew and every now and then I'd drape a ribbon over her, and she would drop to the ground like I'd tossed an anchor around her neck! But she didn't have a huge issue with crating. If I ever do the 'cat thing' again I would most likely start with a kitten. I do love animals and so many of them need loving homes!

[zeehag]

mine is a maine coon mix boy--he is awesome on the water...goood bost kat--protects home and momms...

[Astrid]

A leash or tether is a fine idea for the most part. Accidents can happen, any means you can use to keep the kitty from going overboard is worth the trouble. I have netting along the side rails, and when Hayden is on deck she gets tethered as well. She actually doesn't come up too often as it rains a lot here, but she does like to once in a while. Also, the tether keeps her from jumping ship at dock, so to speak. My main concern though are the eagles we have around here.

[zeehag]

with cats, i found a figure8 harness works best with the loop for leash UNDER th ecat, rather than on its back--they dont like beast of burden status--they are above that, so under seemed to work fine...i started him early--he does his furball thing on plain floor or a special rug i got just for him--works great when you train em young---with a clicker, some cats--esp maine coon and mc mix--will train to do things--click the clicker at the time of the good deed and feed a treat.... i never used a clicker , but when the critter knows you are family, they are trainable easily--they will do what they can to please momms, an do their work for family, like protection--catching critters moving around on board and hunting...

[osirissail]

There are plenty of internet sites showing how to "potty train" a cat. But it is a lot of work for the owner - you. It can be done but the really hard part is getting them to flush the toilet handle->
- - Cats also can get seasick and the same human medicine works on them but use only 1/4 dose. Usually the "new to a boat" cats will get sick once or twice and then never again. If the cat gets sick virtually all the time then that cat is really not a "boat cat" just like some humans are not boat people.
- - Traveling internationally means keeping copious records of all the medical exams, shots, and documents for the animal. Cats don't need to go ashore like dogs, so in some islands that are anal retentive about allowing dogs totally ignore that you marked "feline - never leaves vessel" on the check-in documents. But they still need documentation and their shots on schedule.
- - However, if you plan on sailing seasonally outside your home country be very careful where you plan to "store" your boat. Some islands like Trinidad are absolutely horrible about allowing animals to accompany you back home and then back to the boat again. The procedures can involve weeks of time getting permits, inspections, and other hassles. Costs of all this can add up to US$500 per animal round trip. So pick an island that is animal-neutral or friendly. If required by insurance to go to an animal unfriendly island think about dispatching a crew member with the animal at a friendly island before you get to your final storage location.

[troymclure]

Actually just started using a tether for my two cats in part due too this thread (thanks all). Been working very well, fortunately they don't mind the tethers at all (though they did go bungee jumping off the top of the companionway stairs first few times they wore them).

It's a bit annoying tethering/untethering them whenever they want to go out/come back in but they get too spend time outside which they seem to be enjoying and they can even come up into the cockpit when i'm sailing now.

ps:- Sorry to hear about your cat Hans and laura

[Hans and Laura]

Originally Posted by troymclure

Actually just started using a tether for my two cats in part due too this thread (thanks all). Been working very well, fortunately they don't mind the tethers at all (though they did go bungee jumping off the top of the companionway stairs first few times they wore them).

It's a bit annoying tethering/untethering them whenever they want to go out/come back in but they get too spend time outside which they seem to be enjoying and they can even come up into the cockpit when i'm sailing now.

ps:- Sorry to hear about your cat Hans and laura

Thanks! I was worried about people calling me a cat killer but I wanted people to be aware that it surely can happen. I don't see us having a cat on board again (a pit bull is plenty) but if we do, it will be tethered.

[Astrid]

Hans and Laura,

Unfortunately such things happen even to well looked after and loved cats. We can only do our best and hope it's good enough. Some cats can be lucky though, such as one named Sam:

Previously named Oscar, he was the ship's cat of the German battleship Bismarck. When she was sunk on 27 May 1941, only 116 out of a crew of over 2,200 survived. Luckily, Oscar was picked up by the destroyer HMS Cossack. Cossack herself was torpedoed and sunk a few months later, on 24 October, killing 159 of her crew, but again, Oscar survived to be rescued, and was taken to Gibraltar. He became the ship's cat of HMS Ark Royal but she too was torpedoed and sunk in November that year. Oscar was again rescued, but it was decided at that time to transfer him to a home on land. By now known as Unsinkable Sam, he was given a new job as mouse-catcher in the Governor General of Gibraltar's office buildings. He eventually returned to the UK and spent the rest of his life at the 'Home for Sailors'. A portrait of him hangs in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Just for the record, I suspect that Sam/Oscar was actually rescued from a German supply ship which had been intercepted and sunk, and not the famous Bismarck, as no survivor that I know of recalls a cat on board.