Cats (the furry kind) on board

[earthbm]

Anyone cruising with a cat? Predictably my search returned a million posts about catamarans.

Ours is bigger at 16lbs.

Do they get seasick? Easily fall overboard?
What to do for potty?

[wrwakefield]

Few cats never adapt to boat life... Most do extremely well.

There is a great group [free membership required] on FB titled 'Gatos del Mar'.

Here is our post about our feline crew- with links to relevant products we find useful.

And here is a post by one of our feline crew...

Go for it. Your cat will love it as long as you are with them...

Cheers! Bill

[mvweebles]

We had two cats aboard. One definitely got seasick. The other did get out and went overboard one night. She climbed up the Styrofoam float under the dock finger and I had go unscrew boards at 2am to rescue her.

As for the litter box, all I can say is that if it weren't for that, I'd seriously consider having a cat again. Nice company.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by earthbm

Anyone cruising with a cat? Predictably my search returned a million posts about catamarans.

Ours is bigger at 16lbs.

Do they get seasick? Easily fall overboard?
What to do for potty?

My wonderful 16lb Tabby was my best friend. he was fine living on the boat at the dock, but as soon as we started th engine he freaked out. He got seasick whenever th boat moved even in flat water. We had to leave him with Grama while we cruised.

None of the Vet recommended stuff or drugs worked. He was miserable. We tried shutting him in the head and he would get on the counter and jump at the lever door handle opening it.

Once when we started up the engine he ran off down the dock immediately and was gone for 3 days. Found him inside a a boat one pier away. He had climbed soaking wet through an open port light. Had to call the owner and get him out.

He had always been fine in the car.

They fall overboard often. I know at least 3 cruisers who lost their cats.

[fxykty]

We had two middle aged house cats when we first got our catamaran. We would bring them with us whenever we went out on our boat for the weekend or longer periods. They both would get seasick in moderate seas but otherwise adapted to the boat well. Neither ever fell or jumped into the water, despite acrobatic moves between cabin top, deck hatches, toe rail walks and portlight entries and exits on the sides of the hulls.

When we decided to move aboard full time and start cruising we adopted them back to the family they originally came from as they were land cats used to long nocturnal journeys. A week or two without land they were OK, but on longer journeys we could see that they were getting stressed.

We’ve since adopted two very young kittens (8 weeks old) and they’ve known nothing but life on our boat in the 8 months since. They’ve each been swimming multiple times, both falling off the boat inadvertently and jumping off on purpose. They’re both able to reboard via the sugar scoop sterns without any help from us or a suspended rope, though we’ve seen ropes on other boats with cats.

On passages they are much more careful and stay within the cabins or cockpit most of the time. When it’s calmer they come out on deck and love hunting squid and flying fish that have come aboard. They also love fishing and eating bait fish. Some of their favourite spots are atop the bimini and on the boom. They’re a bit like dogs in that they do like to stay close and will move in and out of the cabin as we do when sailing - nice company during night watches especially. They do keep the birds off the boat.

We have been leash training them, which has been a slow and trying process. We can walk one of them normally, while his brother is still a bit of a sh*t. They don’t seem to be anxious about getting onto land. In marinas they do seem to love visiting and exploring other boats.

International travel can raise complications, though most countries seem to be OK if they don’t leave the boat.

We use a litter tray with them. If no regular litter materials available then sand works just fine. When we’ve taken them to beaches or low tide awash sand cays they’re happy to scratch a hole and go poop or pee.

They do get seasick but not too bad nor often. During one rough bar crossing (waves breaking over the boat) they both hid in a salon cubby and one emerged to do a fear pee on the floor. Otherwise they don’t seem to mind the movement and spend rougher times sleeping.

[earthbm]

Thanks for the comments and advice!
We're taking the cat with us!

Is there a flotation harness that works -- i.e. the cat doesn't hate it?

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by earthbm

Thanks for the comments and advice!
We're taking the cat with us!

Is there a flotation harness that works -- i.e. the cat doesn't hate it?

Unlike dogs, cats seem to hate harnesses. But I suppose if you’re patient it may work. I would think any small dog harness would work.

But, cats are very agile and flexible. A flotation harness would be bulky and unwieldy and I suspect could make the cat more liable to fall in.

[JPA Cate]

We had friends with two Siamese cats aboard. They did wear harnesses, not safety flotation ones, though, and they were on tethers to overheat rails, so they could move around, below decks.

Another boat we knew, had a big, thick, three-strand hemp rope secured at the stern on the port side, and they trained their cat to swim to it to climb back aboard.

Imo, it is preferable the cat not fall overboard (it winds up introducing a lot of salt water below), so I wonder if a float-coat type of garment would do more harm than good, by limiting agility.

Ann

[mvweebles]

I cannot imagine a cat accepting a harness. But I think a lot depends on their natural personality. I've probably lived with 7-8 cats over the years (only two on a boat). About a third were pretty much home bodies and didn't go to far. Some were pretty curious - God only knows where they went at night. A few years ago, someond did a documentary about how far cats wander at night - the film maker attached small cameras to their collars. They were amazed at the range of a standard house cat - some had two and three familes who all thought the cat belonged to them!

I snapped the attached this morning - she's an adorable 'yard cat' at the boatyard in Ensenada. She resides in one of the workshops and is well cared for by the workers and does not venture more than a dozen yards from the shop. She'd be a great boat cat - I doubt she'd venture too far. But I think that personality is in the minority.

[Ilia Bellamy]

My uncle works on a large commercial fishing boat, and they actually have a few cats and a dog on board all the time. The cats seem to adapt well to the boat's movement and don't get seasick often. As for safety, they've set up some netting and other measures to reduce the risk of them falling overboard. They also have designated areas for the cats to use as their potty, making it easy to clean up after them.

[dkroar]

Our cat Gus, wears a collar, or a harness, and walks on a leash without any fuss. Our "over the rainbow" cat Elsie, did also. At anchor, Gus has the run of the boat, underway, he is confined to the cockpit, or down below. He know his parameters, and enjoys sitting with us in the cockpit on his cushion. At the dock, he is wary of people, and that keeps him close, he knows when we tell him to "get on your own boat", he will hightail it back. Cats can be trainable, and adaptable.

[Takitimu]

Well, I'm not able to vouch for the furry kind. But all 3 of mine and my husband spend most of the first few hours down below vomiting, I spend the next few hours cleaning up what appears to be 5-6 failed takes of the exorcist. We have started giving them seasick pills, the cats, not the husband. It keeps him out of my hair for a few hours.

[wholybee]

A friend of mine with a cat had to jump in after it when it went overboard. Needless to say, my friend was scratched and cut up quite badly.

The advice that followed, and apparently works well. Hang a large rope over the stern of the boat. Throw the cat in the water near the rope. This way, the cat learns the rope is there and that it can climb it, so if it goes overboard accidently on its own, it will swim to the rope and rescue itself.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by wholybee

A friend of mine with a cat had to jump in after it when it went overboard. Needless to say, my friend was scratched and cut up quite badly.

The advice that followed, and apparently works well. Hang a large rope over the stern of the boat. Throw the cat in the water near the rope. This way, the cat learns the rope is there and that it can climb it, so if it goes overboard accidently on its own, it will swim to the rope and rescue itself.

Our cat went over the side once chasing welcome swallows seven years ago
She did a lap around the boat and I scooped her out with a landing net
Smart enough now to not chase birds while running on the rails

[BlueH2Obound]

One of our three cats who have been on board our boat continuously since September of 2021 used to get seasick. We found a med that works great for her though, and no problems in the last 4 months and 3000 miles! One of the other ones went overboard last month. He chased three pelicans off the box, then failed to make a corner when beating a quick retreat from the fourth one. He went under the boat (at anchor, but with a stiff current) and managed to catch a support for the swim step. I was looking for him, and ready to jump in when I saw he'd snagged the support. Scared the crap out of him, AND me.