Pet (mainly cat) question for those that have a pet in their truck

JR OTR has a white cat with a pink nose. www.OTRjournal.com is JR's blog. Very informative. Many cat pictures as well.

My personal cats would kill me if I ever tried to go on the road with them. I have tried to take them in my car, and they run around and scream, or freeze and get under my feet. One dog is really bad in cars too. My final dog is a real traveler and true gentleman. If I bring a pet on the road, he'll be the guy. I am just guessing but I think that people who bring cats usually have them as kittens on board a moving truck. Try to see how they act in a car-- maybe this will give you a clue? Then try a louder bumpier car.

 

I bring my dog on the truck with me from time to time. He's a hyperactive shi tzu but the bumpy freightshaker seems to mellow him out... oddly enough. I work local though and I probably wouldn't bring any animal with me OTR for more than a few days...

 

i have a very well mannered cat. he does ok in a car, and im sure he would adapt to a truck, but there is one main thing with a cat that i will point out. cats are just short of being neurotic. you know how finicky they are at all times. the biggest problem other getting him or her trained to let you know its time to stop is one thing. cats drink when they want to drink. dogs on the other hand, will lap up a pile of mud water at a moments notice. the hydration part would be my biggest concern. Buddy (my cat) will be 4 this halloween, and since the first day i got him, he has eaten and drank from one set of bowls. he will not touch a drop of food or water from anything but his stainless steel 6 ounce bowls i got him at walmart. its just part of who he is and he is well loved for being himself.

here is a picture of him being a cat. and do you have any idea how hard it is to get a picture of a cat yawning?

 

My cat Ferguson rides with me in my truck. He does really good. I got him as a kitten and he pretty much grew up in my truck. He actually is ready to go and follows me around when I get my bag together to leave home. I think the key is get a young cat maybe 4 or 5 months old. They will grow accustomed to the truck and how it rides. Also make sure you scoop the litter box whem u get up an whem u go to bed. It will help keep things from smelling, also get tidy cat deodorizer. Its a can with owder that you can put on the litter. Y

 

month or so back, I walked into the guard shack at the Wal-Mart DC in Loveland as a CRE female driver walked out, nastiest, most foul smelling person on the planet, reaked of cat **** and cat ****. She was in there 10 minutes and they had to open both doors, all the windows, and spray Lysol everywhere to get the smell out. We were all gagging it was so bad. When I got around to check-in, she was ahead of me in line, I had to leave until she did and even then the hallway reeked. The check-in clerk had me spray the hallway with lysol, as they could smell her in the office. When I came out of check-in, I noticed 3 small cats lying in the windshield and another one on the passengers seat and the driver was outside cleaning out two litter boxes. She left such a mess in the parking lot, Wal-Mart made her clean it up. She reaked so bad Wal-Mart actually called CRE and complained about the smell, the smell of cat urine and feces was so strong, you could smell it outside the truck.

 

I don't think it would be wise bringing your cat along if he's an older cat.He may get scared and nervous and dart out the second you open the door.With any pet you should start them out going in the trk when they're young.When I first started driving I was going to bring my cat but she's lived at home every since she was a kitten and I don't think she would have been happy in the trk,so I got a dog.

 

Thats why its best to get them as a kitten and you can train them to stay out from under your feet and not dart. Also a good idea to use a collar with an address and have the microchip placed on the cat.

 

I've had a cat in my truck for 6 months now. He is neutered, 8 months old. It's been great. I think it helps that I got him as a tiny 2 month old kitten, so he has never known anything else. My biggest worries were the litter box and my cat wanting/trying to get out. The litter box thing was a challenge until I found a deep dish-washing pan in the home department at walmart. It is 7 inches deep and fits perfectly behind my passenger seat. No matter how enthusiastically he digs, no litter leaves the pan. As for my cat trying to get out of the truck, I need not have worried about that. His worst nightmare is to somehow find himself outside the truck. He sits on the window sill at night, looking out at the goings on at the truck stop. The windows are down, the cat's head is out, sniffing the air, but he keeps his body safely inside the truck. While I'm driving, he is either in the dash, on my bed, or in his bedroom (the little cubby hole up by the top bunk in my freightliner Cascadia.) Movement and noises don't bother him at all, even when he's sitting in an open window when another truck parks next door and the brakes spit. I am so glad to have this happy, easy little guy cruising the highway with me. Cats are the perfect trucking pet. I hope that any driver who is on the fence about taking a cat out in the truck will consider doing like I did, and get a kitten. Best thing I've done in years.

 

We want pics!