Living On The Road:
With Pets
By Barb Cotton

Living in a van with pets creates a whole different set of
considerations. What to do with them while you are at work,
what if they get sick, and the main one-do they get car sick?
I have been living and traveling in a VW van for 2 years with
a dog, Max, and a cat, Pawl. Luckily they are both good
travelers.

For the dog I had before Max, I had made a platform for
the front passenger seat. I took a piece of plywood, cut it to
fit from the rear of the seat to the dash, attached 1x2's
for front legs, covered it with a rag rug from Walmart,
using a staple gun on the underside of the plywood to attach
the rug. Max loves it. He can sit up front with me when he
wants without having to worry about falling off the seat if I
stop quickly. This also allows me to use the space on the
floor for storage. I keep the bed folded out when I travel
so he can go back there and snooze. That is also where the
cat rides, usually napping. Pawl is 17 now so she does that a
lot.  I have a light weight blanket on the bed on top of my
sleeping bag that I can just throw in the wash when I do
laundry to keep it clean. But it does fill the lint-trap on the
dryer with dog and cat hair! I make sure to clean out the
washer and dryer so no-one else has to deal with the fur.

When I first started traveling with the cat, I bought a soft-
sided cat carrier (Walmart again- don’t you just love that
place?) and she usually crawled in that to nap. A cat carrier
of some sort is a must when traveling with a cat. Sometimes
I just need to keep her contained. She has a covered cat
litter pan- can you guess where I got it?- so has a bit of
privacy to do her thing. It has a handle on top, I have
attached 2 cat leashes to it so I can put the pan outside and
hook her to it if she wants to be out. I also let her go
outside without being tied, but that depends on your cat.
She is old enough she doesn’t go far or for long, then comes
back inside for her nap.  I don’t let her go out by herself if
I am planning on going someplace soon, as she has been
known to hide under a bush and ignore me when I call for
her. I would never let her out if there was traffic. Usually
when I am working I am parked someplace where it is not an
issue.

The kids stay in the van when I’m working, but so far I have
been able to park and live on the premised where I work, so
I check on them on my break. I am a snow-bird, north in the
summer, south in the winter, so avoid most of the
temperature extremes that could cause problems. Max is
fine in the van when it is cold, and the cat just crawls in my
sleeping bag if she gets cold. Heat is a different story. I
have a pop-top so I can open the canvas flap to the screen,
which really helps the heat escape. I have 2 different size
turnbuckles that I use to prop the back hatch open with.
The cat can get out even when I use the smallest one, so I
stuff my pillows in the bottom opening, but air can still get in
the sides. A fan is a must to help the air circulate. I have a
clip on 12-volt fan that I attach to the bar for the pop-top
right in front of the screen. The sliding screened windows
on the sides open for good air movement. Before I left
Arizona last spring, the temperatures were in the 80's, too
hot to leave the critters in the van, but I was parked up the
hill from work in a secluded area, so I left the sliding door
open, tied Max so he could get in or out of the van as he
wished. The cat I left un-tied, but as I said, she doesn’t go
far. The maintenance man would be up near my van
periodically so he checked on them for me. When I have to
leave them in the van to do my shopping, I pop the top and
turn on the fan for them if I’m going to be more than 10
minutes or so. If it is too hot to leave them in the van, I just
don’t go. Period. I have been known to do my shopping at
10pm so it is cool enough for them. My pets are my kids, and
I love them to pieces and am very aware of their comfort
and well-being.


Both animals have had to see the vet while I’ve been
traveling. I just look one up in the Yellow Pages. Neither has
had an emergency, so I have been able to schedule
appointments when I’ve been in one place for a bit. Most
towns of any size have a vet with a 24 hour emergency
number if there is a problem. If you are planning on taking
your pets to Canada, like I did on my way to Alaska this
summer, you need to have current rabies certificates for
both, cats and dogs. Canada doesn’t require anything more
than that.

Max is a pretty mellow dog, and isn’t destructive when I
leave him in the van, but I do have to make sure any food is
out of his reach. If I leave anything out, he will eat it! He
ate almost 2 sleeves of saltines one day. Drank a lot of water
too! I have to put the cat food out of his reach, and he can
be creative in trying to reach it. I keep the cat food dish on
the front seat when I am camped, and tried to barricade it
so he couldn’t get to it, but he has been known to crawl or
jump over the cat litter pan, and whatever else I have
stored between the front seats to get to it. I finally
conceded defeat and just put it totally out of his reach when
I am out of the van. I keep the dog food and water dish on a
cookie sheet covered with a place mat on the floor behind
the front seat. That keeps any spilled water off the floor.
Also on the pan is a zip-lock bag full of baggies so I can
grab one when I walk Max to clean up after him. His leash
hangs on a hook right inside the slider so I can reach it
from inside or outside.

Pets can be great traveling companions, I can’t imagine
traveling without one, but you really do have to be aware of
their comfort and safety. They depend on me to keep them
safe and healthy, and I do my utmost to make sure of  both.
This site has grown so large, all new articles will be posted
to its sister site: cheapgreenrvliving.com
Consider making a small donation
to help support this site.