Tubby & Peanut's Mom
05-28-2002, 10:40 AM
As most of you know, we have a big 40' diesel pusher motorhome as one of our "toys." It's a rather new toy for us, so we're still learning about it and about the whole lifestyle/hobby of motorhoming. The one thing I would really like to be able to do is bring the kitties with us in it, but I don't know enough about it yet, and I'm not sure how they would take to it since it is a vehicle and neither one of them are really thrilled about riding in the car.
Anyway, this last weekend we headed to Michigan for a big rally where all the motorhomes there were the big rigs like ours. This was our first event with over 300 big rigs in one place, that people actually lived in and used on a regular basis - otherwise I've only seen them at shows where the rigs are brand new and don't have the personal touches that they get when people actually live in them for awhile. One morning I was still in my bathrobe when Terry said, come here, you have to see this. He pointed to a coach that was way across the field and told me to look at the back window. I could just barely see something white sitting in the window and he told me it was a little kitty. Well, as soon as I got dressed, I had to head over to see the kitty up close and personal, and talk to the people about how they managed everything like the litterbox, etc. She was the most darling little calico girl, I fell in love instantly. She was tiny, but her "mom" said she was 17 years old. She was about 1/2 the size of Tubby, and about 2/3 the size of Peanut. Just a tiny, short haired calico with the cutest markings on her face, and the cutest expression, and she talked to me as soon as I touched her. They had rigged up a cage that they attached to the window so she could sit outside. They had a piece of plexiglass that they cut a hole in, and put some little strips of screen in the hole to somewhat act as a screen, but to still allow her to come and go as she pleased. They had the perfect set-up for the litterbox too, but it's kind of complicated to explain if you guys don't know much about motorhomes, but it was behind a door panel so it wasn't right out in the open which I really liked. Obviously there is limited space in these rigs because they are only so wide and so long. Cally was a "full-timer" meaning her "mom and dad" had sold their brick and mortar home and this motorhome was it, all the time, full time. No apartment, condo, townhome, house or anything like that to go back to, just the motorhome, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. There are more and more people doing this every year, and someday Terry and I hope to do it too, but not quite yet.
So after I talked to Cally's mom for a bit, the lady from the next rig down came over and started talking, and it turns out she had 3 - yes 3 :eek: :eek: cats in a 45' converted bus. There's probably about 400-450 square feet of living space in these things, and she had 3 cats! They were also full-timers. I know a lot of full-timers take their dogs along too, and it only makes sense because just because you sell the house doesn't mean you give up the pets too. And these are all the nicest people in the world, and fun!
Anyway, I really learned a lot about cats in motorhomes. I'm still not ready to take ours along, but I'm getting plenty of ideas for when the time actually comes. And I was just so smitten with little Cally that I could have scooped her up right then and there and brought her home with me, but I could tell her mommy would never allow such a thing.
There are no pictures of the kitties here, but if you want to see pictures of our motorhome and see more of what I'm talking about, you can go here (http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/HobbyCt/hddebbie/Motorhome.html) to see more.
Anyway, this last weekend we headed to Michigan for a big rally where all the motorhomes there were the big rigs like ours. This was our first event with over 300 big rigs in one place, that people actually lived in and used on a regular basis - otherwise I've only seen them at shows where the rigs are brand new and don't have the personal touches that they get when people actually live in them for awhile. One morning I was still in my bathrobe when Terry said, come here, you have to see this. He pointed to a coach that was way across the field and told me to look at the back window. I could just barely see something white sitting in the window and he told me it was a little kitty. Well, as soon as I got dressed, I had to head over to see the kitty up close and personal, and talk to the people about how they managed everything like the litterbox, etc. She was the most darling little calico girl, I fell in love instantly. She was tiny, but her "mom" said she was 17 years old. She was about 1/2 the size of Tubby, and about 2/3 the size of Peanut. Just a tiny, short haired calico with the cutest markings on her face, and the cutest expression, and she talked to me as soon as I touched her. They had rigged up a cage that they attached to the window so she could sit outside. They had a piece of plexiglass that they cut a hole in, and put some little strips of screen in the hole to somewhat act as a screen, but to still allow her to come and go as she pleased. They had the perfect set-up for the litterbox too, but it's kind of complicated to explain if you guys don't know much about motorhomes, but it was behind a door panel so it wasn't right out in the open which I really liked. Obviously there is limited space in these rigs because they are only so wide and so long. Cally was a "full-timer" meaning her "mom and dad" had sold their brick and mortar home and this motorhome was it, all the time, full time. No apartment, condo, townhome, house or anything like that to go back to, just the motorhome, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. There are more and more people doing this every year, and someday Terry and I hope to do it too, but not quite yet.
So after I talked to Cally's mom for a bit, the lady from the next rig down came over and started talking, and it turns out she had 3 - yes 3 :eek: :eek: cats in a 45' converted bus. There's probably about 400-450 square feet of living space in these things, and she had 3 cats! They were also full-timers. I know a lot of full-timers take their dogs along too, and it only makes sense because just because you sell the house doesn't mean you give up the pets too. And these are all the nicest people in the world, and fun!
Anyway, I really learned a lot about cats in motorhomes. I'm still not ready to take ours along, but I'm getting plenty of ideas for when the time actually comes. And I was just so smitten with little Cally that I could have scooped her up right then and there and brought her home with me, but I could tell her mommy would never allow such a thing.
There are no pictures of the kitties here, but if you want to see pictures of our motorhome and see more of what I'm talking about, you can go here (http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/HobbyCt/hddebbie/Motorhome.html) to see more.