Sold our home

[Smoky]

This is all happening much faster than I dreamed.?

 

[Ron]

This is all happening much faster than I dreamed.? We seem to be moving at warp speed.? Just a few weeks after finding a buyer for our land, we now have a buyer for our home.? The land closes on May 17, and the home on June 1.? Thankfully we can rent back our home for 2 months while we dispose of our belongings.? eBay here we come!

Congradulations on the sale of your house.  Looks like the chances of seeing you at Sam's Camp is becoming more likely.  Now for that lonnnggg wait for delivery of your new home on wheels next month.

 

[NC DaveD]

CONGRATULATIONS Smoky! ;D I'm sure the next few weeks will really fly by as you go through all your stuff to store/sell/give away. There are quite a few folks here that have made the plunge and I'm sure will be willing to offer advice on any aspect you may have questions on. We will always have a home base as the wife just isn't willing to give up her ability to keep SEVERAL cats at once, and I have a limit on how many we fit into the motorhome at any one time...

David Derway

 

[Jackliz]

This is all happening much faster than I dreamed.  We seem to be moving at warp speed.  Just a few weeks after finding a buyer for our land, we now have a buyer for our home.  The land closes on May 17, and the home on June 1.  Thankfully we can rent back our home for 2 months while we dispose of our belongings.  eBay here we come!

Way to go, Smokey ;D

Regards,
Liz

 

[Smoky]

Thanks all!

DaveD am already going to take you up on a question.

We have one cat.  The cat has never set foot outside the house and is 12 years old but in fine health.

We are very tortured over the cat.? We would miss him of course, but even worse we worry how he might be affected at being apparently abandoned by us.? Is it possible after 12 years to get a cat to adjust to a home on wheels?

 

[DonJordan]

Smokey,

Congratulations on the sale of your house! ;D  It looks like you will be joining the rest of us full-timers sooner than you thought!

 

[NC DaveD]

Smoky, when we travel, we typically travel with the "old lady" of the house, an 11 year old cat that had no problem adjusting to travels on wheels. What my wife did was to introduce her to the motorhome by taking her existing litter box and a couple of her favorite toys and put them all in the motorhome with her by herself for an afternoon. This allowed her to investigate every square inch of the motorhome, had familiar smells for her to recognize and kept her stress levels low. This was done prior to her first trip.

The first trip or two she may disappear into a hidey hole somewhere till she gets used to all the other smells and noises, but in time she should hopefully adapt.

Our cat is caged whenever the motorhome is moving for safety reasons, but this is just our preference. Our longest trip, about a month, was to South Dakota and back. She got so used to being caged before we hit the road that she actually would go into the travel cage in the morning by herself and patiently wait while we finished up our work to go. She usually talks to us for a few miiles, but settles in and sleeps most of the way. We do let her out whenever we stop for water, potty and fuel breaks.

We did learn not to feed her soft food in the morning while traveling as she does get car sick. Dry food doesn't seem to bother her as much.

Travelling without a cat is NOT an option for my wife.... ;D

David Derway

 

[Smoky]

Great cat advice Dave.

Another question .. has your cat been declawed?  Our cat has its claws.  Never has been a problem, but now he will be around a lot of leather furniture.

 

[NC DaveD]

None of our current cats are declawed. We have a scratching post in the motorhome and reinforce the use of it instead of the furniture or carpet. If she doesn't claw the furniture in the house and you provide a good scratching post, she probably won't claw the furniture in the motorhome. My wife also regularly clips all claws to keep them from becoming sharp needles. However, on our fake leather on the dashboard, I have noticed some tiny holes from them landing on it when jumping from the drivers chair. Whether these came from the "old lady" or kittens that my wife sometimes insists on bringing, I don't know...they just magically appeared one trip when I wasn't paying attention

David Derway

 

[Smoky]

Thanks again Dave.

Can you outline what makes a good scratching post so I know what to look for?

 

[NC DaveD]

The one in our motorhome was purchased at WalMart. It is basically a cylinder covered in hemp rope with a square top and bottom, both squares being covered in cheap carpet. They aren't expensive and last a long time (with one cat...however 6 cats will wear one out pretty quick ;D).? If he isn't used to using a scratching post, put it in a conspicuous place for him and if he starts scratching the motorhomes carpet or furniture, correct him in a firm voice and pick him up and take him over to the post and press his claws into the rope and carpet while praising him......Yeh, I know it sounds kind of stupid, but it's worked on ours. Of course it's the wife that usually goes through these motions, I'm more likely to toss a shoe at the cat after "correcting him in a firm voice"?

David Derway

 

[Smoky]

Thanks to you Dave I now have a complete outline for my cat motorhome training program! ;D