Cat's Life Jacket (Dec YM- Page 74)

[baggypipes]

May I ask how you acheived this?

Hitherto I have successfully argued against taking our 15 year old rescue moggy sailing, mainly on account of the mini tonner not really being suitable and naturally we can not take her on other peoples boats, plus at such a great age, it may be unfair to try and teach an old cat new tricks.

However, the new kitten is doubtless young enough to learn and the Centurion, notwithstanding the three and a half hour journey to the marina, is probably a fairly cat friendly boat (once SWMBO has worked out where the hell the litter tray is supposed to go - good luck agreeing that one with your step mother my love). So now I fear I may have to look at the whole issue anew.

hi it's quite easy to train cats, ours love sitting outside while we are sailing, als like posing in the cockpit. Our dog also sits outside with all of us, he is 13 & has taken to peeing on a piece of astro turf on the foredeck. see our reply on the first page!

 

[aluijten]

May I ask how you acheived this?

It's all about keeping a sharp look on the cat while sailing. As soon as it makes an attempt to step on the edge of the cockpit, correct it.
At first you need to repeat it every five minutes or so. This means you do need a lot of patience here Also start talking to the cat as soon a you see he is considering. By this he'll know you are tracking him. Later on (like in weeks) he'll know what is allowed and act accordingly.

I must add to this we have Burmese cats, they are know to behave more 'doggish' then 'plain' cats.

The biggest problem we've had with the cat was that as a kitten they really like playing with everything that moves. So when you are sailing in choppy seas it will be very happy chasing everything in the cabin that moves ........ until it gets seasick. Not a pretty sight I can tell you.
Our youngest went on on a big trip with us at 10 months old. We had a passage of 53 hours with a seasick cat for the last 8 hours. The poor animal was really sick.
We spend two hours cleaning the boat afterwards...
Funny thing though, after we entered the marine the animal took less then 5 minutes to get well. We did not notice any ill aftereffects, he still enjoys being on the boat. To the cat it's like a big cat paradise with soft cushions everywere and all kinds of hiding places.

What can be a problem is small birds flying around in a marina. Cats really want to chase them. Seagulls are different. These are so big that the cat is completely overwhelmed when a seagull lands nearby the boat. It quite funny to see the two interact.

For the litterbox, we've put the box in the heads, making sure it can't go anywhere.

We also make extensive use of a cockpit tent (?) when not sailing. It provides the cats with additional space without the risk of escape. We've got a special hatch with an opening for the cats, so when we leave the boat for shopping or so, they can move around in the cockpit area (within the tent).

Cheers,

Arno