Pit Stop

We get a lot of questions about our cats. How do they travel? What's different from when they lived in a stick and brick house? What have we learned along the way?

The quick answers are: Great, not much and lots!

Our second travel day across Texas was actually a red letter day in this department.

Let me explain.

First off, cats are waaaaaay different than dogs. Dogs love to go for a ride. And, all you have to do is put 'em on a leash and go for a walk and they'll do number 1 and/or 2 practically on command.

With cats, guess what? It's different.

First off, our cats ain't dogs. And, they know it. They don't go outside and they aren't big on leashes. They go number 1 and 2 when they feel like it. And, their location of choice is the litter box in the place it's always been - under the steering wheel. They are, after all, creatures of habit. And, this is exactly how they like it.

So, here's how a typical travel day goes down. The cats wake up way earlier than we do. We feed them before or about dawn. Between feeding time and us getting out of bed they usually do their business. With that, they're pretty much good to go. We put them in their crates and hit the road.

What we've learned is that our cats are good for about four hours. If we go beyond that, they need a potty break.

Good idea. And, guess what? They don't get it.

Many, many times we've broken up a long travel day by finding a place to stop, letting the cats get out and stretch. Then we cross our fingers that they'll find their way to their not-in-its-normal-place litter box to do their business.

They get out, they stretch and they never - that's NEVER - go.

Until now.

The other day we stopped between Fort Stockton and Las Cruces. We let the cats out to stretch and they began to wander. It had been a long day and we knew at least one of them needed to go. Before too long our boy kitty wandered into the bathroom and toward the litter box. Anticipating the red letter day I made a declaration: Any cat that pees at a pit stop gets two treats!

With that, the stakes were set. And, our boy kitty was game. He did his business, cleared the area and stood ready to receive a snack. Yes, he got two treats!

Wa-HOOOOO! If you don't count us, it was our first successful pit stop on the road.

Let's hope this is the start of a really good trend!