Raising travel cats: Progress report

Overall, it’s going well.  I think.  The kittens stay in the van every night, and clearly regard it as home.  They have learned (mostly) to stay out of the front area when we’re on the road (every now and then, perhaps once/trip/kitten) they need a reminder: being grabbed by me and tossed onto the bed in back.  Thus I was able to take down the big kennel/crate, which I had put in mainly to contain them while driving.  This has made the interior of the van feel much less crowded and improved visibility to the rear.

Another point of progress is I don’t have to take them out as often.  They seem just fine even when it’s been up to a week since we went out.  This is a very good thing, because it means I can get other things done with my life.

The big new focus is leash training.  Well, leash accustomization; “training” is not really the right term, because I don’t do rewards.  We’ve had two go-rounds of it so far.  Pictures from the first round are absent–managing two kittens, each on a leash, is hard enough, without also taking pictures.  You’ve heard of herding cats? Yeah.  Well.

Nonetheless, a few pictures from the first leash-training trip.  I went over to the coast, and it was typically summer-foggy.  Here’s Sunset Bay–MUCH different than it was on July 5, last time I was there.  The caution tape was there to keep people away from the thing that looks like a log but which was actually a seal.  It lay so still I was concerned it might actually be dead, but nope–it left late the next morning.

 

From there we went to explore Shore Acres, since the camping fee covered that entry fee also.   It’s pretty cool–the rocks are quite different from other areas on the coast.

 

At some point I want to look up the geology.  For instance–what creates those rounded outcroppings?  I mean, I get that it must be harder rock that got embedded in the sedimentary rock, but what kind of harder rock, and how was it formed in the first place, and how and when did the embedding take place?

 

So, altogether worth a walk around the cliff-top path, even though I couldn’t take CJ along.

 

But I also re-discovered why I haven’t been there since moving up here.  They have a very pet-unfriendly policy–not allowed outside the vehicle, not even on leash.

So I drove back to an access point for the coast trail, put the kittens on leashes, carried them about 20 ft. down the trail, and knelt for them to jump down if they wanted to.  Shadow (who used to be Tamercutie, but who is now Shadow and will remain so) promptly jumped down and headed for the bushes.  Phantom (no longer Attila the Cute) was unwilling to leave my body, so I ended up carrying him while Shadow led us another 50 feet or so down the trail, at which point he wanted to go back, so we did.  After which CJ finally got her turn.

The next leash session took place at a very nice, free BLM campground north of here.  Large open site, no immediate neighbors (in fact, only one other site got occupied while we were there).  Tent was up because a friend came along.

 

Got the kittens out a couple of times on the leashes, and this time got a few pictures.  Quality is terrible, but it’s not so easy taking a picture while following even one kitten on a leash.  Here’s their initial reaction.

Phantom:

 

And Shadow:

 

Phantom is definitely spookier than Shadow.  [Heh-heh.  I’ve been waiting to use that line 🙂 ]  He’s more inclined to startle at noises, and very much more cautious about moving away from the van.  So I ended up tying him to the van and leaving the door open, and taking Shadow for a walk down to the river.  I wasn’t sure what he’d think of running water, but he wasn’t fazed.

 

 

 

Phantom was feeling a bit braver when we got back, so I tried to take them both for a walk away from the van.

 

Which is when I discovered that two cats are harder to walk than four dogs were, back in the day.  One went one way, and ‘tother went the opposite, and neither was willing to compromise.  For these next two pictures, imagine me in the middle with my arms stretched out (and then admire me for getting pictures at all.)

 

Altogether I would say leash training is a success so far, as long as I take only one at a time and am willing to let them go where they will, which is mostly into the bushes.  The advantage of the leash is that I can prevent them from actually disappearing into the bushes.  Good enough for now.