Cats in Campers: The Story of Hops

I remember when I first made the decision to sell my house and move start looking into buying a home on wheels. There were so many unknowns. So much I wasn’t even aware of to know as an unknown. As things began falling into place though, the biggest unknown (or at least, the most pressing on my mind) was “what do I do with Hops?” I didn’t know how he’d handle traveling, how he’d handle the small space, how he would go from being a mostly outdoor cat to living the majority of his time in the camper.

Initially, I had my mind set on trying to find him a temporary home. Someone who would take care of him for a couple of months until I had a better handle on the dogs and myself in the small space. But, as it turns out, it’s tough finding a temporary home for a gigantic orange cat who is - to put it lightly - needy. As the final countdown towards moving out of the stationary house got closer - it became clear Hops would be coming with us right from the get go and we would just have to figure it out as we went.

I was delightfully surprised. The first couple of days were a bit rough. All of us getting used to our new 60(ish?) square foot layout went as I imagined - chaotic, confused, and an ample amount of us stepping all over each other.

But even after just a week or two, our new space was feeling more like home. We all started to get into more of a routine. The dogs figured out which spots were theirs and which were off-limits (except the table…Rocket hasn’t got that sorted yet). And the more confidence that Hops’ gained, the more revved he became to get outside. It was never my intention to keep him in the camper all the time, so I slowly started to introduce him to what his new outdoor life would look like. Again, to my surprise, Hops almost instantly understood that the camper was his ‘safe spot’ - if he was spooked by something, he’d hop onto the spare tire on the back, the hood on the front, or underneath the camper. When the dogs were out with him, he gained confidence from their presence and explored around with them. Slowly, he began to join us on our morning walks.

I imagine not all cats would like this lifestyle - but Hops has taken to it both quickly and happily. He enjoys sleeping on my lap while I work in the afternoons. He loves sitting by the window or on the center console while I drive. He gets about 500% more time with us than he ever did at the stationary home.

Of course, there are cons at times (what cat doesn’t love waking up at 4am and thrashing around with the cat zoomies?), but even still, I’m glad I couldn’t find a temporary home for him. Life on the road would feel so strange without him.

Thinking about having your cat with you on your road travels? Send me your questions! I’d love to cover more topics on Cats in Campers! Click here to shoot me your questions or things you’ve loved about your traveling cat!