Lets talk pets.
Most people have a pet or two. Our family was no different. We started with some fish when the kids were little. I thought this was completely harmless and would be easy to take care of. Enter my curious 3 year old who just wanted to quote “PET THE FISH”. This usually ended up with water EVERYWHERE and a dried squished fish on the floor. Followed by more tears because he killed one of the other kids fish. So starts the endless cycle of replacing fish as they die. For me this was not an encouraging start to pet ownership.
Fast forward to the Christmas before we got “THE ITCH” to try tiny, a friend of ours had an older cat who needed a home. My husband was not ready for a cat and I am a sucker for an animal who needs a home. Mind you they soothed our concerns with the notion that if it didn’t work out they would gladly take him back.
Enter Fivel. Yes if you are an 80’s child like me then you recognize the name. And it suits him. He is the sweetest grey and white short haired fluff butt anyone could ask for. He acclimated to our home flawlessly. He was a bit older so we were past the Crazy Kitten phase and all the kids seemed to respect him. Soon we were in love and knew he was part of our family.
I know I’m being a bit one type fits all here. But when it comes to “dog people” or “cat people” we are definitely the former. I have had cats, my husband not so much. But Fivel acted much less cat then Pete expected. Fivel also knew exactly how to win him over to the “cat side”.
Okay so how does owning a pet and living tiny work. I mean is it really any different then having one in a home? Mostly my answer would be yes, it is much less difficult than I imagined it to be. However some things we had to figure out were, Where is the litter box going to go? Will he try to escape when we go to different places? is the small space going to make him stir crazy? What will we do if it does and how can we make things easier/better for him. I found this litter box from amazon has been a time savor for cleaning litter and keeping the box from smelling in a small space. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BRVBMH3N?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mobil002f3e64-20&linkId=e07df336d0ea535dc264e984ddd649f0&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
STEP 1. STOP FREAKING OUT. okay that was more for me than you. I was so worried that we would lose him and the kids would cry and this would traumatize them forever. A bit irrational I know but that is how my brain works. Here is the carrier we used to move him.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GB62JD4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mobil002f3e64-20&linkId=15d78ce62eef8b9b38862df667bc69de&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
STEP 2. What does he like? I started there I made sure when we made the move he had his favorite things. Blankets, cat bed, we moved the litter box “slightly used” so that he had his scent. We got a larger water bowl (kids kept spilling the bowls). This has been a huge floor savor for us. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BRMWDWRS?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mobil002f3e64-20&linkId=a298ed239aab6e0eecf02c27d6dc60ec&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
The one thing I didn’t consider and this has become more of an issue in our second move more than the first was dogs. I love dogs!! I want to snuggle and pet them even if they aren’t mine. This was wonderful because we didn’t have to get a dog we just adopted them where ever we were living.
Our first move to the 15 acre farm had 2 dogs. They were sweet and never seemed to bother Fivel or give him the time of day. From time to time the kids would leave the camper door open and we would end up with a furry dog guest. So this was wonderful that everyone got along.
Our second move to the next farm was a bit different. Fivel doesn’t care to venture out of the camper much but occasionally he gets Kitty Fever and wants to watch the chickens. This location has 4 dogs. Each one is sweet and of course we have adopted them as our own, however they will eat cats if they can catch them. This presents some new challenges as we would like to protect him. So far we have had a few kitty tantrums from running out and scooping him up before the dogs knew he was outside. We have created more play opportunities inside and if all else fails CATNIP will chill his beans.
So why not create an outdoor run like so many people do? well to be honest that is not my creative strong suit. Don’t get me wrong, if you asked anyone who knows me they will tell you I am a crafty queen. However the building things to suit our needs is definitely more up my husbands alley.
Well there you have it. We have a happy camper cat who possesses some awesome Kitty Ninja skill when getting to our loft. He seems happy and adjusts well to our nomadic life style. Some day I hope to maybe get a dog of our own. But for now loving on other peoples seems to work for our family.
