So you want to do van life with a cat? While there’s so much to learn about van life with a cat, traveling with a cat is really not too bad! Grab these quick essentials for van life with a cat and make your life on the road an easy adjustment for you and your kitty!
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12 Essentials for Van Life With A Cat
Resealable Food and Water Containers | find them here
Resealable food and water containers are so helpful when traveling with a kitty. It allows you to keep easy access to food and water for your cat when on the road. We keep our food bowl and water bowl out on the floor, closed while driving, then any time we stop, we open the containers up for Georgie to eat and drink as needed. We’ve found it helps us use less water and waste less cat food.
Any shallow container will work great for both a water dish and a food bowl for your van life cat. You can either purchase proper resealable containers like these for your cat dishes or upcycle an old food container you have around the house. At home, Georgie drinks out of old yogurt containers, so we thought we’d keep that consistent and packed two Noosa Yogurt containers with lids to use for her food and water.
If we reseal the water container with too much water in it, it will overflow and spill while driving, however, most of the time it’s just fine. Try to reuse something you have around the house before purchasing something like this.
We have yet to have a problem with the cat dishes sliding around while driving, even on twisty, turny, bumpy roads. But if you want that added reassurance that your cat dishes will stay in place, just grab some velcro, stick one side to the floor and the other side to your cat dish, and you’re good to go!
Cat Brush | find it here
If you’re traveling in a van with a cat in the warmer temps, a cat brush is an easy thing to remember to lessen the amount of shedding hair in the van. However, we’ve come to realize it’s just as nice to have in the colder climates as well. Brushing your cat with a cat brush helps get all the dirt and things like pine needles, leaves, and the like out of their hair before they bring it in the van!
Also, have you ever seen the sweet face of a kitty being brushed? They love it! Brushing your cat is a great way to bond with your cat! This is the cat brush we have, and Georgie seems to love it! It’s great for brushing out burrs and shedding hair!
Comforting Harness | grab one here
Who knew a harness could calm down a cat?! Before starting our road trip, we learned that putting a cat harness on Georgie calmed her down when we drove to and from the vet. This practice carried over into life in the van. When we can tell Georgie is a bit worked up or nervous about something we put her harness on her. Just the harness typically makes her relax and just lay down, although sometimes adding us holding her and snuggling her is best.. for both her and us! 🙂
Since we only use the harness in new places where “danger” is.. like loud noises from trucks, bears in the wild, or time in a city, she has learned that the harness is a safe thing. So far it’s worked out really well! We have a harness like this one, however, something like this we could see providing more comfort, and being more escape-proof for tricky cats!
A Leash | current prices here
Even if you think you don’t need a leash, bring one anyway. They don’t take up much space in the van and are so handy. We read that you should leash and harness train your cat before hitting the road, but honestly didn’t agree with that practice when Georgie hated it at home! We felt, and still feel like the best practice for leash and harness training your cat is to do it only when absolutely necessary. And trust us, those times do come up!
We use our leash for Georgie when we’re getting out in a city and giving her a potty break, when we’re in bear country, when we have to park closer than we’d like to other people, or get to a place after dark where we can’t see her explore the area.
We’ve had to learn what leash works best for both us and Georgie. We tried a retractable leash at first, and the sound of it scared the living daylight out of her. It was also super annoying to try and go in and out of trees up and down hillsides with her so far ahead. We’ve since learned the best leash for both her and us is a simple leash like this. She’s been SO good on it, even goes poop and pee while on the leash, and has learned when we give a slight tug, that means no more going down the cliff! 😉
Scratch Pad | find one here
Nature provides some great scratch pads for cats. Think, downed trees and old stumps. While those are great, it’s also great to have something in the van too for your van life cat to scratch on during long days in the van! If you don’t provide a place for your cat to scratch, they’ll find one themselves, and with how cheap scratchpads are, you should just buy one instead of leaving your cat to decide where they’ll sharpen their claws!
Favorite Cat Toy
Making van life with a cat as normal as possible is the best thing you can do for your kitty when moving them from a house to a van. Bringing along your kitty’s favorite cat toy is an easy way to bring a piece of home with you in your van.
The first few weeks in the van, Georgie didn’t play with her favorite cat toy at all. However, since then, she’s really gone crazy (even in the middle of the night) playing with her favorite little ball. Even when it wakes us up in the middle of the night, I can’t help but smile knowing she’s feeling at home and good in the van being her playful self!
Kitty Hole / Private Space | grab one here
If you don’t include a cat hole in your van build, then grab a little private cat bed for your cat in the van. This allows them a safe space to hide when they don’t feel safe and is a great way for them to have a small, warm space for them to snuggle into for comfort.
READ MORE // 5 Things to Include in Your Van Build for Your Cat
Collar with a Bell | grab one here
When at home, we don’t have our cat wear a collar with a bell. That’s because she’s an outdoor cat and loves to hunt. However, when we’re on the road, we keep a collar with a bell on her. This helps us find her when we let her out to explore without a leash.
Cats can be tricky and mischievous. They hide in hollowed out trees and holes you’ll never find them in.. unless they’re wearing something that produces noise. We went back and forth putting Georgie’s collar with a bell on her, but in the end, it’s the only way we can really let her explore as far as she wants with any kind of comfort for us.
We’ve read that some cats can’t stand the bell and they hurt some cats’ ears.. however, that’s not all cats. So try the bell out with your cat if you plan on letting them out without a leash.. if it doesn’t bother them, then great. Obviously, as the pet owner, the ultimate choice is yours for what’s best for you and your cat.
We’ve also considered getting a glow-in-the-dark collar for Georgie so we can see where she is at night. But like the bell, I’m hesitant about it because I don’t want it to give her away to prey.
In any case, when you find a collar for your cat, make sure it’s a breakaway collar. This way, if it gets stuck on something while they’re jumping, climbing, or playing, it can “break away” from them instead of harming or killing your cat.
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Flea and Tick Medicine | grab some here
We know some people don’t put flea and tick medicine on their cats, because honestly, it’s not always necessary. You really only need it at home if your cat is around other animals that have fleas, i.e. skunks, raccoons, squirrels, or if you live in an area with ticks. With us living out in the country when not in the van, Georgie has always had flea and tick medicine, so bringing it with us was a no-brainer.
However, for those of you who don’t live in an area with ticks or where your cat is exposed to fleas, it’s not as common to think to bring along this kind of medicine. One of the first places we stopped in Oregon there were signs warning of ticks in the area, so we were so glad to have our tick medicine on Georgie when she was roaming freely. You should pack this medicine, even if you don’t use it at home, for the chance of being in an area where fleas and ticks are abundant. There’s nothing worse than having to de-flea your van.. trust us on this one, we had to do this in our first van when staying with friends that had cats!
We use Frontline Flea and Tick Medicine on Georgie, as we got it on sale at Costco for a great price. This kind of medicine you put on the back of your cat’s neck and have to reapply it every 28 days. When traveling in a van with a cat, if you plan on only needing flea and tick medicine here and there, try out a flea collar. With a flea collar, you can take the “medicine” on and off your cat as needed.. making it much cheaper on the wallet!
Name Tag & Microchip | find one here
Oh my goodness, who knew there were so many freaking adorable cat name tags on Amazon?! When we were looking online, we couldn’t believe how creative and cute name tags got. If we didn’t wait till the last minute to get Georgie’s name tag, we would have ordered one like this. However, in true Arbour fashion, we waited until the last minute, and wanted the name tag day of, so we went to our local Mini-Pet-Mart and bought and made the ID tag in minutes.
When living van life with a cat, you’ll likely be far away from a home address that’s on a collar, so it’s a good idea to also microchip your cat. This way, if they get lost, and their collar comes off (you know, since you’ll be using a safe breakaway collar), your cat still has a chance of getting back to you.
You can microchip your cat with microchips found on Amazon, or make a two minute appointment with your vet or local animal hospital and have the professionals chip your cat. The microchip adds that extra peace of mind if your cat does escape and doesn’t come back.
Van Fan | current prices here
Having a van fan is an essential part of any van build for comfort for the van dweller. However, this is also an essential part to include in a van build for van life with a cat. The fan keeps temperatures cooler in the van when you need to run into the store real quick or do some laundry, and also allows for proper circulation of air when leaving your cat for longer periods of time in cooler weather.
When doing our van build, we truly didn’t even think of having the van for Georgie, however, we’ve come to learn she needs it just as much as we do.
If you’ve already completed your build, or your camper doesn’t come with a roof top fan, grab a 12V fan like this, then have it run with a window cracked while you’re cat is in the van without you.
Patience and Confidence
Nobody knows the relationship you have with your kitty more than you. Be confident in the love you and your cat share — knowing your cat will come back when you let them off-leash, and that you know how to comfort your cat when they need it. You’re planning on doing van life with a cat because you have a deep relationship with your cat… they’ll grow to love it just as much as you do!
With that said, it’s important to stay patient with your kitty. Your cat will have to go through major changes switching from life in a home to life on the road. You’ll need to give your cat time to adjust to being in a moving vehicle with different surroundings at every stop.
You have to have patience with your cat when they need to go out and sniff out a perimeter of your new park up, or when they take longer than you’d like for them to find a bathroom spot.
Van life with a cat is so much fun. Is it as easy as van life without a pet, surely not.. but the joy of having your cat with you on the road brings overpowers the little inconveniences of sharing life on the road with your kitty!
What About a Litter Box?
You may notice that we don’t include a cat litter box in our van life with a cat essentials list. That’s because we don’t use one, and believe you probably don’t either. Obviously, if your cat is normally a full time indoor cat, you’ll probably need to include a litter box. Likewise, if you spend more time in cities, you’ll probably need to include a litter box too. Check out this enclosed cat litter box if so. However, your cat may be able to learn to go outside. Having a litter box in the van brings in smells, a mess, and flies, that you don’t want to be dealing with day in and day out.
Just like humans, cats create a bathroom schedule, and you’ll soon learn when your cat typically goes the bathroom. You’ll also learn what they like to go the bathroom on. For us, Georgie likes ground that she can dig in, and somewhere that’s kinda on a hill. Knowing those two things and when she usually goes (unfortunately right about 4:30 am… we can let her out to do her duty and then bring her back inside.. not having to deal with a mess having a litter box would bring.
More on Van Life With a Cat
Starting Your Van Build?? Don’t forget to include these 5 things in the build out process!
10 things we’ve learned while living on the road with our cat.. we think they’ll help you too!
We absolutely love traveling with our cat. She’s such a joy to bring on the road. Would things be easier without worrying about a cat in the van? Probably. However, that doesn’t outweigh the worry that leaving her at home would bring. If you’re traveling with a cat, we’d love to connect! It’s always fun to meet new people and hear others’ experiences.. especially when it comes to their pets!
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