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The best part of building out your own campervan is completely customizing it to your own needs. When planning on living in a van with a cat, there are a handful of things that need to be implemented into your van design to ensure comfortable travel for your kitty! Comfortable travel for your cat means comfortable travel for you too, so let’s dive in!
5 Things to Include in Your Van Build When Living in a Van With a Cat
1. Include a Cat Scratchpad
Morning stretches, mid-day playtime, and sharpening those claws.. a scratchpad is a must when living in a van with a cat. You certainly don’t want your kitty to be scratching at your nice wood buildout, or even worse your seats! Find cheap scratch pads from Amazon, any pet store, or places like Walmart.. Or, you can get cute and creative and build your own scratchpad with things you have around the house!
We made our cat scratch pad from old rope we had at the house (you can see part of it in the picture below), though also considered doing a DIY cardboard scratchpad, as we had so much cardboard from van purchases.
Georgie Girl settling in nicely for the car ride!
2. Create a Hide-a-Way for your Cat
Creating a hide-a-way for your cat is a must for ultimate comfort for a van life cat! Including a hideout in the van build, like the image below is a great way to ensure a space that doesn’t move while driving. We included Georgie’s hideout under our bed at the entrance of the door. This way, she can go straight into it if something spooks her outside and can snuggle in with us in view while we’re outside and she doesn’t want to be.
If creating a permanent space for your cat to hide isn’t your thing, consider bringing along something like this. This way, your cat can have a cozy spot that you can move around to where it best suits you, and heck, you could even bring it along with you in a tent for nights spent outside under the stars!
3. Living in a Van with a Cat, You’ve Got to Have a High Place for Them to Climb
Cats love to perch themselves up high and scope out the area around them. Having a place in your van that gives your cat a vantage point of everything around is a must when living in a van with a cat! Trust us on this one, if you don’t have a high spot in the van for your cat to climb, they’ll end up claiming the tops of the seats, backpacks, and the like as their own!
We have counter space around the majority of our windows, and Georgie still likes to climb up on the tops of our backpacks when they’re in the front seat. I reckon she’d climb on top of the actual headrests to the seats too if there was space! If you have a tall van, include even just a small ledge up high for your cat to perch on!
4. Be Sure to Have an Open Window
Whether you’re inside with your cat, or leaving the cat in the van for a bit while you’re away, be sure to have an open window for your cat to look outside. This goes for day and night. It’s easy to want to cover all your windows when leaving the van. And even easier to want to cover all of them with Reflectix when you’re in freezing temps. However, we’ve learned that Georgie loves to check out what’s going on outside.
We leave the back window and two small triangle windows in the front of the van open all night for her to keep watch outside. I like to think it makes Georgie happy to see outside and again more comfortable to be able to check out any noises she hears, but who really knows?!
5. Install A Roof Fan
In our first van build, we didn’t have a roof fan in the van. This led to lots of moisture in the van waking up in the morning after a cold night. So, we were sure to include this roof fan in our second van build (see picture below). Honestly, we didn’t even think about the need for it for Georgie. However, since being on the road, we’ve learned it’s a necessity for anyone living in a van with a cat.
Cracking a window and turning on the fan to suck out air while we’re away on a hike or bike ride gives us the peace of mind that it won’t get too hot in the van for Georgie. Plus the fan gives continuous fresh air. Obviously, we don’t leave her in the van in too hot of weather, but even for temps in the 70’s-80’s we’re sure to turn on the fan.
There you have it.. our top five things to include in your van build when living in a van with a cat. Obviously, there are certain things that aren’t necessarily part of the van build, but that you should pack with you. Check out our van life with cats essentials list here.
Do You Need a Litter Box When Living in a Van With a Cat?
You’ll notice that we don’t include having a litter box as part of the van build or even on the essentials list. That’s cause we don’t use one and Georgie gets on just fine. If you’re in a city or living in a van with a cat without places for your cat to dig to go the bathroom, you’ll need to pack along a litter box.
Check out this enclosed litter box to lessen the mess and smell. However, if you’re going to be mostly in nature — we suggest nixing the litter box and allowing your cat to go outside.
We typically let Georgie roam freely from the van and she finds her own space to go the bathroom outdoors, then comes straight back to the van. However, when we’re in bear country and she can’t roam freely, we take her out on a leash.
While she wasn’t fond of the leash at first, when that’s the only option for going to the bathroom in a place she can cover it up, she’s done just fine. It takes a bit of patience to let your cat adjust to being on a leash.. and a lot of patience to let them lead instead of you, but it sure is rewarding when they learn to go on the leash! It’s so nice not having the cat litter smell or mess in the van!
More on Living in a Van with a Cat
Essentials to pack are a bit different than things to include in the actual van build. Think, packing things like a cat harness and leash, or a food and water bowl. Be sure to check out all the van life cat essentials!!
Moving a cat from a home that’s in one place, to one that’s mobile is an adjustment for both the kitty and the cat parent. These 10 tips make a smoother adjustment for the road trip and traveling for both cat and cat mom or dad!!
