Bkwithlove, I feel you. I'm very curious how things work out for you with being able to leave the van, temps, etc. These are my biggest fears and worries with my two kitties.
Meanwhile, we FINALLY moved into our little Class A in the last week, though we haven't left my parent's driveway in Northern Arizona yet, still solving problems. Their basement has been the backup spot for stashing the cats while we work out all the bugs.
Currently with a partner, which helps, but we are still planning to be doing solo things for weeks at a time all summer, with just one or two days in between each time. I am curious what the daily and weekly rhythm will turn out to be. Shopping, laundry, emptying tanks, hanging out with friends. I still hope to camp with others and exchange pet sitting services so we can make store runs, etc.
I bought temp monitoring stuff I need to get set up that requires WiFi. Such a struggle to get everything rigged! I would then possibly leave them for brief periods only unless it was relatively cool and shaded.
Where we are parked now, in the shade with two little 12v evaporative coolers (Christmas gifts!) and some 12v fans going it's 76 outside, 81 in the vehicle but feels cooler with the breeze. It's super comfy right now, actually, and the cats are relaxing and don't look stressed in the moment.
Hopefully we head up to the PNW soon and will be there through the hot months, but lately even there it's getting up to like 114 degrees during summer. Not to mention wildfire smoke.
Got super hot here in the last few weeks, had to run the LP generator for AC as my parent's electrical system won't handle it or the microwave. CO detector started going off from exhaust getting in. Partner made a workaround exhaust extension out of flexible exhaust tubing, clamps and u-bolt hangers, worked for a couple days, then we couldn't get it to stop coming in again.
Finally got a Gen-Turi to route it above RV, haven't tested it yet, but the weather has cooled way off, so we haven't had to test it yet. Hoping that problem is solved, will test before we go.
Would love to rig up enough solar to run AC! Or even a mini split. But all of that is $$$ and time that I don't feel we have now.
Cats are kind of hating the RV, so far. They've found comfortable spots, though, but I can tell they'd rather be in a bigger space, and my boy cat, Kai, cries to go out all the time.
They were indoor cats, but as we've been moving into smaller spaces we've started taking them for walks, though not on a leash. But we're starting to find it dangerous. Puff never goes far, but Kai won't go in when we need him to, and he's been trying to wander into the brush or across roads. We bought an IR beeper that attaches to his collar that beeps if you press a remote button. It doesn't emit radiation all the time like the Bluetooth/GPS pet and key trackers. At first he would run back to the house whenever it beeped! But now he's ignoring it more, so at this point it just helps us see where he is.
He's managed to slip out of any harness I've tried, or they just don't fit his long, lanky body. Both of them lay down in protest and refuse to move when we put them on. I left all the leash experiments in my storage in Seattle, regret it now. Want to try again, maybe have my partner, who sews, make modifications.
Kai dashed out the door today as my partner entered and he accidentally knocked Kai into the sharp edge of the metal door as he ran past. He chased Kai around the house twice, then Kai hid under a big, thick bush. He called me to help get Kai out, both of us terrified he was hurt. Partner finally walked into the bush, Kai came out the other side and walked lovingly into my arms. We checked him over thoroughly, no sore spots, seems fine for hours now. Got lots of love and pets and lap time from both of us. Still watching him to be sure.
Increasingly scared he will dash out the door and into a dangerous situation now, or get lost. Not sure what the answer is here.
Spent the last several days getting the propane fridge to work, replaced burner and ignition board. It does now, but not on shore power, just gas. Replacing the power board next, and adding computer fans to the back vent to help it stay cooler in hot weather.
Made our own cat proof screens, using metal gutter guard cut to the radius curves of the windows and fitting square screens with pet-proof mesh between them and the open windows. And currently adding cat proof screen to the screen door, which Kai has managed to claw the regular screen out of.
Set up litterbox in the shower...found a boot tray that fits exactly across the bottom, and put a felt and rubber mat under that and over the outside lip of the shower to trap litter from their toes. Will have to take that out whenever I shower, but need to keep the grass seed litter off the bottom...it turns into glue! Really can't let that get into the tank! It works better and seems safer than any litter I've tried, though...no odor, as long as you don't let it get completely gross. But when we had Norovirus in my parent's house a month or two ago, we went almost a week without scooping, was just starting to get bad, which is amazing. I would never let that happen in here.
Took them for their first ride in the rig to dump the tanks the other day. They totally freaked out when their house began to move! Poor babies. Found hiding spots. I hope they get used to it at some point.
Let's keep talking about handling summer temps and such. Good luck to all of you and thanks for sharing your stories.
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