Traveling With Fur Babies

Traveling with Fur Babies is not simply about finding a comfy place for them to ride in the truck. (Like Miss Chantilly Lace, A.K.A. Tilly, on her center console perch here.) There are lots of other things that need to be taken into consideration. Just like us 2-leggers, our 4-leggers have needs, wants and requirements. It's little things as well as big things - from water bottles for the kids on the road to emergencies. You have to plan ahead.

Many of us RV'ers initially chose to travel and/or camp by RV because it gave us the ability to have our Fur Babies with

us without worrying about where we could stay that they would be allowed. However that doesn't mean that every place you park your RV is pet friendly either. Some are not, and some are but have breed restrictions. Beyond the park parameters, you need to consider what time of year and where, too. If you're going to spend the winter in Wisconsin, your short-haired Chihuahua is going to need some winter clothes as heavy duty as yours! Likewise, Sunny Florida in the summer might not be the choice for your overly fluffy Pomeranian.

Another consideration to make when you park your rig is if your Fur Baby is well trained enough to stay without tearing stuff up or driving your neighbors nuts with incessant barking. Do you need to make room in your RV for a crate for Fido? Our Tilly is docile as the day is long and will pile up on the bed or couch and nap until we return. Unless of course, someone comes to the door and she is forced into action. Freya the Wild Child however is a Raving Maniac and HAS to be crated. She's only 2 and still a bit of a moron about chewing on stuff, too and we don't want our new RV that we've worked so hard on destroyed. So we had to make room for a crate for her. We chose one that folds up so that we can get it out of the way when we want.

If you are travelling full time, you have to think ahead about what medicines you're going to need not only for yourself, but for the 4-leggers with you. Does Fido need Heartworm prevention? Does Kitty have an insulin dependency? How will you get these meds every month? We give our girls a Heartworm pill with flea deterrent built in once a month. It's only available by prescription. The girls have to be checked once a year to get their prescription refilled. So we have to have somewhere to have their check-up done and prescription filled once a year, not only for their Heartworm prevention but also for their rabies vaccination, which you're going to find is necessary for some places you stay as well as for groomers. Once you have those vaccinations, don't forget to keep their records with you, too.

Speaking of groomers, have you considered where you'll be taking your Fur Babies to get all prettied up? Or do you plan to do it yourself? If you are doing the grooming, you'll have to make sure you have the tools you need as well as a tub or bucket to bathe them in. Many RV's don't have a bathtub. If you're using a groomer, then how will you find a reputable one when you are only in town for a short time? We recently had a horrible experience in a small town with only a couple of groomers. There weren't any real reviews online, and we only found one person who could refer us to someone. Unfortunately for our Fur Babies, the groomer we used not only did a terrible job on them both, but one of them was actually injured. My little fluffball Tilly ended up with a nasty red burn on her belly from where the groomer shaved her. Why she even shaved her belly I do not know because we didn't ask her to, but nevertheless it happened.

That brings me to the next thought - what to do about emergencies with your Fur Baby? Where do you go to find a Vet in the middle of the night in a strange town gods forbid you need one?? Our Wild Child Freya the White Hot Mess broke her leg a year and a half ago. It was a freak accident - she jumped off the bed and landed wrong and her little puppy leg snapped right in half. Luckily we were still living at home and able to rush her right to our established vet, but what to do if we'd been on the road and didn't even know where the closest vet was? I would recommend searching out the nearest vet and posting their number as soon as you park somewhere new. And it would help to keep a Furry First Aid Kit as well. I'll work on putting together a list of components and get it posted soon.

Then there's always the emergency that might come up back home. What do you do with your bundle of fur if you have to jump on a plane and fly home? We keep 2 small airline-approved soft-sided pet carriers in our cargo bay, along with a couple of small duffels for us. If something happens to one of our kids or grandkids and we need to get across country FAST you can bet I'll leave the RV parked and fly back.

That leads us to one more scary thought. What happens if while you are on the road, one of your Fur Babies gets loose out of your vehicle? Or gets away from you while you are staying somewhere for a few days...a week...? Your job says you have to go to the next assignment but how in the world could you leave your Fur Baby if you can't find them? Should you consider having your 4-legger microchipped? Or maybe just make it a rule that they always always ALWAYS have their collar on with a tag and their info?

Yes, while having your Fur Babies in your own space helps, there are still special concerns and considerations to traveling with your Fur Babies. Do your homework, keep your records, make your plans. But don't forget to stop and smell the flowers, either. :-)

#RVLife #RV #fulltimers #Pets #FurBabies