cat — Home is Where My Cat is

Ron and I love being on the road. He enjoys meeting new people and I crave new experiences. Though we’ve only been on the road about 7 month, we can see living like this for a long time. But the family member who absolutely thrives on this new lifestyle is our cat, Kojii.

I adopted Kojii in college with some roommates, while we were living in a dorm that didn’t allow pets. The shelter we brought her home from said that she was very shy and quiet - perfect for a group that did not want a cat to be found. In fact, the entire rest of the school year nobody was any wiser. She had been a street cat and was very way of people. She hid for most of the semester. Through love and time, she came to like our strange “family”. When summer was coming up, we contemplated what to do with her. Of the four of us, two were international students, so they couldn’t take her. My roommate Laura and I played rock, paper, scissors to fight for who got to take her. Spoiler alert - I won. The next few years consisted of her sitting in a window, chirping at birds and squirrels that went by.

My senior year of college, my landlord found out I had a cat and told me I had to give her the boot. Luckily my parents took her in. I grew up on a big farm, and she went from a shy indoor cat to a vivacious outdoor cat. She hated strangers, but absolutely adored my dad. He used to lay down on the ground and call her name, and she’d run over and lay on his chest. She was a little more wary of my mom, who wanted love her way. She still let my mom pick her up and pet her, and it was a huge step for a cat that has people issues.

After college, she moved with me wherever I went. When I fostered kittens, she took them under her wing. She was a favorite of all my friends, and we bring each other such comfort. She still sleeps on my chest almost every night. When we decided to move into an RV, I had no idea how she would take it. She doesn’t like car rides, the space would be much smaller, and aside from our gigantic cat tree and big windows, there wouldnt be much for her to do. Ron and I agreed before leaving that if any of our cats hated the lifestyle, we would find them new homes they would be happy at, even if it meant that they wouldnt be with us.

I knew that Kojii liked to be outside, so I bought one of those collapsible, giant dog runs. I set it up the first time in Wyoming, and she hated being in it. I dont know if it was that she felt caged, or that she couldnt really run around the way she wanted to, but she was miserable. We bought her a cat harness, and it was difficult at first for her to wear it. We built up her tolerance to it by putting it on a little more each time until she finally figured out that harness = outside. She was able to have the freedom she was so excited for (kinda). Now she sits by the door and screams to go for a walk about 2pm every day. I put the harness on her and together we explore everything the world has to offer. I’m almost positive she thinks that the RV is a Tardis, taking her new places each time the door opens. Without living in an RV, she would never have experienced what it is like to walk in the desert, or chase a jackalope, or go rock climbing. We’ve gotten a lot of people who laugh when they see us, because it’s not a common thing. But stop by and say hi to us if you see us. Kojii doesn’t bite. ;)