Planning ahead for Halloween
I’ll admit it, yesterday’s post was a very feeble attempt at leading you astray (pun intended). No, we have not taken on any actual crew and as for a baby, HELL NO! We do, however, have a new ship’s cat, and not just any cat, a black cat which reportedly is good luck for sailors!
Fortunately for all of us, six year old Samantha is no stranger to the sea. In fact, this cat was raised on a boat. Sadly, due to personal reasons, her owners are no longer able to care for her which is where we come in.
Rebecca and I have always been pet people. Our cat passed away shortly before we departed to go cruising and as I wrote early on in this blog, we were forced to leave our large German Shepherd behind with some friends (I hear he’s doing great by the way). The lack of animals in our life has made for a bit of a void but given that the whole cruising thing was so new to us, we weren’t sure that we were up to the added responsibility of caring for a pet. Now that we’re a lot more settled though, we think that the three of us will be able to make out just fine.
A word of warning to any rodents who might have thoughts of stowing away on ZTC: Fogetaboutit!
“Hi. I’m Sam. I want you to pet me, but I also kinda want to bite you.” 😉
Congrats! I’m liking you guys more and more.
Thanks. About the liking us thing… it can be a bit like a bell curve. 🙂
Ah yes, the HKIC.
Huh?
Congrats…..Pets are wonderful companions……
I agree.
This cat is going to provide you with miles of blog material!
Cats have no problem with a restricted home, I was surprised to learn. Our daughter has a house cat. It never goes out and now never wants to. It will sit in a doorway and watch the outside world but stays in. It has a very happy life, very much part of the family, and rules the house.
Do remember cats swim very well.
I think you are in for some fun!
Mike
Like we need even more blog material. 🙂
Read about a sailor cat “Sipri”, who was left back home when a couple went for a circumnavigation. The cat was miserable and just stared at the sea and so it was taken along from Tenerife. (“Around the World in the Wrong Direction” on Dynamite (Swan 371) Heikki & Heli Ervi 1983-85, not available in English).
Sipri also ended up in a medical article about ciguatera poisoning, which she and the captain got of a fish they had been given by a fellow sailor from his fridge in Australia. The cat couldn’t walk and had neurological symptoms but recovered.
http://www.duodecimlehti.fi/web/guest/etusivu?p_p_id=dlehtihaku_view_article_WAR_dlehtihaku&p_p_action=1&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&_dlehtihaku_view_article_WAR_dlehtihaku__spage=%2Fportlet_action%2Fdlehtihakuartikkeli%2Fviewarticle%2Faction&_dlehtihaku_view_article_WAR_dlehtihaku_tunnus=duo91925&_dlehtihaku_view_article_WAR_dlehtihaku_p_frompage=uusinnumero
It probably wouldn’t take much tainted fish to overwhelm a cat’s system.
Congrats on the new addition !! She looks like a bit of a hellraiser !! LOL.
We thought she was pretty mellow when we first met her but she may yet prove to be (a hellraiser).
Great!
Morris will now have a new friend when we arrive in Grenada.
We’ll have to arrange a play date, on your boat or ours. 🙂
Mike,
HKIC,
Head Kitty In Charge.
Jim
🙂
Got it!
We bring our cats up to the boat when we will be away for more than a couple of days. They have adjusted just fine. Although I do, occasionally find one of them sneaking out to the cockpit at times. They are indoor cats and I really don’t want them to go overboard. You will enjoy the cat, makes for another cuddly companion.
Apparently this cat has fallen overboard a few times. We’ll keep her below when we’re underway but allow her to roam the deck freely while at anchor.
What do you plan to do about quarantine issues in different countries?
Other than avoiding places where it is an issue, we haven’t given it much thought. I think cats that remain on the boat are a LOT less of an issue than dogs which must go ashore.
Wow, what a face, and look at those pointy fangs! Beautiful! We’ve got a little black cat (Scout) though he’s never been on the boat. He’s got the same tendencies as Sam; Pet Me. Now, let me bite you. Ok, now pet me again. So nice that you guys took Sam in, and I bet you’re going to have a great time as a trio.
I think so too. 🙂
We love sailing with our now almost full grown kitten! We live aboard in Vancouver, and our little demon has never known anything but life aboard. Granted he does keep falling in, but we were relieved to see that he can both swim and extract himself from the water (by clawing his way up the wooden docks) We do keep an old fish net hung over the side deck to ensure he can get back up if he falls overboard from the boat. We let him roam the dock at night, and three times in the past month he has come home soaked to the bone. His demise seems to be the otters who live inside the dock. We try not to cut his nails to ensure he can always climb out. Luckily this hasn’t resulted in any marks on our canvas (he doesn’t seem interested in it) though does a bit of a number on the upholstery. We have a small portable scratching post which helps.
We plan on heading to the South Pacific in a few years, and do intend on bringing our cat. We do worry about how the heat will affect him, as he’s a tuxedo kitty. How does Sam deal with the heat, being a black cat?
Our cat, Sam, tends to hide out of the sun for most of the day. Once the sun sets though she is all over the place. We heard that she has fallen off her previous boat and managed to climb up the transom steps. She has yet to do it on our boat but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
Hello! Love your blog!
I wonder how you handle the kitty litter… do you use a traditional box and liter and then throw out when convenient? If using traditional litter what kind do you use and how much do you carry? Also, what about cat food?
Thanks for this… we have two cats which will be setting sail with us soon and this is the only part I can’t wrap my head around to some degree.
Hi Alex
We just use basic clumping cat litter and throw it into a sealed bag and then into the trash when we scoop. We do not throw it overboard as some people might think. In Grenada both litter and cat food is readily available so we don’t stock any more than the average home owner would.