When I decided to sell the house and go full time in my small 24′ Class C motorhome two years ago, I was a little concerned about kitty. Oslo had just turned 7 and had spent most of his life outdoors because he prefers to sit outside in the garden than be in the house. He had never been super active, being a plump Maine Coon type, but I had no idea just how sedentary, and even more plump, he would become when we hit the road.
I had originally bought one of those pop-up six side canvas playpens with a top and bottom but it turns out he hates that. He was also too large for the cat harnesses I kept buying and returning. We ended up using a leftover UDogU harness from my late shih tzu and he does very well with that. He doesn’t mind putting it on and will sit outside with the dogs or find a piece of grass to nibble. However, when I’v got the AC running or don’t want to sit outside for one reason or another, I find that he is sleeping most of the time. Here are a few of the things I’ve set up for him for indoor entertainment.
Oslo has 4 toys that he interacts with, some more than others. His absolute favorite is his cardboard scratcher, which is kept in the passenger foot area of the cab. It gets sprinkled with catnip every few days and needs to be replaced about once a month as he scratches the heck out of it until there’s nothing left. These can be purchased at Amazon for less than $9 each and comes with a toy and catnip.
Last year I went to a pet fair in OKC and purchased a small piece of fur and feathers that is meant to be a key chain but makes a nice grab and kick toy for Oslo. I’ve seen him playing with this for a long time and I’ve also seen him completely ignore it for weeks at a time. I also got him one of those long wands with feathers and a bell on the end but he usually only plays with this when I’m interacting with him. It’s more fun that way maybe.
Oslo wants to be close to his dogs and to me (or maybe just my computer). When he’s not trying to chew on, rub on, or otherwise engage with my laptop while I’m working, he will be bothering the dogs. One day, after seeing something that someone had posted on the internet, I got an idea! I have an iPad that hasn’t been used since I bought my laptop. Why not dig it out and see if I can use it to entertain kitty.
The Apple store has an app called Games for Cats. If you want the version with no ads, it’s $5.99. Turns out my cat loves it and the dog gets involved too. So much fun. There are also some great videos on YouTube made especially for cats. I find my cat watching the birds on the iPad and then looking out the window to see where they went. He’s not getting tons of physical exercise but I think he’s getting some mental stimulation which is much better than sitting around sleeping his life away.
Animals Aboard 
good post!
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