A Letter from Biscuit: A Day in the Life of an RV Cat

Your driver for this post is (The Illustrious) Biscuit.

Good day, humans of the world, and a happy new week to you! As my previous post was clearly quite popular and well received, I thought I should take a few minutes from my very busy schedule to give you more information about the day in the life of an RV cat. I know you have been waiting with bated breath for me to write again, and I apologize for the delay - but you must understand that I do have other obligations. Patience, please.

My day almost always starts out around 4 AM when, although it is still dark outside and my lazy human family is still sleeping, I begin the watch for birds and deer. This is one of my primary jobs in the RV, and though The Humans do not acknowledge it, it is a critical one.

I generally watch from the window of the back bedroom. The challenge is in shoving aside The Lady, who insists that the pillow is hers and hers alone. (Young felines of the world, I have learned that the key in these situations is persistence: by simply meowing repeatedly, scratching at the window, and sticking your back end in your human's face, you can usually get them to back down and relinquish territory. The Lady, though she doth protest, gives in every time.)

Once I am satisfied that the wildlife has been kept at bay, I request my breakfast. They insist on serving me drivel from a bag but occasionally I manage a nip of whatever they're consuming.

I mean look at this stuff. Would YOU eat it?

This smoothie was quite good, though I'd recommend less mango, more mouse.

Sometimes I have to snuggle with The Lady in order to get some food. Shudder.

After breakfast, I play with my best friend, Sam, and then clock in for my main job as The Nice Man's administrative assistant. 

"Do you have an appointment? I don't think you do."

In between my other obligations, I roam our tiny house and make sure everything is in good working order. Oftentimes the RV is not to my standards.

Like this thing. It keeps leaking water:

I sat in here for a good ten minutes in an effort to alert everyone to the problem. The Humans seem unconcerned. Their cluelessness is rather sad, actually.

In the afternoons, Sam and The Nice Man go swimming, and The Lady does something she calls "yoga." I have been forced to participate.

I protest by sitting in Shavasana the entire time. 

In the evenings, while The Humans are brushing their teeth and getting ready for bed, I blow off some steam.

I mean, they keep me trapped here in this tiny moving box. What do they expect will happen?

Yes, life on the road is difficult for an RV cat, but as you can see, I am mustering my strength and persevering nonetheless. Your messages of encouragement are greatly appreciated. Please keep them coming.

(Just don't expect me to respond right away. I have a lot going on.)

Until next time,

Biscuit

A Letter from Biscuit

Biscuit (that's me!) will be your driver this post.

Dear Reader,

“Guys! Guys! There are birds outside! Get up. Why are they sleeping when there are birds outside their bedroom window????”

I think this every morning and I do my best to let the humans know. Astonishingly, they don't seem to care. I try to wake them up by scratching around the window and tearing at the blinds. I’ve found this to be very effective. However, the sleepy lady has taken to squirting me with water after I do this. What is her problem? Doesn’t she care about birds?

The nice man often doesn’t even open his eyes. I’m not sure what is wrong with him but I still love him. This morning I licked his head - just for fun.

Anyway, that is how I like to start my days in the RV. I’m getting to see many new birds and sometimes rabbits, squirrels, and other possibilities for dinner. This is a fun part of being in the RV. The other bonus is the humans are around a lot more. The big headed one was always around but now I get to spend more time with Sam and the other one. As you can see, Sam is my favorite McDowell.

The worst part of living in this RV is that it moves. I don’t mean just at night when the wind blows but sometimes during the day when they drive our house down the road. At those times, I hide under the front seat until it’s all over. When I look back onto the RV bench I see that my Sam often times has just passed out from the sheer terror. The poor boy! They have even strapped him down so he can’t escape. If they keep doing this to us, I might need to show my disapproval by leaving a “present” on the bed.

Until next time,

Biscuit

Two weeks in!

Yesterday marked two weeks since we embarked on our RV adventure.

Our route and the highlights so far:

June 1 - 5: Diamond Caverns RV Resort (Park City, KY)

Things we did: Trip to Mammoth Cave, swimming, learning how to cook in the RV

Best parts: Small but clean campground with a nice pool, close to Mammoth Cave National Park, gorgeous hiking/walking/running trails

Worst parts: None? It was a great few days. 

June 5 - 16: Natchez Trace RV Campground (Hohenwald, TN)

Things we did: Visited the grandparents in Nashville, walked through the TINY town of Hohenwald (including the visitor's center located in the old train station), ate at the Loveless Cafe, drove a lot (Hohenwald to Nashville is a 1.5 - 2 hour drive), went to the zoo, spent time with friends, checked out the Warner Park Nature Center, hit up Whole Foods, reading, swimming, running.

Best parts: All of the above! We also appreciated the consistency of the services (water, electricity, sewer) at our campground.

Worst parts: The campground is pretty and the site services are commendable, but it's also really run down. The roads are potholed, the tennis courts look completely dilapidated (not that we would be using them anyway, but other people might want to), the fitness center is closed, and the recreation center needs work. Given the large size of this campground, maintenance must be a major challenge... but it's a little disappointing that even the Recreation Center at the heart of the campground is falling apart. Hopefully, the management will find the funds to keep this place going and get it into better shape.

Next on the agenda: We're heading to Texas! Houston and Austin, here we come!

Holding pattern

We leave in 2.5 weeks! [insert googly-eyed emoji here]

Until then, we're in a bit of a holding pattern. Our focus right now is on cleaning up the house and figuring out what we want to save and what we still need to recycle or throw out. Currently, though, the house is a bit of a disaster area. This photo makes the situation look better than it actually is.

Although we're in disbelief that our departure date is so close, we're definitely excited. I interviewed Trent, Sam, Biscuit, and myself (can you interview yourself? I say yes) to get their thoughts on the impending move into the RV:

Q: What are three words you would use to describe our impending travels?

Sam: Do we have to do this right now? [I think he meant the interview.]

Trent: Unknown. Different. Exciting.

Me: Adventure. Nature. Problem solving.

Biscuit: My. Moving. Palace.

Q: What are you most excited about?

Sam: Everything, except the parts where we get really mad at each other.

Trent: A change in lifestyle, and the fact that it'll be easier to move when you get bored. [Me: And by "you," you mean... Trent: I mean you. Susanne.]

Me: Experiencing new places and being closer to nature.

Biscuit: Looking at hot guy cats out the window. Meow.

Q: What are you most worried about?

Sam: The water not functioning and you getting really mad. [Me: And by "you," you mean... Sam: You. Mom.]

Trent: Money.

Me: First of all, I don't know what you mean by "really mad." Second, I worry about RV issues, like the roof leaking and damaging everything and then we have to live full time with Biscuit in a tent because that's all we have left.

Biscuit: I am not living in a tent. Sorry.

Q: What's our biggest hurdle before we leave?

Sam: Please stop asking me questions. I'm trying to relax.

Trent: What Internet setup is right. Also, how are we going to get rid of our broken treadmill?

Me: What do we do with our gross old mattresses?

Biscuit: Catching all the bugs you've let into the house over the last few days.

Q: What is one thing you can't part with - something you have to take with you even if it isn't practical?

Sam: Biscuit. [Me: I meant other than members of the family. Sam: Biscuit. That's my final answer.]

Trent: My frisbees. I don't want to get rid of any of them, but I have six of them.

Me: Real glassware and my two favorite coffee mugs.

Biscuit: My eight bajillion cat toys. Even though nobody ever plays with me and I'm the most neglected, misunderstood cat ever.

Biscuit's first RV adventure

This Friday and Saturday, we took Biscuit the cat on her first RVing adventure at our local state park.

Getting her into the RV was pretty easy: we tossed her favorite toy into her cat carrier, she ran in, and Sam closed the gate. Trent drove the RV (Biscuit's litter box was safely stowed and latched in the shower for the trip) while Sam, Biscuit, and I followed in the car. After arriving at the park and setting up camp, we released Biscuit into her new abode.

This was the first safe spot she found: in the bedroom right below the "closet." She seemed happy enough.

It eventually dawned on her that something unusual was going on in her life, so she hotfooted it up to the cab and squashed herself under the driver's side seat. For hours. We were relieved when she made an appearance to use her Modkat kitty litter system, which we placed in the cab in order to keep it out of the way yet still accessible for her.

We pretended we didn't notice, but silently, all three of us were cheering. Biscuit is unpredictable when she's uncomfortable or unhappy. A couple of weeks ago, she peed on our bed (while we were in it!) for reasons that are still unclear and that, according to the vet, were entirely unrelated to her physical health. We hope that was a one-time occurrence but with her? Who knows. So the RV Modkat use so early on in the trip was a victory for everyone.

The situation went a bit downhill when, at bedtime, Biscuit hopped up on the bed, made a horrible yakking sound, and proceeded to throw up all over the duvet. A few minutes later she knocked over her water dish and created a mini-tsunami that rolled through the slightly-tilted rig. We dug out a few rolls of paper towels and all was well again. 

Sam was wondering whether Biscuit - who's not the most coordinated feline you've ever met - would dare to hop up into his bunk space. She waited until everyone was settled down, gave her best leap, and made the jump from the table to the loft. Then she gazed down upon us as if to say, "I will allow you to stay. For now."

I'd call that a success. It might sound silly to be so worried about a cat, but she's a part of the family and our happiness is somewhat dependent on her happiness. If she can't get on board with our new lifestyle, that's going to be a problem.

So far, though, all signs point to a cat that will be ruling the road the same way she rules the house.

Welcome to the adventure, Biscuit!