Animals on yachts

Cats on Yachts

Cats are ancient boaters. They were aboard the great ships of the Age of Discovery to keep down vermin that would otherwise eat the grain stores. So, in general, I would guess they would be resistant to mal de mer. The Capt/Chef couple that ran my boat for 20 years always had a cat aboard (fortunately the cat stayed in the crew quarters - I'm more of a dog person). The cat never got seasick, but it shed everywhere. Cat fur on the carpets, in the bedding, on the uniforms. A regular household vacuum wouldn't get the stuff - I understand Dyson now has some super turbo vacuum designed for animal hair http://www.dyson.com/range/feature_frame.asp?model=DC14-ANIMAL Some of my dogs got seasick, some didn't. It seemed that if the dog didn't get carsick, then it didn't get seasick. Maybe that kind of predictive car trip would help predict the cat's tolerance. But if the cat barfs in the car, better have a carpet shampoo machine on board as well.

Grace (Our Admiral)

We've sailed with our cat (or is it the other way around) for five years now. The first trip out, whether it's for an hour or two weeks, she'll get seasick and then it's clear sailing (so to speak) for the rest of the summer during which we'll put on about 1100-1400 miles. We've found Grace much easier to care for (litter box) than a dog ever thought of being! The answer to carpet shampooing? DRY cat food and ALWAYS plenty of fresh water in her dish! As a bonus, if she hides below while we're preparing to leave port or anchorage, we DON'T go! She's hours ahead of the Chelsea barometer on board. She's uncanny when it comes to predicting bad weather!

Cheers!
Steve, Patti and Grace
sv "Ever After"
Barrachois Harbour NS Canada
http://www.angelfire.com/ns/bhyc

Ugh,

I am allergy for cats, dogs, horses and cows and (even last 2 might be a too huge to carry at sailing cataraman of 44 feet long), but I would die to get a marine fishtank aqua !, put it all the way up to 600 liter. Any solutions yet how to keep water inside of the tank while boat floating ?

Fishtank on a yacht

There is a company up in the midwest somewhere that specialized in fishtanks for boats. They build all the pump machanisms into a sealed tank. I remember looking into it a few years ago for a new-build and being scared off by the price (many thousands of $$). Sorry that I can't be of more help.

Dogs on Board

When we traveled on our boat our dogs would always travel with us and as far as I could tell they loved life onboard. We had Bulldogs, during the day while we were underway they took the opportunity to get some much needed beauty sleep. Not that it ever did them any good, but it kept them out of our way. I wouldn't think all dogs would be ideal for life onboard a yacht because most aren't as sedentary as Bulldogs and unless you have a huge boat large dogs aren't a good choice.
One note I have concerning cats onboard is, you must be very careful to keep and eye on them while in port. Friends of ours, that we traveled with, lost several cats over the years. Not to foul play, it's just that cats make great escape artists and you have to be on top of your game to keep up with them when you travel.

Birdflue,

Might have a bit effect for cats as they chase birds. If seriously cruising instead sitting docked marina it´s pretty much out of the question as some countries doesn´t accept offshore bets at all like New Zealand.

Limitless

This should ease your pain about cats on yachts. The ex-captain of Limitless and his wife had two cats onboard all the time. They made trans-atlantic crossings all the time. This was publicized in some of the magazines. Their names - Nick & Soot. I think there is even a picture of one of the cats at on the Limitless bridge floating around online somewhere.

Cat on board

Cat like fish so not hard to feed on board menu, but they r sensitive to weather change and have nasty fur ball cough............ load up alot of sand for their private use. Beside that cat are pretty clean animal and not asthma friendly...................