Whether you live aboard a boat or a motorhome with pets, or simply take extended excursions with pets on board, there are issues that must be faced that are unique to that lifestyle. After years of offering up advice on cruising with pets, in person at boat shows, online via my webinars, and here on my website, I have offered up a lot of information and disseminated a lot of ideas that I have gleaned from cruisers out there who have in the past or are presently cruising with pets aboard. Much of what I pass along was learned from the myriad of cruisers we encountered in our eight years of living and cruising aboard our sailboat, and some has come to me by way of cruisers and liveaboards that I have encountered since that time.
If you cruise with a dog or cat aboard, you face a number of unique issues. Admittedly, the issues as an RV’er with pets pale next to those of long distance cruising aboard a boat, but the savvy RV’er may also find something useful in this article.
My first and foremost concern for all pets that travel is proper identification. Read my post on Pet Tags for the 21stCentury. In a nutshell, your pet needs a highly visible ID, preferably in the form of a plastic (more readable than engraved metal) engraved ID tag and/or (more is better) an embroidered collar. A working cell phone number is the best thing to display. Your pet may get only one chance for someone to make that call before that person decides it’s not a useable number. If you live aboard a boat, a boat name would be great. If you have a radio aboard, radio contact info might help. Second, have a computer identification tag visible and accessible on your pet. I suggest the Gorilla Ruggedized USB Flash Drive or a QR tag of some sort, either of which should always be kept up to date with current contact information, both for you on the road or underway and for someone somewhere who has permanent stationary-type contact info. Remember, if you are moving (aboard a boat or a motorhome), your situation is dynamic and your information will change on a regular basis. Don’t forget to keep it updated. This info is your lifeline to your pet, and in the unlikely event of separation it’s the ONLY thing that might get your best friend back home again.
DO NOT RELY ON A MICROCHIP to get your pet back. From a practical standpoint, combined with your paperwork, microchips are only useful for proving that your pet belongs to you. Frankly, microchips more often than not link up to a dead end when authorities and veterinarians try to make contact and in the busy world of animal control work and veterinary medicine there is often only time for one or two phone calls. Too often we find the chip unregistered or it leads to outdated owner information. There are too many registration agencies and the whole mishmash of attempts to make contact is unsuccessful more often than not. Again, one phone call may be all your pet will get before people give up. Don’t blow it!