Welcome Tucker Adventure Kitty!

I had a cat named Herbie the Lovebug. She was with me for 17 years. I found her the day she was born and brought her home in a paper bag. She was an amazing kitty and I loved her to pieces. But she HATED the car and any kind of travel. Even a short trip to the vet, which is less than a mile from my house, she would  pant and pee in the car. When I started to formulate my dreams of getting a van and traveling, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take her along.

Herbie passed away about a month before I got Squeaky. I was so sad and miss her so much, to this day. Part of me was also felt freer–I didn’t have to worry about how I would travel and keep her happy.

For a few years, I was content to travel around with just me and Olive. When I would see people out camping with their cats, I was intrigued. I would chat with them and learn about the pros and cons of camping with a kitty and check out their different set-ups.

Animal Dreams

I recently met a woman who was an animal communicator. She also happened to be a pet sitter and was taking care of Olive. She told me a few things about Olive and then, kind of out of the blue, she told me there was a kitty that was ready to be in my life. I protested, “I miss having a kitty, but I want to travel.”  Oh, this kitty wants to come on the road with you, she said. She told me that when the time was right, I would just know.

I put that in the back of my mind while I dealt with Olive and all her health issues.

Fast forward to this past week. I didn’t make Labor Day camping plans because I was unsure of how Olive would be. As the weekend approached, I decided to go to Hood River, only an hour drive from home, to a first come, first serve campground. I figured if it was full, we could just spend the day hanging at the river. Or if Olive wasn’t doing OK, we could just come home.

A few nights before I was to leave, I had a dream that I was in Hood River, I was having an amazing time and that I had gotten a kitten. The dream stayed with me, as they sometimes do. Was this a sign of the kitty that was coming to me?

I checked for shelters in Hood River and only found a dog rescue. Then I checked Craigslist. That’s where I saw an ad that said “Mousers!” The only kittens listed in Hood River.  The lady had three nine-week-old kittens she was looking for homes for. And she was going to be in Hood River that weekend.

I called my sister. I called some friends. Was I being impulsive? Would Olive accept a kitten at her age? I thought about it and thought about it and no matter what my thoughts said, in my heart, I just knew this kitty was meant for me. I could work with Olive.

I reached out and chatted with the woman from Craigslist. She was driving to Hood River from her organic garlic farm in Eastern Washington to drop off a load of garlic and she could bring the kitten with her. Which one did I want? After a little discussion, we decided that the one that “enjoys cuddles more than the rest,” was the one for me.

I spent the night watching YouTube videos about cats and RV life.  She sent me updates from the drive and she kept reporting how mellow the kitten was and how good she was in the truck. She felt like she would be the perfect traveling companion for me.

We met up at the waterfront in Hood River. As soon as she put the kitten in my arms , I knew she was mine. I took her over to the waterfront to see if she needed to stretch her legs and immediately had several people come up to meet the kitten. One couple helped me get her harness on and told me they traveled a lot with their cat in a van. They gave me some travel tips. Then it was time to hit the road back home.

Initially I was going to give her some time to chill out and hang in the van before the drive, but it was just too hot. I let her poke around for a few minutes and then started to drive back to Portland. I heard her walking around and mewing. Then looked down and she was right at my side trying to climb up to my seat. I scooped her up and she sat on my lap for a while purring. Then she moved to my shoulder, where she looked out for a while, before eventually passing out on my shoulder for the rest of the ride home. Her previous owner was right. She was kind of dreamy in the car.

The introduction to Olive has been slow and deliberate. She’s a big dog and the kitten is tiny. For now, we have supervised visits with kitty on her leash, so I can grab her quickly if needed. It’s going well so far. Olive had the appropriate amount of interest and mostly ignores the kitten.

After playing around with several names, I decided on Tucker, after the campground I was originally going to camp at the day I picked her up.

Tucker will go on her first camping trip next week with the Wander Women. I’ll be sure to write more about how her first trip goes and any tips I learn along the way.