liveaboard boat pets
Transitioning to living onboard a boat from a house is going to be one of the largest small changes you can make. The same applies to moving into an RV or tiny house. No matter how mentally tough you are, you're going to struggle with downsizing. It'll be in the smallest little item you've placed into the donate box. You'll feel loss mingled with excitement slathered in uncertainty. Not to worry, making the change will be good for your soul and change your outlook for the better concerning a lot of things. Living aboard or on the road you'll come to see that a fulfilling life doesn't come tucked away in purchased trinkets but in the experiences.
The majority of things can be downsized or replaced. Most having little emotional value and not being that hard to come by. Downsizing your pet isn't really something you can do. Pet supplies can be downsized by not purchasing in bulk anymore. But, your goofy floppy-eared dog is what he is.
We moved onboard with two pugs and one cat. We did so with all intention of keeping them as happy as they normally would be. Luckily, all three of them came as small packages from the factory. Our cat has always been an indoor prisoner and our dogs being bred as lap dogs were never more than 5 feet away at any given time. So, we figured moving them from 1300 square feet down to 375 wouldn't be that much of a shock. Truth be told, it hasn't been as easy as we'd hoped.
Our issue hasn't been space though. It's been more age and health-related. Both unavoidable in time. The rise of these issues has made the adjustment to life aboard a little more challenging. Something to consider when thinking about moving your furball on to the high seas.
For the salty veteran liveaboard bringing home a new pet is a call only you can make. For the newly baptized, I'd recommend that you hold off for a couple of seasons until living onboard is second nature to you. That way you can focus on your new pet without distraction. For those of us that are bringing pets with. Here are some things we've learned.
Pet Basics, input/output.
input
Pet food. When on land the tendency for us was to purchase dry food in bulk. This is a good way to save money and lessens trips to the pet store. On the water this can be a bit of an issue. Storage space is always at a premium and buying that 80-pound bag of dog food isn't going to fly. More so than space, there's a health concern in having that extra food aboard. Moisture. This is an unavoidable fact of living on a boat. Moisture plus food equals mold. Mold means sick pet. There are a couple of ways to defend against this and these methods can also be applied to your personal onboard food too.
The simplest way to defend against mold is to not buy bulk food. Purchase the smallest resealable bag of food that can get you by for a couple days. Keep the bag sealed with as little air in it as possible. Keep it out of the sunlight. As moisture in the air trapped in the bag can condensate inside the bag if left in the sunlight. This will led to mold. Visiting the store many times a week to restock will keep a fresh rotation of food on board. I consider this method death by a thousand cuts. The costs add up over time. Smaller packages means higher product to cost ratio. Extra trips to the store equals extra fuel and the biggie to me "lost time" enjoying the boat.
Space willing there is a safe way to continue purchasing bulk food by using a vacuum sealer.
Using a FoodSaver, take a bulk bag of dry food and break it down into smaller bags. Vacuum sealing the extra into 4-7 day portion bags. Place the portion you're currently using into a FoodSaver container like below and reseal it after opening it to access the food. Your goal is to keep air from the surface of the food as long as possible. Less air, less chance of mold. I'm not a fan of stand-alone kitchen gadgets like this being on board. As most of them only do one thing. But, in this case, there are several uses for this type of vacuum sealer other than food storage. Like waterproofing smaller items so you can store them in unfinished parts of the boat, compression storage for clothes or linens, medicine protection & storage or for small parts storage (ie, nuts and bolts or electrical terminals). I'd love to see built-in modular units become available for boats and RVs. As this is an indispensable device.
Canned/wet food. Just a mention: This really doesn't need protection like above as long as you can refrigerate it. There are can caps available to help with this. The only downside to wet food is the garbage generation. Cans are not very collapsible and need to be washed out to hold in the recycle bin.
Water. Regular water bowls can slosh around when the boat gets to rocking. Below is the bowl we use and it's kept our floors dry.
output
Dog walks. This is going to be situation specific. It will depend on things like dock length, deck space, urgency, and what you're willing to put up with at 2 in the morning. Some, including us, have an area on our deck that we let the dogs use. At first, I thought this was pretty nasty. But, after careful consideration and our dog's failing health, we were able to put together a system that works and that is relatively sanitary. Figuring it out was a quite the trial and error though. The biggest problem was that the dogs were unstable on the anti-skid decking and hesitant to go on the boat until it was dire. We tried booties, fake grass and pee pads. All of them a bust. Then we tried Lok-tyle's. These aren't exactly made for boats and there is another "marine grade" version out there but it can cost three times as much. The dogs are able to easily keep traction on this product. It keeps their nails from scratching the deck. Is easily hosed down and has great drainage properties. It doesn't mark the deck, is uv stable (so far) and doesn't react to bleach or boat wash. Clean up is done by bagging waste just like on land, spritzing with bleach and hosing off. Hosing turds into the water is not cool. They need to be bagged and disposed of in the trash. If it goes into the water it can cause all sorts of bacteria to spread. It's the same reason you don't dump your holding tank in the marina or within 3 miles of land. "Don't poo in the blue" . Clean up works best if the the deck has drains vs scuppers. Scuppers can allow the water/cleaner mix to run down the side of the boat staining it or stripping the wax. Other bonuses are that it's easy on your feet and doesn't get hot. During the winter it's a great traction aid. And the mats protect your deck from dings. The down sides we found are: Long dog nails can hook into holes in the mat. Causing your pup to panic or flail and possibly hurting themselves trying to get unhooked. Also, the boat's deck won't clear completely with a hose down. Hair and debris will get trapped by the little stand off nubbys on the bottom of the mat. Every couple of days, it's necessary to pull up the mats to hose and treat underneath them.
Litter box. Unfortunately, there no secret trick around this one unless you can train your cat to use the toilet. Placement is going to be the hardest thing to figure out. Even the smallest litter box will take up floor room that you just don't have. Unlike a house it can be hard to hide a litter box in a back bedroom or bathroom. One possibility is to place it in a locker or a built in furniture piece. For example, if your settee has a storage cavity below the seat large enough for the litter box, you can install a cat door in the base to allow the cat access into that area. A word of caution though, if there is any mechanism hidden in that compartment, like an a/c unit, it's best to wall it off with board and/or foam. Thereby sealing it from smell and litter kicking. I'd recommend adding some type of ventilation to the litter box compartment and a very low draw l.e.d. light. Cats can see better in the dark than us but they don't have the ability to echo-locate in the pitch black of a sealed compartment.
boarding
Getting on and off the boat with a dog can be tricky. If you want to carry them off, only do so if you're able to keep a free hand. Always remember: One hand for you, One hand for the boat. If you're dog is any larger, teaching them to take the leap alone is an important necessity. Placing rubber mats down for them to get traction on the dock and the boat can help. If there's no way to get them to jump. A boarding ramp may be an option. It doesn't have to be people grade, just strong enough to help your pup across. They'll most likely not walk on it and just clear it in their stride. It's just there to give them the confidence to cross the gap. Something as simple as a wood plank could suffice.
safety
Falling overboard. Pet life jackets are important while underway. In the slip, eh. It's best practice to fit your pet every time they are on deck but it's not always very practical. Regardless, of taking any of the following measures leaving your pet on deck unattended severely decreases their chances. There are ways to keep them from going over if they slip. You can install netting to the boat's lifelines and/or railing creating a playpen of the deck. This is pretty common to see on sailboats and could potentially save you from intentionally drowning yourself too. Netting works for 90% of boats but, if netting isn't an option on your boat. Approaching the problem from the water might be your only choice. You should evaluate what happens "when" your dog or cat goes over. Is there a place for them to swim too other than the shore? Can they get back on board without help? In most cases you'll see that they're going to end up in serious trouble. So, it may be prudent to build and float a small platform on either side of the slip. A sealed 3' section 4" PVC pipe with carpet ziptied around it may be enough for them to grab onto until rescue comes. There are float ramps that are available to help swimming dogs get back on board. They attach to the swim platform of the boat. This might not be practical in your slip though. When you're outside, always have a fish net or boat hook at the ready in case you hear a splash. Use the hook or net to give them something to grab to as you lead them to safety. If you do have to rescue your dog or cat from the water, make sure to wash them off with freshwater. The water in the marina may have oils, bacteria, or chemicals in it from unscrupulous dumping boaters. Getting this out of their fur before they try to is best.
The dock water nightmare. As a liveaboard your tendency will be to leave your dock water hose attached and on most of the time. This is a really bad practice. Spikes in dock water pressure can bust the plumbing in your boat. A boat with dock water rushing into it can sink if the bilge pumps can't keep up. If you're not there you can lose your boat and your pets. Do not leave your dock water on if you're not there. Just turn it off at the spigot when you leave. Alternatively, fill your water tanks as needed and run on the boat's freshwater pump system.
Sinking. What happens if your boat goes down when your at work? This is a disaster that no one wants to face. Ignoring this remote possibility could be that much worse if you lose your pets in the process. There is some preventative measures you can take. First is to tell the marina that you have pets on board. If the dock master sees something going down they can react. Know your slip's depth and your draft. Hopefully, there will be cabin space still above water when the boat touches bottom. If not, leaving the hatches closed can trap air in the cabin giving them a chance. Attach a class 4 flotation device to the bottom of an end table, tray, or other free standing firm surface. If water comes in that item will float up becoming a raft for them. An extravagant option would be filling up all unused space with closed cell foam. Similar to a Boston Whaler, the foam would increase the boat's buoyancy, minimizing the chances of sinking completely.
Thinking about these potential dangers gives me the willies. Sorry to be a downer. The nice thing here is that nothing bad has happened yet and we can slay that monster before it shows up.
seasickness
Surprisingly, this seems not to be the case for most animals. They can get sick on rides but usually once they barf they're fine. Taking missteps is more likely to happen. We've got the scratches in our woodwork to prove that. I don't think there's much you can do about that but to fix it and move on.
birds, fish, or other creepy crawlies
I can't really speak to these personally. I'd venture a guess and say that a fish tank on board would become a sloshing mess in a storm or on the water. There is a lady at our marina that brings her birds with her on the weekends. So, I assume they'd be okay on board. Anything in an enclosure would be okay if you had the room, I'm guessing. If you have expereince in this arena, please feel free to tell us in the comments section.
I'm hoping this article helped you and your pets prepare for living aboard. Thanks for checking in and please look at our other marine product reviews for more helpful liveaboard gear.
Cheers,
Mike
Life's a port.
