The Dobby Chronicles
Traveling all over the US would not be possible without a few key ingredients. Courage, faith, money….and my faithful sidekick…my ride or die – DOBBY! The most loving, drooling, hungry, cesspool of a cat that there ever was. I am so fortunate to have him by my side on these adventures.
Let’s start at the beginning with introductions…
Dobby came to be with my family and me through an unsolicited rescue attempt. I heard this awful squalling one day and went outside to investigate. To my udder disgust and shock, my not-so-savory neighbors were kicking him back and forth to each other like a soccer ball or a hacky sack!
I don’t remember even stepping down the 5 steps to the ground from the porch. I think I literally flew over there and snatched him up and squared up with one of them nose to nose…daring them to make my freaking day!
Regrettably they backed down, and I swiftly took him inside to clean him up. He was bleeding from every office—eyes, nose, ears, mouth. He was covered in fleas and ticks. As I got him into a warm bath in the sink, he just laid there in the water. Uh oh, that’s not a good sign.
I washed him and doctored him and handed him to my bonus daughter and told him to let him know he was ok and safe. She did not talk much but boy did she have lengthy conversations with Dobby. He perked up and began violently loving on her nose and rubbing her glasses off her face!
Now I had made the declaration several times “He is not staying”. We would just nurse him back to health and find him a home. As you can see my poor attempts at declaration were promptly ignored. And now here he sits. Beside me – or better yet on my neck – at all times.
I am so glad that I was ignored and that he ended up being in our lives. He gave my bonus daughter so much love. He played and played with my son and slept with my daughter all the time. In fact, he has the power to put you to sleep. Everyone except me, I seem to be immune.
When I sat out on my adventure there was no question that Dobby would be by my side. I was not sure how to travel with a cat. Most cats like routine, and structure and hate change. Not this cat! Dobby is the most complacent animal I have ever known. He just goes with the flow.
When we get to a new place he enjoys looking out the windows and going out on his leash and rolling in and eating the grass. My narcoleptic, playing fetch at 3 am, drooling, refuses to let me work – stinky love cheese…that I am convinced has a tapeworm due to the amount of food he demands. I could not do all of this without him by my side.
Traveling With A Cat
Traveling with an animal of any kind comes with challenges. Most normal cats do not like changes in routine. Not Dobby. But here are some tips and things that we have done to make everything more smooth.
Automatic Feeder
For this gluttonous growing boy, the auto feeder has been my lifesaver! I can set the times, and amounts dispersed and even record my voice saying whatever when it comes time.
This has allowed me to leave and go on cruises for a week. It gives me peace of mind if I am gone for extended periods of time during the day and my site seeing has taken me down some more paths. I do not have to rush home to ensure he is cared for. I know he is good.
Even though I have this set to go off 7…count them 7 times a day…Mr. Man Cheese still wants more food always. But for the most part, this one of the best things I have ever got for my camper along with the automatic waterer.
