New Camper Mod: The modification you didn't know you needed (cat door)

[SnowballCamper]

One of our requirements when shopping for an RV was to have room for our cat and dog (kenneling pets during vacation was a pain, and expensive). We ended up with the Bigfoot 25B17FB, and decided that the cat's liter box could go in the wet bath (just set it outside when it's time to shower). Installing the "2-way Interior Cat Door" from Pet Safe was really easy. Be sure to tape up the door, and use a fine tooth saw. The directions say to drill a 1/2" hole in the corners, but after the first hole tore the door finish a bit, I didn't drill the second hole right on the edge. I found that the fine tooth hacksaw blade on a `pusher' handle worked best with the laminated hardboard of the door. I recommend a file to finish up the edges. I was worried about moisture swelling the hardboard, so I used liquid nails on the cut edge, and caulked around the interior with a locktite product that dries clear (leftover from some previous house project). I'm not too impressed with the door quality, so if this deteriorates I'll have an excuse to make a real wood door. For now it works nicely. The wet bath door is just a smidge too thin for the cat door, but the interior caulk covers it up.

Thanks,
Alex

[ZAC N CAT]

Hi Alex,
We purchased a used 21' Big Foot and the previous owner had a cat door that went under the dinning seat that had an opening outside hatch door left propted open. They used a awning screen room that the cat could go in and out to use the potty outside. We have a small dog and a big dog that we travel with and that set-up wouldn't work for us. We plan on using the little door under the dinning seat for a crate space for our little dog. And the big dog is old enough that he can just sleep in his bed that will be under the table. We found some really good apts that are very useful when traveling with dogs. But the best advice I can give you for your dog is to look for little kids bace ball fields to let them run in. It's a very safe place. Just be sure to clean up after them. Doggie parks are great but sometimes for what ever reason you can't let your dog play there.

[SnowballCamper]

Thanks Avey for the ball field idea. That probably works better in rural areas...seems that the fields close to home all have the no pets sign. I also initially looked at going under the dinette seat to the storage box, but the wall there seemed thicker than just a sheet of wood. I didn't want to take any chances, and now we can stow a solar briefcase in the box.

I've also not had good luck at doggie parks... oh well.
Thanks for the reply.