Pets

Traveling with pets is a wonderful thing, but can add additional challenges when living in your vehicle!

Keeping pets safe

One of the most significant considerations when living nomadically with pets is keeping your vehicle interior at a safe temperature at any time when your pets are present. Learn more about keeping cool and keeping warm. If you have pets and an uninsulated vehicle, you will need to have your pet with you more often when leaving your vehicle.

You can remotely monitor the temperature in your vehicle with a product like Temp Stick or Waggle sensor. You can get remotely monitored security cameras or pet-specific monitoring cameras like the Waggle 2K camera.

While you can generally arrange errands such as grocery shopping for cooler times of the day so that you can leave your pets unattended then, it is more challenging to make medical appointments, government appointments, and so on. In such cases, you may need to pay for "doggy day care" or similar, using services like Rover or Wag.

When leaving your pet in your vehicle, it's helpful to have a pre-written (or pre-printed) sign to tape to the inside of your driver- and passenger-side windows saying that the vehicle is temperature controlled and monitored and your pet is not in danger. You may wish to put your phone number on the sign also, so someone can call if your pet appears to be in distress. Then leave your car running with the heat or A/C on as needed (see idling your vehicle for cautions) and the doors locked.

If possible, keep your pet in a crate so they can't accidentally bump the gear shift, or step on your door locks or window controls, or even step on the gas. There are (rare!) stories of dogs putting vehicles in gear! Be very careful about putting a collar and leash on your pet to restrain them, since pets have choked by jumping over seats while wearing a leash or similar restraint. Instead, get a pet restraint and a harness instead of a collar to attach it to.

Note that in many jurisdictions, it is illegal to leave your pets unattended in your vehicle.

When driving, restrain your pet with a pet restraint designed for the task.

Living space design

If your pets sleep with you, you may require a larger bed.

Pet food, supplies, beds, and crates all need a space to live.

Cats

Remember to have space for your cat's litter box. When determining the location of the litter box, see if you can add ventilation to the space to help reduce smells in your vehicle.

Dogs

Dogs can provide additional safety and security on the road. However, they may bark, which may be a problem if you are stealth camping (since it alerts people to your presence), or on hot days when someone may think they're in danger in a hot vehicle.

Other pets

Tips

When parked somewhere it's safe for your pets to spend time outside, run a rope between two trees or posts, and then attach their leash to that rope with a carabiner. It gives your pets a little more room to run while not being keeping them safe.^[1]

If you don't have a pet but would like a pet, consider offering your services on pet-sitting apps like Rover or Wag.^[2] This way you can have a temporary pet and get paid to do it!