"Quiet Moments"

In general Linux is a pretty mellow cat, as long as we feed him ON TIME, keep the litter box clean, and allow him cockpit access when it's sunny out. Well, there is one huge and I mean huge exception... The Engine!!!! It's his enemy! It's big, it's loud, it's just plan annoying to a cat, especially one like Linux that loves nap time. He can't get far enough away from it. That usually means in the cockpit with us. He's happy there if we can be between him and the beast. We've been lucky that we're were smart enough to train him to stay in the cockpit, but when we've got waves pitching us from side to side I still worry that one good one and he's overboard. Well, the solution, a harness. He hates it almost as much as he does the engine, but safety first aboard Reisender, fashion second. I went into the store to buy his new accessory and found out that because of his.... girth, shall we say, I had to go to the small dog section for him. HMMMMM maybe toooooo many cat treats! I found one and brought back for him to model for us. He was not amused. Well it's for his own safety, what's a caregiver going to do. So now at night we have one less thing to worry about. He still sleeps in the cockpit next to us, I was shocked when he stayed up with us during a rainstorm, albeit under the dodger, but he still got a little wet. Challenge number two we discovered was helping him to be one with the engine. No, he's not in the lotus position meditating while sitting on the engine well. Although that'd be a great photo! He's not that chill or hip. We've tried everything to calm him down. I sometimes miss dogs, a piece of cheese with a Benedryl in it and they are out. Not so with my very wise (and frustrating) cat. He'll spit out everything but the cheese! So we tried Pill Pockets! Again no luck, then by chance I walked into a pet store in Astoria and I explained we have a boat kitty that hates the engine. She knew exactly what to do. "Quiet Moments" by NaturVet. I am in love with this product. She asked me just one question, "is he a very clean cat?" VERY! He even thinks Pixel doesn't clean herself well enough and has to help her out. Well, this product is a salve that you put on his fur (preferably when he's not looking) and then he cleans it off. It's a life saver in our household. It's herbal and completely washable. I only have to sneak up on him a couple of hours before we start the motor and he's much more relaxed that he was before. He'll even go below when we are under way.... sometimes. He still hates the engine, but most of the time he is sacked out in the corner of the cockpit tethered off. If you have a cat that hates travel this might be the product you are looking for. The picture is him about 2 hours after putting on his salve. He stayed right in that corner until we pulled in to Port San Luis 16 hours later.