You can never know, or even begin to predict, how things will go when you’re RVing. The strangest things can happen, like the time a cat died in our RV!
No cat
The truth is we don’t own a cat. Sure, I had lots of cats growing up on a farm. But as a married couple, we’ve never owned a cat. My husband is allergic to cat dander. Really. Allergic. If a cat so much as passes by our RV inside his owner’s adorable little cat stroller, my husband begins competing for Guinesses’ “greatest number of sneezes in one hour” category. (You’re probably wondering: If they don’t have a cat, how did a cat die in their RV? Be patient and read on.)
Grandkids
You can never know, or even begin to predict, how things will go when you’re RVing with grandchildren. For this particular camping trip, we had four little ones ranging in age from 3 years old to 11. The oldest in the tribe (and the only boy) had entered that preteen stage of life when pestering his littlest sister was a pastime goal. The 3-year-old hadn’t yet figured out that her big brother was a tease. More often than not she was totally snookered by his tall tales.
Down for the night
After a fun day of hiking and swimming, we finally got everyone bunked down for the night. Sleeping bags were everywhere. Sadly, we aren’t the kind of grandparents who own a really cool RV. One that, according to our 9-year-old, “Has a bunk room made just for kids, where everybody has their own bed and there’s a TV in there, too, just for the kids to watch.” I was tempted to mention that we had a pup tent in the RV’s basement if anyone was interested. Yes, all the fun of the day was catching up to me and I was turning into Grumpy Grandma. Best to get the lights off—pronto!
Night terrors
It was just past midnight when I heard her scream. The littlest one sounded terrified. I opened one eye and listened. Perhaps she was just having a dream. Then … nope. Her screams continued. By now my husband was also awake and we both fumbled to find the lights. (This RV was “new” to us. Our last RV was destroyed in a storm, so we recently purchased this previously-loved rig.) Scrabbling over one another, we finally made it to the living room, dodging sleeping bags and toys, to finally reach the screamer.
It’s dead!
Poor little dear was having a dream. It was a bad one, too. In her loudest, 3-year-old voice, she said, “The cathith dead!” My husband and I looked at one another, totally confused. What is a cathith? Why is it dead? What was she talking about? Now awakened, her screams had quieted into shoulder-shaking sobs. I scooped her up in a comforting hug, but she was inconsolable.
Everyone wakes up
As you might have guessed, everyone was fully awake at this point. The 11-year-old boy quickly interpreted his sister’s words. “She says the cat is dead.” Everyone looked at each other, confused. Then we watched the 3-year-old shakily raise her arm to point at the base of the kitchen island. One by one we looked.
Confession
It was then that I noticed the 11-year-old trying to contain a twitch of a smile. I narrowed my eyes, frowned, and gave him my best “What do you know about this?” Grumpy Grandma stare.
“Earlier today, she wouldn’t stop bugging me, so I told her to go look for the cat,” he said.
“We don’t have a cat. We’ve never had a cat in this RV!” my husband nearly shouted.
“Cathith dead,” the littlest one sniffed, then nodded with certainty.
The truth hurts
That’s when I saw it. A big lump of fur was stuck inside the furnace register. The previous owner must have had pets. Several pets. Hairy pets. Probably not cats. That looked like dog hair, fur sure.
I was embarrassed. What kind of grandma causes her 3-year-old grandchild to have nightmares? What kind of grandma doesn’t think to vacuum out the RV’s furnace ducts? When had I abandoned my scrubby Dutch heritage? If only we owned a really cool RV with a bunk room!
Then, wait! Hold on here! Suddenly I realized that this was not on me. And very soon, the 11-year-old was wielding the business end of the vacuum, while everyone watched and critiqued his job.
Nighty-night!
I think it was 3 a.m. by the time everyone was settled back down into their sleeping bags. My husband and I both grinned at each other as we turned off the lights. It was quite a night. Another RV adventure to put in the book. And that’s how a cat died in our RV.
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That’s as hard as I’ve laughed in a long time. My wife and I had to wipe our eyes so we could finish reading it.
Glad you enjoyed it, Paul. We still smile when we think about it!
I thought maybe it was going to be about one in the engine compartment. Had that happen once. Good news is after a lot of clunking and cat “screaming” it ejected out of the idling engine’s compartment and scampered away. Bad news was it had completely emptied its bowels prior to being ejected! Amazing how much a cat’s bowels can hold. Ewwwwww!!!
Obviously dead cats are hypo allergenic.
Its only live ones that your husband is bothered with.
I can’t imagine how it got in there
If you read closer, it was just a clump of dog hair in the register, not a dead cat.
What a great story! Your grandson reminds me of one of my older brothers. His only goal in life was to torment me and my sisters. LOL! Anyhoo, grandchildren are such a blessing and I’m sure it’s a fun memory now.
The incident always brings laughter when someone brings it up! Grandchildren are definitely a blessing! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you, Gail. 🙂 I never doubted Art Linkletter’s claim that kids say the darndest things. I recall being amused by several while watching House Party. However, as your story demonstrates, not everything they say is funny. It sounds as though the 11-year-old got his just reward after taking advantage of his sister. I’m glad that it was just cat fur and not a real cat. I hope that you have a great Thanksgiving! 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Neal!
Great story with a wonderful ending. Thank you for sharing it!
I laughed so hard I couldn’t even see! “Cathtith”. LOL. I raised two sons so I laughed harder at the 11-year-old’s antics. Thanks for the great start to today!