Cleocatra Elouise Neely, Our Purr-fect Deck Paw & Furry First Mate

If you have followed us for a while, chances are you have seen posts about our four-pawed crew member, Cleo. We get a lot of questions about our adventurous kitty cat, so we decided to share the story of how she joined our lives, her transition to boat life, and almost everything in between. I suppose it’s best to start with how we ended up with a perfect cat like Cleo, which actually happens to be a funny story—she was supposed to be a fish.

The Adoption

It all started back when Chris and I were living in Tahoe for college. I had a coupon for a betta fish that came with an aquaponic garden my dad had given me. The nearest PetSmart was in Reno, so we made the drive down the mountain with a plan to pick up my new fish. Once we got to the store, I headed straight to the back, totally bypassing the fish aisle because there were cats up for adoption—and who can resist saying hello to a bunch of cute animals?!

As I was checking out the cats behind the glass, I called Chris over, just to admire them with me. That’s when he surprised me by saying, “We’re getting that cat.” I was floored. First, because we weren’t allowed to have pets in our apartment, and second, because we were there for a fish! I tried to convince Chris it wasn’t a good idea, but as soon as I placed my finger on the glass to say “hi” to a sweet 2-ish year old kitty, she put her tiny bean-toed paw against it and gave me the most irresistible “take me home” eyes. I caved in, signed the papers and handed the clerk the $20 to make her ours. We would deal with the landlord issue later.

On the way home, our new kitty snuggled in Chris’s lap while we were trying to think of a new name for her. Her papers read “Nina” but that name didn’t feel right. At the time, we were listening to the Lumineers latest album, Cleopatra, on our dark drive up the mountain which is when I suggested “what about Cleocatra, Cleo for short?” It stuck, and her middle name Elouise, also after a Lumineers song, followed. She spent 1.5 years in Tahoe with us, and adapted to being transported in a tote bag to maintain being undetected in our “no pets allowed” apartment when the landlord would check in on us (illegally, but the way… but that’s another story).

Due to our busy schedules, Cleo learned quickly to get comfortable with traveling in the car when we would have to drive 5 hours from Tahoe to Shaver Lake, or to Santa Cruz to visit our families. Luckily it wasn’t a steep learning curve, and she was a pretty easy cat from the start but I think those long drives and visits to elsewhere are what paved the way to her being such an adventurous travel cat!

Boat Life 

Fast forward to boat life: we moved aboard Avocet in June 2018, shortly after our wedding. It was the first time Cleo had been aboard her new home (let alone a boat) and it didn’t take long for her to adapt, especially when she realized she was allowed outside (within reason) after being an indoors-only cat. To this day, we are still surprised that Cleo has no real interest in being off the boat; every time we take her out on leash, she runs back to the boat and sits in the cockpit, looking at us like we are crazy.

Litter

One major issue we encountered immediately was cat litter, which is actually a question we get asked a lot. Traditional litter lasted no more than 2 weeks aboard since the litter would end up in the bilge- making Chris very, very upset. Fueled by his frustration, he spent hours researching mess-free litter alternatives that other nomadic folks use. We narrowed down the search to one system that has been perfect for this life style that doesn’t use cat litter at all! The Purina Tidy Cats Breeze System has been an amazing solution for us and Cleo, and through our recommendation has found it’s way onto many other boats that have kitty crew members. This is widely accessible, and you can pic up at any pet store or Amazon. This lovely litter box lives underneath the quarter berth and has no odors whatsoever (as long as you keep up on regular cleaning). We are extremely impressed by this litter system and highly recommend it to any tiny-homers, van lifers, sailors, or people looking for a litter alternative.

Health and Safety

While on the topic of FAQ’s, another hot question we get is about Cleo’s life jacket. Yes, our deck paw has a life jacket as well! Unfortunately, there are no life jackets exclusively for cats, so I got her an XS dog life jacket which works just the same. Although she rarely wears it while sailing since she mainly stays below deck or in the cockpit, we have used it to take her paddle boarding. Plus, look how cute she looks!

When we took her sailing the first time, it was definitely rough. Cleo got sea sick and up until recently would always puke while under sail. We have since learned that she shouldn’t be fed a normal serving before a big trip and that she is most comfortable in her bed, covered with a towel for maximum darkness. This cat has put well over 5,000 nautical miles beneath her now, and knows the drill when it comes to sailing or motoring. If she does feel sick, she will warn us before she throws up, giving us time to comfort her.

The process of preparing to travel with a cat is not as daunting as it may seem, you just need to stop by your local vet and check off all the boxes (vaccines, passport, learning Pet CPR and emergency medicine). It’s all the things you would do for yourself or your human children, so why not do it for your pets too? Luckily, Cleo’s vet in Ventura is well versed in cruising kitties and was able to get us everything we needed in addition to helping us prepare a cat medic bag that even had a whole IV drip system – we don’t even have that in our human med kit. We have never had to break open Cleo’s kit (and hope that stays the trend) but we definitely feel at ease knowing we have almost everything we need to take care of our furry crew member in an emergency.

 

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Cruising Plans

Cleo has made every spot imaginable on Avocet her own, even surprising us with a few such as curling up on the book shelf or finding her way into the linen locker. She spends a lot of her day sleeping in her various spots, but we try to make sure she stays as active as possible by playing with her and even doing some training routines. Fun fact: you CAN train a cat! Cleo knows how to sit, high five and hopefully she will learn some more tricks soon. She loves to be all up in our business while doing projects, and during our refit got very used to the power tools, saw dust, diesel smell, and the ever-changing environment. Hell, I think she may have weathered that time in our lives better than we did!

Believe it or not, in the beginning people asked us if we were planning on cruising with Cleo. Of course we were! She is part of our family and we are excited to sail the world with her. We cast off from Ventura in 2022 after completing our 4 year refit and have since sailed from California to the warm waters of Mexico with our favorite first mate along for the ride. She has become the perfect night watch buddy, curling up in my lap as I read and keep an eye out for wind changes and obstacles, and has gained confidence in meeting other cats like her “cousins” Baby Carlos and Meatball in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. Although she is pushing a decade old now, she still has a spunky spirit and lots of love to give which is a leading reason she quickly becomes everyone’s favorite feline. She is irreplaceable and will always be our fur-st child.

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Thank you all for taking interest in our deck paw! It was fun to write this out and I hope you enjoy reading it. We promise that you will see much more of Cleo in upcoming videos so stay tuned! For a list of Cleo-Approved Travel Cat Essentials, Click HERE.

Cheers, Chris, Marissa and Cleo

Oh and P.S. I never got that betta fish.