Tom-
I'm sure you'll hear a lot on this subject, but it's my understanding that cats are a lot more suitable pets than dogs for liveaboards and persons involved on long term passages and cruising.
This, of course, is partially due to their easily trained "cat box" habits, and they also take up less room that the typical dog.
I'll also bet that historically, they've also been of great utility on cargo ships due do their "rodent control" capacity.
They probably also eat less than most dogs, in general, and can be at least partially fed a diet of fish by a proficient fisherman.
Plus they don't go swiming and come aboard and shake all over you!
They must be able to cope with the boat motion, or they wouldn't be taken aboard and traveled that much.
Don't know about the tendency to wander when put ashore, but most seem to know when they have a good thing (home) going, and don't usually wander unless they're a tomcat set loose in a "love zone" occupied by an affectionate female feline!
Would probably be smarter to introduce a cat to nautical life as a kitten rather than induce a mid-life crisis in an established homebody family member, but bet they can make the change as long as they're with their family (can't use the word "master" in reference to a cat owner for obvious reasons!) Joe.
