This week we're featuring one of our cat ambassadors, Noodle. Noodle's humans have been talking to us about how she went from shelter rescue to cat-venturer. Including tips on how to prepare your kitty for exploring the great outdoors, as well as managing situations that might arise and a wonderful intro into her very own adventure cat blog. 


Hi everyone! Our names are Jen and Alex and we are the proud owners of Noodle. Jen is currently a veterinary student and Alex is a landscape architect. We live in Michigan, USA, but we are both from New Jersey originally. We met in high school and have been together for a little over 8 years and Noodle is our first pet together.

We found Noodle at the local shelter when stopping in to drop off some donations. When going to just “take a peek” at the cats, we fell for Noodle and her charm. Jen had her hand through the cage playing and petting her, and when she walked away to check out the other cats, Noodle starting crying and would not stop until she came back. Even if someone else went up to the cage, she kept crying until Jen came back. So of course, we had to take her home with us. They say you do not pick your pet, your pet picks you, and that was definitely true in our case!

Noodle’s name at the shelter when we adopted her was Boots. We knew we did not want to keep that name, as we wanted to pick a name representative of her personality! She was spunky and feisty right away and settled in so nicely at our home. She is a squirmy little wiggle worm, which is how we got to the name Noodle. It suits her so well and is not a very common name either, which we like. Her nicknames include Noodie, Little Stink, Noodie Booty, and many more!

We adopted Noodle right before Thanksgiving in 2019, when she was four months old. Only five days into having her, we packed up and hit the road for a ten-hour car ride to visit family for the holiday. Noodle shocked us by being absolutely perfect in the car! We thought for sure it would be too much for her and considered leaving her with friends, but also thought leaving her could confuse her. So, she came along and was relaxed and slept most of the ride. Once there, she met five new adults, two kids under the age of two years, and three dogs. And once again, she surprised us by handling it so well! She explored the new house and was curious and playful, never once seemed nervous. Taking this trip so early into having her was such a blessing, as it made us realize that we were never leaving her behind on a trip ever again! She is the perfect adventure buddy!

Noodle loves to hike in style and model for the camera!

Going outside can be a bit scary the first few times because there are so many new sights and sounds that can be overwhelming to our cats. We started with just hanging out on the balcony until Noodle got used to things, then brought her outside in the yard on the harness and leash. After she was comfortable with that, we started going to local parks with few people, and have since worked our way up to bigger hikes. We also got a cat backpack, which we think is a must have for exploring! It is not only a great way to carry her when she gets tired, but also her safe spot when we run into scary things. For Noodle, that is mostly people on bicycles and big dogs. We just place her in the backpack and let her watch as they pass, so she can see everything, but is tucked away and in her safe spot. This has also been a big aid in helping Noodle overcome those fears as well.

            Our future plans are a bit unclear at the moment in terms of traveling, because of the pandemic. But we would love to eventually travel overseas with Noodle. Jen has family in Sweden and Alex has family in Australia. Those two places are definitely on our list to bring Noodle to, as well as some beautiful hiking trails in America too!

Noodle loves to come kayaking with us! 
Here's a link to the cat life jacket Noodle has been testing and loving on her kayaking adventures. 

We think being an adventure cat is a fun and great way to keep your cat healthy! It is not only a physical activity to keep them in shape, but also a great mind stimulator for them as well. Because of this, we decided to start our own blog, with tips for others if they want to begin adventuring with their cats! It is called The Hiking Cat (www.thehikingcat.com) and we add a new blog post every Friday at 12pm EST! If you have any specific topics you would love to see a post about, we would love your input and you can message us on Instagram!

If you would like to keep up to date with Noodle's, Jen's and Alex's adventures on Instagram, you can follow Noodle at @tailsofnoodle or visit their blog page at @thehikingcatco.

Shop our range of cat travel products ready for your next adventure: 
Feline Travel

Happy Travfurling!
The Travfurler Team 🐾