I live alone with my two cats. They have been with me for only 8 months. I want to go out for a short visit of 4 to 5 days. I do not know anyone here who could look in and keep the cats fed while I am away. Leaving them with someone who is in another town makes them stressed. I don’t think they like changing locations.
Can I get a big bowls and fill it up with enough cat food and the other with water to last 4 days?
Will the cats be able to live by themselves and manage?
Any suggestions?
They can do a weekend for sure, but four days is pushing it. It might be worth it to call up a vet and get a petsitter reccommendation for someone to stop by, pet them, feed them and change the litter box. You can also try neighbors, co-workers, the local college listings, Craig’s list…
Well, I don’t think the food would be a problem, but the water might. I know many cats are particular about their water being fresh. Do you have one of those pet percolators? That could help.
I wouldn’t have any problem leaving my cats that long. Yeah, they like fresh food and water but they won’t starve to death or expire from dehydration if they have to eat stale food or water. I’d just fill up the litter box really full, leave out lots of food and big bowls of water, leave the toilet seat lid up just in case and go. I think it’d be a lot less stressful for the cats to deal with you being gone that to be relocated.
I’ve left my 3 cats for that long with no problem. I got those nifty food and water dispensers at Wal-Mart. I only refill the food every couple of weeks or so. I change the water whenever it starts to get icky. (the cats drop food in it)
Do you generally leave food down for your cats? If your pets are used to being fed at a certain time of day they may overindulge if you leave a large quantity of food out for them and then be caught short by the end of your trip. Something to consider.
Last vacation we were gone for 10 days and we had a friend look in every other day or so to make sure they were OK and had food and water. That worked out fine.
I think that’s way too long to leave them without anyone checking in on them at all. I guess other people do it but I never would.
Are you sure there’s nobody you can hire to check on them perhaps every other day? Don’t you have any friends, neighbors, vet employees, grooming shops, or pet-sitting services in your area, where there might be people who would be happy to make a few extra bucks? Is it that you live really far from anyone?
If you provide sufficient food, water and pooping space, your cats will survive.
However, I do not recommend leaving them alone for as long as you state without any human contact. Despite the independent nature of cats, you all are a single family and they will suffer without you, and especially without any human contact.
Find a friend to catsit.
Over New Year I stayed at my brother’s while his family was away elsewhere. They were glad I was dropping in that day as it was the 5th day after they left. They said that whenever they go away they get someone to give the cats one days tinned food, and refresh the dry food and water after 5 days. They have done this for years.
This is awfully neglectful. And while I think it’s a crappy thing to do to your cats, my bigger concern is what if there is some kind of emergency? What if something happens to them? With no one checking in, there’s no way to do anything about an emergency. They are not wild animals like a dumb former roommate of mine used to think about his cat – they are domestic, and depend on you to take care of them.
Hire a sitter to at least check in on your cats at least a few times while you’re gone.
I will not leave mine overnight without ensuring someone is coming to take care of them. Four days sounds like far too long
Don’t know where you’re located, but if you’re in a metropolitan area, you can often hire someone to look in on them daily. Prices are usually fairly reasonable.
I am surprised by the number of people who think cats need humans as anything other than servants. When we dropped in at my brother’s we didn’t see the cats for hours. Even then they just came and ate, went out for a while and then back to sleeping around the house. This is their pattern of behaviour always, even if people are around.
We have stupid, clingy cats that can’t look after themselves in Australia too but we call them dogs.
Most animal behaviorists say that cats need and desire human companionship, even if they appear aloof.
Of course, YMMV. Some cats are clingy, some aren’t. And some are somewhere in between–they act aloof, but get upset when their people go away. My cats are so clingy they don’t even like it when I go to a class for an hour.
I say it hardly sounds as though the OP makes a habit of leaving the kits alone - if this is the first human absence for 8 months. I do second the suggestions that it is NOT ideal and getting someone to come and look in on them and check would be much better*, but if for some good reason it can’t be done, well they WILL survive but damn glad to see their tame human back.
The CelynCat was fine, and, btw, she had previously been a lost/abandoned stray cat before I kidnapped her.Of course, as has been said, some cats are more nervous or clingier than others.
I think 4 or 5 days is too long if they are not used to it, but not a problem if you can slowly build up to it. My cat was OK being left for a weekend, and I pushed it out to 3 days on holiday weekends without any problem. I never go longer than that without leaving her with someone. I would put out extra food and water and a second litter box. After the 3 day absences, she did stay close when I got back, and gave me a bit of scolding, but no other problems. She’s diabetic now and I can’t leave her for more than half a day due to twice daily shots.
A friend of ours travels during the week for work. Her 3 cats are left alone from Monday morning to Friday afternoon. But, they are used to it and can keep each other company. She was recently gone for longer so we looked in on them every 3 days.
My thought is that it really depends on the personality of the cats. Can you do a trial run of 2 or 3 days and see how they react?
Most common problem I see when cats are left alone for a few days/weeks is dehydration secondary to loss of water access. Typically what happens is a door blows closed and the cat(s) can no longer reach food/water. This is a fairly common scenario. I probably see a case or two each summer. For an older pet this can aggravate renal insufficiency and lead to renal failure.
One thing to keep in mind as well is that your residence insurance policy will typically have a clause in the fine print requiring the place be checked every couple of days. Leaving for 5 days without anyone checking on your place may invalidate your coverage should something happen.
It’s a good idea to have someone come in anyway, so you might as well hire a cat sitter.
Have to call for a cite on that one. Sounds crazy to me!
On the cat issue (which is the OP), we’ve never had a problem leaving our cats for extended periods of time. We make sure all the doors (inside) are open wide, and pegged. We use “volume” feeders anyway, and fill up the large water dispenser if we’re going to be away. (The cats will use it, but they prefer our drinking glasses if they can get to them, even if the big dispenser has been recently cleaned and filled with fresh water).
The stay a bit closer when we return, but we’ve never had an issue. Usually on a 7 day trip, someone will stop by somewhere in the middle, just to “make sure everything is ok with them.” But they’ve never had to do anything.
YMMV, I’ve seen all range of reactions from animals, though the cats are pretty self sufficient. They’ll do no worse than my wife did when I traveled for extended periods, and left her alone.
Really? It sounds reasonable to me.
An example would be the furnace dying in winter. No heat for days means all the pipes freeze and burst resulting in major water damage and a major claim for the damage.
If someone was checking on the house they would notice the lack of heat and do something about it long before that happened.
If you go, make sure you leave lots of extra food and water - especially water, you don’t want the poor things thirsty if they knock their bowl over - in various locations. So long as they have backup food and water, I’ve never had a problem. I tend to be a little neurotic, so I end up leaving a lot of extra food, and completely unnecessary amounts of water, scattered through the house. But I figure the worst that could happen is they end up eating a little too much for a few days. Just don’t count on their usual food and water provisions being enough; a door blows shut, or they knock the bowl over, or whatever - things happen.
I’ve done it, but I don’t like to leave 'em alone for that long if I can help it. You sure you don’t have an acquaintance who can stop by for at least an hour or two once or twice? I catsit for one of my friends sometimes, and even though her cats ignore me totally once I’ve fed them, I think it’s nice for them to have some human companionship at least some of the time.