The hubby and I will be going on vacation for about 8 days. We have two dogs who will be going to a boarding kennel and a cat that we’re not sure what to do with. In the past we had two cats who kept each other company when we were gone and a friend from the neighborhood would drop by every day or two to check in on them and make sure they had food, etc.
Now we are down to the one kitty and both my friends from the neighborhood have moved further away.
I was planning to ask them if each of them could stop in for a few minutes if they happen to be in the neighborhood once or twice. Meanwhile an acquaintance of ours offered to take the kitty into her home for the week. She has a few dogs and cats of her own.
Just FYI this cat spent the first 5 years of her life in a shelter full of dogs and she’s pretty social but she’s been with our family for several years now and I’m not sure her feelings about strange animals after all this time.
Do the cat people out there think it would be better for our cat to stay home alone or have company but be in a strange place with strange people and animals? I’m just not sure she would be comfortable with that but I feel bad leaving her alone with just a few visits
Stay home, confined to a reasonably safe portion of the home, large tip-proof food and water bowls in at least two places, abundant litterbox, one reliable visit a day who will comfort them for a while.
Yes, it should be enough. Large litterbox, more than one food and water bowl. She should be fine. Cats really, really don’t like moving into new places. Far better to leave her at home and have someone come by every other day or so. Unless she has health issues, she should be fine.
thanks for the help. The person who offered to take her really loves animals, but it’s such a disruption. I think the kitty would prefer to be here as long as she has food and water.
Last year we boarded Tonka and Creamsicle at Cat Country Resort. Excellent place! Tonka had been institutionalised for a long time, and he had fun there. Creamsicle was a stray, so she kept to herself. We got them a large room. It’s a change from the house, but we liked that they had dedicated attention. I’d hate for them to be alone in the house for a week or more. And we’d hate for them to be boarded in a crate, like shelters have.
My cats have been fine for 3-5 days without issue. I normally use a pyrex one quart mixing bowl as their water dish. When I leave, I leave both boxes clean and topped off, and a bowl of water and full to brim bowl of food in two different rooms. I leave extra food because I know they’re going to get nervous about my absence and eat more.
When I come home, I plan time upon arrival to give each of them attention. They’ll be more affectionate for one day, then back to normal.
I only do that about twice a year, so it isn’t like I’m gone all the time.
Anyway, by all means, since you’re going to be gone for 8, best option is to have someone come in at least once every other day to empty the boxes, check the food and water and give them a couple of minutes of attention. Which also serves as someone checking on your house without thinking they really need to check out your house.
Another vote for “Kitty would be happier at home, even alone.”
Make sure there’s a window she can look out. She’ll probably like that, and seeing a cat in the window may help create the illusion of someone being home.
A thought: if you are leaving a car in the driveway, or in front of the house, ask the person watching the cat to move it a couple of time. A car in the driveway that doesn’t move for several days is a good clue that the owners are out of town. This is actually something I did once for a friend who was out of town for a month. I went over every day and changed the timers on the lights so they came on at different times each day, played with her cat for about 30 minutes (she was really friendly and attention seeking), and moved the car in the driveway. She was a very good friend to whom I owed a lot, and it was on my way home from work.
At home is best, assuming you have reliable people to check on them, preferably daily.
A while back, I boarded my cat in a “pet hotel”, an excellent place recommended by the veterinary clinic. The first time was for a few days – kitty was a little upset, but otherwise okay. The second time was a little over a week – kitty greeted me with a cold, hard stare, would not acknowledge me at all until we got home, then became very needy and anxious, wanting to be at my side every single second. So I got the impression she was a little traumatized by the experience.
We used to board our cats at the same place we boarded our dog when I was a kid. One cat dealt with it all right (although, he’d go a little crazy running around, getting out his pent-up energy when we got home, but he was OK emotionally); however, the Siamese would hiss at us when we arrived to get her, and then when we got home, would hide behind the living room drape for a couple of hours, and growl if we came near her. This was a normally very clingy cat who slept in my bed every night.
I was never sure if she was traumatized and confused, or just plain angry at us.
We used to board our guys, then we moved out of range for that place and into range for a professional cat-sitter. Same cat-sitter each time we go away, so she knows our cats, they know her. She visits twice a day, morning and evening, she’ll collect mail for us, take out bins for rubbish collection, open and close blinds and curtains etc. On her visits, she’ll do food, water and litter tray cleaning, plus spend some time playing with the cats if they’re in the mood (they usually are), brush them etc.
Because we have two cats and she charges the same for a visit no matter how many cats there are, it works out cheaper than boarding, less stress on the kitties, and it looks like someone’s still home, mail gets collected etc. Between all that, it’s pretty good value, imho. Might be worth investigating.
I was so lucky that at my last two homes the local vet had a tech who was happy to come by each day to hang w/ the cats; it was even easier once my boys were toilet-trained. Then I had to force the catsitter to take money b/c she said she barely had to do anything.
What I’m saying is if you trust your vet, ask a tech.
Looks like the friend who offered to take her in is willing to visit every other day. I have a couple other people who can come once during the week, so she should be ok at home.
Haven’t thought about boarding her; not sure how she would react to that. I wish I could put her in a kennel right next to the dogs. Close enough to know the other was there but not close enough to drive each other crazy in the enclosed space.
I do petsitting and a number of our clients with cats have us make every other day visits. We clean the litter box and make sure there is enough food and fresh water for at least two days. Then we will play with the cat, if the cat is playful or just sit and talk to it for a while. They all do just fine.