I have an old (about 15 years, unknown she’s a shelter adoption) cat who has pretty much gotten out of the habit of ever using a litter box. After trying a variety of remedies (new litter boxes, new locations, deodorizers, barriers) and several trips to the vet for diagnoses, her ultimate problem is that she’s just old. She occasionally suffers from an inflammation in her bowels, but it’s not life-threatening. I’ve managed to contain Emily (the cat) to using my plastic carpet runner as an alternate landing spot, so I can clean up after her fairly easily.
My question is: I’m going out of town. Would it be better for me to board her or to use my regular pet sitter (someone who does it for a living and is bonded and all that)? Would the cat fare better being kept in a confined area or should I inflict all of Emily’s messes on the cat sitter to clean up?
AFAIK, Emily does not have any infectious disease. If so, it would have shown up on the myriad of tests she’s had.
I’d think it would be much more stressful on the cat to be boarded than to allow her to stay home and pay someone to clean up after her. Are we talking diarrhea here, or just regular kitty poo in odd places around the house (“watch your step…”)? Unless it’s diarrhea–if it’s just regular kitty poo–I’d expect the professional cat sitter to be able to take it in stride. If it’s diarrhea, I’d definitely pay extra, like a big tip when you get back.
First of all could the mods add the word “cat” to the title? It might make more sense.
As for what the cat leaves around the house, it’s not fairly close to regular kitty poo, although not exactly. Let’s just say that I’ve had a lot of experience in cleaning it up. I think I could become a forensic experts examining kitty poo.
So, I think it’s time to lay in a big set of cleaning supplies for the petsitter before I go away.