# Question about babysitting a cat. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077 "2013-11-29T16:34:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/41 "2013-12-01T12:56:17Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Please tell this to my four cats. My husband is on a hunting trip, and all four of them are upset that he’s not here, even though I am here. The younger female cat in particular misses him badly, and she’s been staring at the side door, wailing that her daddy’s not home yet. I said “tend to be”, wasn’t being absolute :D. You do get the occasional Velcro-kitty who HAS to have his/her human(s) very close by. I had one of those myself in college (he’d scream at any closed door between us), and my current cat more often than not insists she has to follow me into the bathroom or will fuss at the bedroom door until one of us opens it for her if I’m down and my husband’s still up. The general trend in my 44 years of near-continuous enslavement to one or more cats is toward the less dependent model, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/42 "2013-12-01T13:07:51Z")
Ours are all clingy. ALL of them. When my husband comes home, as soon as he sits down in his chair in the living room he will have all four cats on him. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/43 "2013-12-01T14:44:45Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Ours are all clingy. ALL of them. When my husband comes home, as soon as he sits down in his chair in the living room he will have all four cats on him. Awww, leaving you cat-less, eh? Let me guess – he is the one who feeds them? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/44 "2013-12-01T19:44:23Z")
No, we both feed them. They are just being cats. Back to the OP, cats like having familiar surroundings, for the most part. Some of them like to explore new territory, but all of them like having their own familiar places. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/45 "2013-12-02T00:45:12Z")
Our older daughter just left after a whirlwind Thanksgiving trip. She was here _just_ long enough for the younger cat to reattach to her and to be completely heartbroken that she’s gone again. We only have two cats (and three permanent human residents). They still manage to demand an insane amount of attention from each of us. Mr. Legend leaves town for business tomorrow, and I’m dreading the inevitable sulking and lap-immobilizing the cats will be doing for the next week. And that doesn’t even begin to address the emotional problems the dog will be suffering. Pets. I swear. I’d definitely suggest caring for cats in their own home, btw. They’re neurotic enough without extra dislocation. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/46 "2013-12-02T10:45:49Z")
Jeez, guys. I meant to add a 😉 to my post, and forgot. No, I wasn’t being serious. I keep forgetting that the printed word has no inflection, and anything can be taken seriously. And I keep forgetting how much bad advice is out there, and how easily people can believe someone would actually advise such a thing. Believe me, as a longtime cat person, I know better. So I did something stupid. Not the first time and probably not the last. And yes, **Rachellogram** , I’m an extremely weird person. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/47 "2013-12-02T11:49:15Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Jeez, guys. I meant to add a 😉 to my post, and forgot. No, I wasn’t being serious. I keep forgetting that the printed word has no inflection, and anything can be taken seriously. And I keep forgetting how much bad advice is out there, and how easily people can believe someone would actually advise such a thing. Believe me, as a longtime cat person, I know better. > > So I did something stupid. Not the first time and probably not the last. > > And yes, **Rachellogram** , I’m an extremely weird person. _takes a deep breath_ Phew! Thanks for clearing that up Panache. I was really wondering if you were having a shitty day and wanted to be mean or what. Haha! It was so deadpan and so serious sounding, that I really was wondering if you actually meant it. I thought I knew you better than that but, yeah, hahaha, I was confused for a while and I’m really glad you came back to explain it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/48 "2013-12-03T03:16:26Z")
I was going to say, tell her Grandma’s up on the roof! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/49 "2013-12-03T05:02:24Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Jeez, guys. I meant to add a 😉 to my post, and forgot. No, I wasn’t being serious. I keep forgetting that the printed word has no inflection, and anything can be taken seriously. And I keep forgetting how much bad advice is out there, and how easily people can believe someone would actually advise such a thing. Believe me, as a longtime cat person, I know better. > > So I did something stupid. Not the first time and probably not the last. > > And yes, **Rachellogram** , I’m an extremely weird person. Well, it’s the internet. You never know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zago)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/50 "2013-12-03T07:03:50Z")
My cat craves companionship but is most comfortable at home. The compromise I worked out was that my cat sitter would spend a minimum of 1/2 hour a day whether my cat engaged her or not - he always did (after eating his wet food). If he ignored her (which never happened) she was to stay anyway, watch tv, read or on the computer. It wasn’t optimal, he was definitely lonely, but moving him to a strange location would have been worse in my view. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/51 "2013-12-04T01:04:17Z")
Grandma set sail yesterday. The cat is lounging at her place. I, and several other relatives, will take turns visiting him. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077/52 "2013-12-04T01:36:30Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > \The cat is lounging at her place. \ That you can pretty much depend on. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-babysitting-a-cat/675077.md?page=2)