Boarding v friends v professional sitter for two weeks?

My cat is about 4 years old and we have never had to leave her alone.
We were always able to find a cat savvy friend to live in our home
during our vacations.

Until now.

We are leaving for two weeks and trying to decide what would be best
for her. Options as I see them:

1. Board her at some place. She will be unhappy but safe.

2. Have some close and trusted friends, who are not cat savvy, drop in
once or twice a day and do the best they can with food/litter.

3. Leave her at one of these friend's home. The cat will not have her
own environment but have people around her for longer hours.

4. Hire a professional sitter who will know what she is doing, but come
form short well-defined time. Maximum competence but the cat will get
least amount of company.

What would be best for her?

BTW we are in Chicago (if you want to recommend any hotels/sitters).
The cat is used to going out everyday but I'd feel safe if she stayed
inside for these two weeks.

Ajanta wrote:
My cat is about 4 years old and we have never had to leave her alone.
We were always able to find a cat savvy friend to live in our home
during our vacations.

Until now.

We are leaving for two weeks and trying to decide what would be best
for her. Options as I see them:

1. Board her at some place. She will be unhappy but safe.

2. Have some close and trusted friends, who are not cat savvy, drop in
once or twice a day and do the best they can with food/litter.

3. Leave her at one of these friend's home. The cat will not have her
own environment but have people around her for longer hours.

4. Hire a professional sitter who will know what she is doing, but
come form short well-defined time. Maximum competence but the cat
will get least amount of company.

What would be best for her?

BTW we are in Chicago (if you want to recommend any hotels/sitters).
The cat is used to going out everyday but I'd feel safe if she stayed
inside for these two weeks.

i contacted my vet, who had a lady who works in their office doing cat
drop-ins as a side business. she comes once/day. she takes care of my 7
cats, 2 large sal****er fish tanks, waters plants, picks up any deliveries,
puts out the garbage cans, medicates anyone who needs it, does a house check
for problems, and sweeps up the tumblefurs before i get home. she spends ~1
hour/visit, playing with and doing checks on them. she has authorization to
treat at the vet if anything is needed. $15/visit. if you were in my area i
would refer her to you.

the cat would probably be more comfortable in it's own surroundings.

regards,
charlie
cave creek, az

Ajanta wrote:
My cat is about 4 years old and we have never had to leave her alone.
We were always able to find a cat savvy friend to live in our home
during our vacations.

Until now.

We are leaving for two weeks and trying to decide what would be best
for her. Options as I see them:

1. Board her at some place. She will be unhappy but safe.

2. Have some close and trusted friends, who are not cat savvy, drop in
once or twice a day and do the best they can with food/litter.

3. Leave her at one of these friend's home. The cat will not have her
own environment but have people around her for longer hours.

4. Hire a professional sitter who will know what she is doing, but
come form short well-defined time. Maximum competence but the cat
will get least amount of company.

What would be best for her?

BTW we are in Chicago (if you want to recommend any hotels/sitters).
The cat is used to going out everyday but I'd feel safe if she stayed
inside for these two weeks.

Try to find a "come to the house" sitter, and get her to come for a few days
before you leave, so you can introduce her to the sitter in advance and she
will be comfortable with her coming in and feeding her. We did that, and it
worked out rather well. Our sitter stayed a half hour every day, and the
cat(s) were happy with that, and were the same when we came back as they
were before we left.

A couple of initial questions: is your cat on a special diet or
medication, or does she require any special care? If an emergency
should arise, are your friends willing and able to take her to the
vet's?

If your friends can't accomodate this or your cat has special needs,
certainly look for a professional sitter. Ask around and try to get a
recommendation from a friend or co-worker, if possible. Interview the
sitter in your home. Don't be afraid to ask questions and for
references. We had a couple of not-so-good sitters, but didn't learn
that there was trouble until several visits later. (For instance, if
your pet needs medication and the sitter has trouble giving it, what
will he or she do then? What time frame will they arrive)

Rene

I've used a professional sitter once and he was great but he stopped doing
the work. I asked my vet and he recommended his assistants and I used one
and that worked out fine. My neighbor across the street started doing pet
sitting as she was laid off and although she got another job she still does
my next door neighbor and myself because we live so close. I prefer someone
who lives nearby in case of a snowstorm.

In the event of an emergency I'm never further than a quick plane trip home-
cruising the exception.

Barb

On Feb 18, 8:40*am, "Barb" wrote:
I've used a professional sitter once and he was great but he stopped doing
the work. *I asked my vet and he recommended his assistants and I used one
and that worked out fine.

I forgot about suggesting that---call your vet's office. Sometimes
techs there will petsit on the side. That can be a great help if your
pet needs medication or etc. too.

Barb wrote:
I've used a professional sitter once and he was great but he stopped
doing the work. I asked my vet and he recommended his assistants and
I used one and that worked out fine. My neighbor across the street
started doing pet sitting as she was laid off and although she got
another job she still does my next door neighbor and myself because
we live so close. I prefer someone who lives nearby in case of a
snowstorm.
In the event of an emergency I'm never further than a quick plane
trip home- cruising the exception.

Barb

If I put a 5 lb bag of kibbles on my kitchen floor, and, "forget" to feed
the cats, they are adept at tearing into it and eating kibbles out of it
right there on the kitchen floor. (they love to do this) Also, if I leave
the kitchen cold water faucet dripping into a bowl, my cats can drink out of
it at night when they think I am asleep and don't know what they are
doing....I am sure that they would survive for a long time this way, if they
were inside cats and had to do these things for a living.....

On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:20:17 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

I've used a professional sitter once and he was great but he stopped
doing the work. I asked my vet and he recommended his assistants and
I used one and that worked out fine. My neighbor across the street
started doing pet sitting as she was laid off and although she got
another job she still does my next door neighbor and myself because
we live so close. I prefer someone who lives nearby in case of a
snowstorm.
In the event of an emergency I'm never further than a quick plane
trip home- cruising the exception.

Barb

If I put a 5 lb bag of kibbles on my kitchen floor, and, "forget" to feed
the cats, they are adept at tearing into it and eating kibbles out of it
right there on the kitchen floor. (they love to do this) Also, if I leave
the kitchen cold water faucet dripping into a bowl, my cats can drink out of
it at night when they think I am asleep and don't know what they are
doing....I am sure that they would survive for a long time this way, if they
were inside cats and had to do these things for a living.....


The food and water thing might work but what about the litter box
getting cleaned?!?!?

Yes, about the water. Even with a pet sitter I leave a big bowl in the
upstairs bathroom sink with water dripping into it. Just in case...

Barb

Guess you'd get the carpet cleaned after that!

Barb