Do You Tell Your Cats When You're Going Away?

Every day (several times a day) for the last week I've been telling Persia
I'll be going out of town for a week (hopefully not longer). In the "old
days" the clue would have been me packing a suitcase, an activity I used to
try to hide from her. That's not happening this time since I have two
closets full of clothes back in TN.

I assure her she won't be boarded at "da smelly playce". I assure her my
neighbor will take good care of her; she'll feed her and make sure the
fountain has plenty of water and scoop the litterbox. I tell her not to be
afraid, maybe even let her *see* her. I don't know if it does any good, but
it makes me feel better Then again, she *has* been extra clingy this
week so maybe she does understand something different is about to happen.

Do you folks do this if you're going to be gone for a few days?

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
Every day (several times a day) for the last week I've been telling
Persia I'll be going out of town for a week (hopefully not longer). In
the "old days" the clue would have been me packing a suitcase, an
activity I used to try to hide from her. That's not happening this time
since I have two closets full of clothes back in TN.

I assure her she won't be boarded at "da smelly playce". I assure her
my neighbor will take good care of her; she'll feed her and make sure
the fountain has plenty of water and scoop the litterbox. I tell her
not to be afraid, maybe even let her *see* her. I don't know if it does
any good, but it makes me feel better Then again, she *has* been
extra clingy this week so maybe she does understand something different
is about to happen.

Do you folks do this if you're going to be gone for a few days?

Jill
Not just for a few days, but every morning when Eric and I leave for
work. I tell the kids to "call us if you need us...regular phone, cell
phone or pager. Call Mamaw and say "Hi Mamaw...We love you" and call
cousin Jynx and say "What's up?" I know it's silly but it makes me feel
better...

--Kim

When DH and I went on a cruise at the end of April, I told Lily every which
way that she was going to be boarded at the vet's. We have never been
separated before. I had my neighbor's kids come in and feed and clean up
after Jazz, but that was 4 years ago and they're all grown up and gone away.
I figured going to the vet's was better because the vet tech, Tony, is the
one who holds Lily down when I go to get her nails trimmed and she knows who
he is.

She yowled all the way to the vet. Then, just before the ship sailed I
called them to ask how she was doing. They told me she was hiding behind the
litter box and refused to come out and that she wasn't eating much.

After 7 days I went to pick her up and saw that she had lost weight. Tony
said he picked her up and cuddled her a couple of times, but generally she
kept to herself and hissed at the other vet techs when they tried to pick
her up.

It took 2 weeks for her to decompress. During this time, she did not fail to
come and look for him at least once every hour. She would come up to me and
ask to be cuddled. She's gotten back to acting normal by now, but I am
reluctant to take her out of the house the next time we have to go somewhere
and can't take her. We shall see what we can do.

Lily & her mama

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Every day (several times a day) for the last week I've been telling Persia
I'll be going out of town for a week (hopefully not longer). In the "old
days" the clue would have been me packing a suitcase, an activity I used
to try to hide from her. That's not happening this time since I have two
closets full of clothes back in TN.

I assure her she won't be boarded at "da smelly playce". I assure her my
neighbor will take good care of her; she'll feed her and make sure the
fountain has plenty of water and scoop the litterbox. I tell her not to
be afraid, maybe even let her *see* her. I don't know if it does any
good, but it makes me feel better Then again, she *has* been extra
clingy this week so maybe she does understand something different is about
to happen.

Do you folks do this if you're going to be gone for a few days?

Jill



--
Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time.

"Irulan" wrote in message
...
When DH and I went on a cruise at the end of April, I told Lily every
which way that she was going to be boarded at the vet's. We have never
been separated before. I had my neighbor's kids come in and feed and clean
up after Jazz, but that was 4 years ago and they're all grown up and gone
away. I figured going to the vet's was better because the vet tech, Tony,
is the one who holds Lily down when I go to get her nails trimmed and she
knows who he is.

She yowled all the way to the vet. Then, just before the ship sailed I
called them to ask how she was doing. They told me she was hiding behind
the litter box and refused to come out and that she wasn't eating much.

After 7 days I went to pick her up and saw that she had lost weight. Tony
said he picked her up and cuddled her a couple of times, but generally she
kept to herself and hissed at the other vet techs when they tried to pick
her up.

It took 2 weeks for her to decompress. During this time, she did not fail
to come and look for him at least once every hour. She would come up to me
and ask to be cuddled. She's gotten back to acting normal by now, but I am
reluctant to take her out of the house the next time we have to go
somewhere and can't take her. We shall see what we can do.

Lily & her mama

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Every day (several times a day) for the last week I've been telling
Persia I'll be going out of town for a week (hopefully not longer). In
the "old days" the clue would have been me packing a suitcase, an
activity I used to try to hide from her. That's not happening this time
since I have two closets full of clothes back in TN.

I assure her she won't be boarded at "da smelly playce". I assure her my
neighbor will take good care of her; she'll feed her and make sure the
fountain has plenty of water and scoop the litterbox. I tell her not to
be afraid, maybe even let her *see* her. I don't know if it does any
good, but it makes me feel better Then again, she *has* been extra
clingy this week so maybe she does understand something different is
about to happen.

Do you folks do this if you're going to be gone for a few days?

Jill



--
Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time.

Do you have any pet sitters in your area? I have used the same pet sitter
for 5 years, and that has worked very well for me. She comes in twice a
day, feeds my furbabies, grooms them, plays with them, etc. and also brings
in the mail and papers and turns on different lights to make the house look
occupied. Even so, I have always called Holly "my little shadow" because
she follows me everywhere--but she is more like "velcro kitty" for several
days after I return. However, they eat normally and do not show any signs
of distress when my cat sitter is here. She also comes over a couple of
days before I leave and gets "reintroduced," and she leaves a log where she
describes everything so I can read it after I return. I think this is much
preferable to boarding. The cats remain in their normal environment, but
this obviously means that you need to check references *very* carefully to
makes sure the person you select is reliable and trustworthy.

Oh, and back to the original question...I say "goodbye" to Holly and Duffy
and "I'll be back soon," etc. *every* time I leave the house.

MaryL

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
...

"Irulan" wrote in message
...
When DH and I went on a cruise at the end of April, I told Lily every
which way that she was going to be boarded at the vet's. We have never
been separated before. I had my neighbor's kids come in and feed and
clean up after Jazz, but that was 4 years ago and they're all grown up
and gone away. I figured going to the vet's was better because the vet
tech, Tony, is the one who holds Lily down when I go to get her nails
trimmed and she knows who he is.

She yowled all the way to the vet. Then, just before the ship sailed I
called them to ask how she was doing. They told me she was hiding behind
the litter box and refused to come out and that she wasn't eating much.

After 7 days I went to pick her up and saw that she had lost weight. Tony
said he picked her up and cuddled her a couple of times, but generally
she kept to herself and hissed at the other vet techs when they tried to
pick her up.

It took 2 weeks for her to decompress. During this time, she did not fail
to come and look for him at least once every hour. She would come up to
me and ask to be cuddled. She's gotten back to acting normal by now, but
I am reluctant to take her out of the house the next time we have to go
somewhere and can't take her. We shall see what we can do.

Lily & her mama

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Every day (several times a day) for the last week I've been telling
Persia I'll be going out of town for a week (hopefully not longer). In
the "old days" the clue would have been me packing a suitcase, an
activity I used to try to hide from her. That's not happening this time
since I have two closets full of clothes back in TN.

I assure her she won't be boarded at "da smelly playce". I assure her
my neighbor will take good care of her; she'll feed her and make sure
the fountain has plenty of water and scoop the litterbox. I tell her
not to be afraid, maybe even let her *see* her. I don't know if it does
any good, but it makes me feel better Then again, she *has* been
extra clingy this week so maybe she does understand something different
is about to happen.

Do you folks do this if you're going to be gone for a few days?

Jill



--
Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time.

Do you have any pet sitters in your area? I have used the same pet sitter
for 5 years, and that has worked very well for me. She comes in twice a
day, feeds my furbabies, grooms them, plays with them, etc. and also
brings in the mail and papers and turns on different lights to make the
house look occupied. Even so, I have always called Holly "my little
shadow" because she follows me everywhere--but she is more like "velcro
kitty" for several days after I return. However, they eat normally and do
not show any signs of distress when my cat sitter is here. She also comes
over a couple of days before I leave and gets "reintroduced," and she
leaves a log where she describes everything so I can read it after I
return. I think this is much preferable to boarding. The cats remain in
their normal environment, but this obviously means that you need to check
references *very* carefully to makes sure the person you select is
reliable and trustworthy.

Oh, and back to the original question...I say "goodbye" to Holly and Duffy
and "I'll be back soon," etc. *every* time I leave the house.

MaryL

I say something like that to mine whenever I leave the house, too.

Joy

I assure her she won't be boarded at "da smelly playce". I assure her my
neighbor will take good care of her; she'll feed her and make sure the
fountain has plenty of water and scoop the litterbox. I tell her not to be
afraid, maybe even let her *see* her. I don't know if it does any good, but
it makes me feel better Then again, she *has* been extra clingy this
week so maybe she does understand something different is about to happen.

Do you folks do this if you're going to be gone for a few days?

Jill

Yep. Every morning as I leave the house I tell the kitties I'll be back
as soon as I can, and when we travel to WI overnight I make sure to tell
them how long we'll be gone. Always.

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Every day (several times a day) for the last week I've been telling Persia
I'll be going out of town for a week (hopefully not longer). In the "old
days" the clue would have been me packing a suitcase, an activity I used
to try to hide from her. That's not happening this time since I have two
closets full of clothes back in TN.

I assure her she won't be boarded at "da smelly playce". I assure her my
neighbor will take good care of her; she'll feed her and make sure the
fountain has plenty of water and scoop the litterbox. I tell her not to
be afraid, maybe even let her *see* her. I don't know if it does any
good, but it makes me feel better Then again, she *has* been extra
clingy this week so maybe she does understand something different is about
to happen.

Do you folks do this if you're going to be gone for a few days?

Jill

I have a routine that I give them when we go anywhere. I tell them where
we're going, how long we're going to be gone, that they cannot have loud
parties, to keep off the computer (not that they listen), no over night
guests, use the phone in an emergency and that we all have our cell phones.
As a final message, I remind them that they are not old enough for alcohol,
they are not to order pizza, and if they get jobs to send money.

They in their turn pretend not to understand me, ignore my most inane
utterances, and climb into any baggage going with us. Merlin almost made it
to the cancer center once in the bag that we carry any spare clothing,
books, and sodas in. He made the mistake of raising his head as I was
zipping the bag up.

Pam S.

On May 16, 11:35*am, "jmcquown" wrote:
Every day (several times a day) for the last week I've been telling Persia
I'll be going out of town for a week (hopefully not longer). *In the "old
days" the clue would have been me packing a suitcase, an activity I used to
try to hide from her. *That's not happening this time since I have two
closets full of clothes back in TN.

I assure her she won't be boarded at "da smelly playce". *I assure her my
neighbor will take good care of her; she'll feed her and make sure the
fountain has plenty of water and scoop the litterbox. *I tell her not to be
afraid, maybe even let her *see* her. *I don't know if it does any good, but
it makes me feel better *Then again, she *has* been extra clingy this
week so maybe she does understand something different is about to happen.

Do you folks do this if you're going to be gone for a few days?

Jill

Oh, of course. Even if I'm going to the City for a doc's appointment
and will be
gone all day. I also delegate who's in charge while I'm gone. Usually
Bootsie
is left in charge, although a little power probably goes to her head.

Sherry

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
(snip)
Oh, of course. Even if I'm going to the City for a doc's appointment
and will be
gone all day. I also delegate who's in charge while I'm gone. Usually
Bootsie
is left in charge, although a little power probably goes to her head.

Sherry

I do the same thing, announcing who is in charge. It's usually my right
hand dog, Ricki Lee, as she is a fair and just ruler, also big enough to
keep everyone in line. The cats look upon Rick as a friend and protector,
they know that she is their friend and will always watch out for them.
Karla

On May 16, 6:06*pm, "tanadashoes" wrote:
*Merlin almost made it
to the cancer center once in the bag that we carry any spare clothing,
books, and sodas in. *He made the mistake of raising his head as I was
zipping the bag up.


Jack came round once many years ago when he left he picked up his
walked downstairs and was just getting into his car when the bag
moved! It contained one Fugazi! As he said if she hadn't moved when
she did, he'd have dropped the bag on the backseat and driven her home
with him

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs