stay home versus board out?

My wife and I are going on a month long trip to Australia and are wondering
what to do with our 2 year old cat Elvis.
We may be able to find 2 places where the people might take him but they are
not experienced cat owners and I'm afraid he'll eat their plants, shred
their furniture, spread and track litter all over the place (he's a real
digger) and escape out the door and get lost etc etc
I know cats don't usually like strange places and often go and hide for a
few days but he adapted immediately to our place a few months ago. I'm
wondering how our very sociable cat would fare if he was left at home and
just visited once a day by one of our (grown up) kids. We can't leave him
with the kids because they have dogs and Elvis has attacked every dog he has
been exposed to. He has claws and is an indoor cat.
We got him from an outfit called 'friends of abandoned pets' and he was in
pretty bad shape when they found him. We don't know what he went through but
don't want him to get lost again.

Any ideas, opinions?

Wayne in Ottawa

"Wayne" wrote:

Any ideas, opinions?

I would stick with the home visits but why not get all your grown up
kids to pitch in so he gets more than one visit a day. Also maybe they
could stay overnight once in a while like on weekends. You could also
supplement their visits with a pet sitter but don't tell the kids
they're off the hook :-)
-mhd

"Wayne" wrote in message
...
My wife and I are going on a month long trip to Australia and are
wondering what to do with our 2 year old cat Elvis.
We may be able to find 2 places where the people might take him but they
are not experienced cat owners and I'm afraid he'll eat their plants,
shred their furniture, spread and track litter all over the place (he's a
real digger) and escape out the door and get lost etc etc
I know cats don't usually like strange places and often go and hide for a
few days but he adapted immediately to our place a few months ago. I'm
wondering how our very sociable cat would fare if he was left at home and
just visited once a day by one of our (grown up) kids. We can't leave him
with the kids because they have dogs and Elvis has attacked every dog he
has been exposed to. He has claws and is an indoor cat.
We got him from an outfit called 'friends of abandoned pets' and he was in
pretty bad shape when they found him. We don't know what he went through
but don't want him to get lost again.

Any ideas, opinions?

Wayne in Ottawa

There is no way to know how your cat will react to daily visits and spending
most of his time alone, until you have actually tried this.

When it comes to my cat Matilda and the way she is, whenever I have holiday
plans that don't include her, I take her to Eastway Kennels in Navan. Over
the past five years she has spent a lot of time there. Longest time at a
stretch being 21 days.

http://www.eastwaykennels.com/cattery.html

Nicole is very knowledgeable when it comes to cats and so are the rest of
the staff, so if kennelling is an option that you're open to - Eastway might
suit you.

Judy in Ottawa.

On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:49:11 -0500, Wayne wrote:

My wife and I are going on a month long trip to Australia and are wondering
what to do with our 2 year old cat Elvis.
We may be able to find 2 places where the people might take him but they are
not experienced cat owners and I'm afraid he'll eat their plants, shred
their furniture, spread and track litter all over the place (he's a real
digger) and escape out the door and get lost etc etc
I know cats don't usually like strange places and often go and hide for a
few days but he adapted immediately to our place a few months ago. I'm
wondering how our very sociable cat would fare if he was left at home and
just visited once a day by one of our (grown up) kids. We can't leave him
with the kids because they have dogs and Elvis has attacked every dog he has
been exposed to. He has claws and is an indoor cat.
We got him from an outfit called 'friends of abandoned pets' and he was in
pretty bad shape when they found him. We don't know what he went through but
don't want him to get lost again.

Any ideas, opinions?

Wayne in Ottawa

For my cats when we travel, we found a nice young lady (20 years old) who
is reliable, dependable and lives at home with her parents. She loves
coming and staying at our house (she housesits for us). She attends the
local community college and works. We've had her coming for about 2 years
now and she does very well. Before her, we had a niece (college age) come
and stay. I found that my cats do so much better with someone staying at
our house than just someone coming in once or twice a day to feed them.
She feeds them, plays with them and even scoops the litter box. We pay her
for coming and staying.

I realize that this is not an option for everyone (sometimes it's hard to
find someone you feel you can trust with your home and kitties), but it's
worked very well for us.

Patty

That's a tough one. It would really be wonderful if you could get a
live-in house-sitter. I used to do that for people in my unattached,
apartment days. The pets would get to stay home and would get my full
attention.

If that's not an option, I'd hate the thought of my own cats being home
alone for that long with just daily visits. It would be easy to miss any
health changes.

As for the two other places he could live, the only thing that worried
me in your description was getting out the door. Do you think he might
try? I'd probably judge on the cat's temperament to new surroundings and
if you think the people are diligent about keeping him safe. Do they
have small kids that run in and out and might leave the door open? If
you decide on that option, maybe you could take him to visit for a few
times beforehand so he can get used to the place with you there too?

Whatever you decide, I'd make sure he's chipped or has a collar and tag.

Good luck with your decision,

Rhonda

Wayne wrote:
My wife and I are going on a month long trip to Australia and are wondering
what to do with our 2 year old cat Elvis.
We may be able to find 2 places where the people might take him but they are
not experienced cat owners and I'm afraid he'll eat their plants, shred
their furniture, spread and track litter all over the place (he's a real
digger) and escape out the door and get lost etc etc
I know cats don't usually like strange places and often go and hide for a
few days but he adapted immediately to our place a few months ago. I'm
wondering how our very sociable cat would fare if he was left at home and
just visited once a day by one of our (grown up) kids. We can't leave him
with the kids because they have dogs and Elvis has attacked every dog he has
been exposed to. He has claws and is an indoor cat.
We got him from an outfit called 'friends of abandoned pets' and he was in
pretty bad shape when they found him. We don't know what he went through but
don't want him to get lost again.

Any ideas, opinions?

Wayne in Ottawa

Wayne wrote:
My wife and I are going on a month long trip to Australia and are wondering
what to do with our 2 year old cat Elvis.
We may be able to find 2 places where the people might take him but they are
not experienced cat owners and I'm afraid he'll eat their plants, shred
their furniture, spread and track litter all over the place (he's a real
digger) and escape out the door and get lost etc etc
I know cats don't usually like strange places and often go and hide for a
few days but he adapted immediately to our place a few months ago. I'm
wondering how our very sociable cat would fare if he was left at home and
just visited once a day by one of our (grown up) kids. We can't leave him
with the kids because they have dogs and Elvis has attacked every dog he has
been exposed to. He has claws and is an indoor cat.
We got him from an outfit called 'friends of abandoned pets' and he was in
pretty bad shape when they found him. We don't know what he went through but
don't want him to get lost again.

Any ideas, opinions?

Wayne in Ottawa

See if you can hire a college student to stay at the house with the
cat. Many students like to get out of the dorms and have a place of
their own. I would have *killed* to get a gig like that when I lived
in the dorms.

otherwise, someone really needs to be with the cat at least an hour a
day. Boarding is not a good option - a month is *far* too long unless
it is an exceptional boarding facility that has huge enclosures and
daily exercise.

-L.

I'd ask for references if you're going to have a college student (or anyone
who is not licensed) stay there.


On 11/14/06 12:14 AM, in article
, "-L."
wrote:


Wayne wrote:
My wife and I are going on a month long trip to Australia and are wondering
what to do with our 2 year old cat Elvis.
We may be able to find 2 places where the people might take him but they are
not experienced cat owners and I'm afraid he'll eat their plants, shred
their furniture, spread and track litter all over the place (he's a real
digger) and escape out the door and get lost etc etc
I know cats don't usually like strange places and often go and hide for a
few days but he adapted immediately to our place a few months ago. I'm
wondering how our very sociable cat would fare if he was left at home and
just visited once a day by one of our (grown up) kids. We can't leave him
with the kids because they have dogs and Elvis has attacked every dog he has
been exposed to. He has claws and is an indoor cat.
We got him from an outfit called 'friends of abandoned pets' and he was in
pretty bad shape when they found him. We don't know what he went through but
don't want him to get lost again.

Any ideas, opinions?

Wayne in Ottawa

See if you can hire a college student to stay at the house with the
cat. Many students like to get out of the dorms and have a place of
their own. I would have *killed* to get a gig like that when I lived
in the dorms.

otherwise, someone really needs to be with the cat at least an hour a
day. Boarding is not a good option - a month is *far* too long unless
it is an exceptional boarding facility that has huge enclosures and
daily exercise.

-L.

"-L." wrote:

See if you can hire a college student to stay at the house with the
cat. Many students like to get out of the dorms and have a place of
their own. I would have *killed* to get a gig like that when I lived
in the dorms.

Especially since you can't throw really large parties in a small dorm
room.

-mhd