Leaving a cat alone for 24 hours, first time

On Dec 28, 4:35*pm, Baldoni wrote:
RPSinha submitted this idea :





As I have mentioned previously, I am caring for a cat who is about 1
year old. During the warmer days she was outdoors all day, but came
inside to sleep. Then she met her first Midwestern winter and didn't
know what hit her. But she has adjusted, sort of, goes out many times
each day and returns in 1/2 hr to 2 hrs depending on the weather and
her mood.

Now we are facing a sudden development I need your expert advice with.

We must leave her alone for something like 24-30 hours. I realize that
this is no big deal for many cats but this one is simply not used to
being locked in for so long. The maximum she has been locked in alone
is like 5-6 hours, so this will be a big jump.

We'll of course feed her just before leaving, leave some of her
favorite canned food for a little later and kibble for after that,
fresh water and fresh litter (I know this will be a torture for her,
she like to "go" outside unless the weather is truly dreadful).

Any other advice you can give from experience? Should we leave the
windows shades open or closed? I can't decide if looking outside will
be fun for her or torture?! What about lights: lot of lights on or just
a few?

TIA!

(The temperature on that day is predicted to have a *high* of 34, so
probably too cold for what *she* would want as we leave: to be left
outdoors! She often has those moments but always comes running back a
little later.)

I got myself another cat to keep the first cat I had company. *I now
have 3 cats.

--
Count *Baldoni- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Funny you should say that....
We started the same way, & now we have *A Large Family*. It's a very
Cat- Thing!
Now we have 8 Full Timers )

I'd see if I could get a neighbor to call round, just to make sure
that all is well.
This stops you worrying about her, & you. Perhaps someone the cat
knows already?
Just a thought.
Sheelagh "o"

"jmc" wrote in message

Make sure a neighbor or friend has the keys to your house, and knows the
cat is there, so in an emergency they can enter your house and rescue the
cat. Or take care of her if for whatever reason you cannot return when
you expect. Ideally, you should have someone look in on her anyway, at
least once every 24 hours.

There is a lady in our area who does this for a living....She will come in
every day while we are gone and feed and change the water and keep our pets
company for about 30 minutes.....She will also make sure our house is secure
and hasn't been broken into or anything like that. She only charges about
$20 a day for this, and our pets like her.....She will also water our
plants, remove the newspapers from the front porch and do other stuff like
that. She has a couple of daughters who help her out and together with them,
she makes a pretty good living.

William Graham wrote:

: You may be happier, but are your cats happier? - This is an old argument,
: and I have come to the conclusion that what you do has to be tailored to the
: circumstances...

For a theoretical discussion I also feel that we can't have a universal
rule for cats that ignores all specific circumstances any more than we
could for people or children.

For practical aspects of this particular situation, it really wasn't my
decision. The cat's owners raised her to be outdoor/indoor. The area is
safe enough. When I took over (for a total of 6 months when they are
abroad) I continued with their system. When winter hit, her first one,
she herself was wise enough to become 90% indoor!

Usually people are coming and going and somebody is always around or
about to arrive, and being there for her has not been a problem in
practice. This is a special situation, people are away for the holidays
and then a family situation arose that requires us to be gone for about
24 hours. I just want to make it as comfortable for her as possible.

Regarding your previous comment about cat doors, I want to add that
most ironically her own house, only a few doors away, has a cat door.
However, it must feel lonely there and she has stopped going. I go
there almost everyday to get mail etc and in the beginning I tried to
take her with me thinking she'd like it, but she "dropped out" of the
program herself. So for about two seconds I did think if I should leave
in that house because of the cat door. But all of her life is here now
and we soon felt that she would be happier here.

jmc wrote:

: When we leave our cat alone for one or two days (no more!), we leave two
: litterboxes (one in the tub, one her normal one), her day's supply of
: wet food (she likes it a little old anyway, dunno why), and enough dry
: to get her through one more day than I expect to be gone. Also make
: sure she has twice as much water as I expect her to need. Minimal
: lights, and as for the shades: If she wants to look out the windows she
: will, whether the shades are open or closed (unless you have external
: wood shutters!). Personally, I'd make it easy for her to look out.
: It'll give her something to do.
:
: Leave a couple of safe toys out for her to play with as well.

Thanks, just the sort of advice I was looking for. Would you scatter
the food and water at a few places leave it all in her usual eating
place?

: If you don't think she'll behave well...

She has never misbehaved---other than waking me up at 4AM. I am only
trying to make it comfortable for her.

blkcatgal wrote:

: You could leave a radio playing too. The sound of music and/or music might
: help.

Great suggestion. We have a classical station, NPR, an all-news
station. Probably one of those at low volume, so she also has the
option to get away from the "music" if she doesn't like it.

I could also leave the TV on without sound. (I don't want a situation
when she has no escape from the sound anywhere in the house.)

In article ,
"William Graham" wrote:

"jmc" wrote in message

Make sure a neighbor or friend has the keys to your house, and knows the
cat is there, so in an emergency they can enter your house and rescue the
cat. Or take care of her if for whatever reason you cannot return when
you expect. Ideally, you should have someone look in on her anyway, at
least once every 24 hours.

There is a lady in our area who does this for a living....She will come in
every day while we are gone and feed and change the water and keep our pets
company for about 30 minutes.....She will also make sure our house is secure
and hasn't been broken into or anything like that. She only charges about
$20 a day for this, and our pets like her.....She will also water our
plants, remove the newspapers from the front porch and do other stuff like
that. She has a couple of daughters who help her out and together with them,
she makes a pretty good living.

Yes, this is great. I have someone who is a Pet Nanny (sort of a
franchise thing in the US) who has been in business for many years--I've
had her for at least 10 years--who feeds pets, walks dogs, waters
plants, brings in the mail and the newspaper,for a current price of $20
per day (has gone up over the years.) A couple of years ago when we had
some horrific storms, she even brought the patio furniture inside the
house to help wind proof us as well as possible. She has a partner, and
during the busiest times will also hire temps from among the students of
veterinary medicine at the local university. It's a wonderful service
to have available. Of course not the same as having someone here with
the cats all of he time, but plenty good enough to give me peace of mind
about leaving for a few days.

Diana

"RPSinha" wrote in message
...
William Graham wrote:

: You may be happier, but are your cats happier? - This is an old
argument,
: and I have come to the conclusion that what you do has to be tailored to
the
: circumstances...

For a theoretical discussion I also feel that we can't have a universal
rule for cats that ignores all specific circumstances any more than we
could for people or children.

For practical aspects of this particular situation, it really wasn't my
decision. The cat's owners raised her to be outdoor/indoor. The area is
safe enough. When I took over (for a total of 6 months when they are
abroad) I continued with their system. When winter hit, her first one,
she herself was wise enough to become 90% indoor!

Usually people are coming and going and somebody is always around or
about to arrive, and being there for her has not been a problem in
practice. This is a special situation, people are away for the holidays
and then a family situation arose that requires us to be gone for about
24 hours. I just want to make it as comfortable for her as possible.

Regarding your previous comment about cat doors, I want to add that
most ironically her own house, only a few doors away, has a cat door.
However, it must feel lonely there and she has stopped going. I go
there almost everyday to get mail etc and in the beginning I tried to
take her with me thinking she'd like it, but she "dropped out" of the
program herself. So for about two seconds I did think if I should leave
in that house because of the cat door. But all of her life is here now
and we soon felt that she would be happier here.

Yes. Of my four cats, the one who spends the most time indoors is the
(former) feral cat that wouldn't even come in the house for the first three
years we fed him. Now, he seldom leaves unless we have company.....More than
about one stranger is too much for him, and he will leave until they are
gone. Of the other three, they seldom leave the property, especially in
Winter. And you are right. Cats in general like the company of people. Even
wild ones like to hang around humans. My cousin used to own a grape farm in
California's Napa Valley, and she had three wild cats that she watered, but
didn't feed, so they would keep the birds away from the grapes.....These
cats were unapproachable, but they still liked to lay around the farmhouse,
about 10 or 15 yards from us while we were on her sundeck.

"RPSinha" wrote in message
...
blkcatgal wrote:

: You could leave a radio playing too. The sound of music and/or music
might
: help.

Great suggestion. We have a classical station, NPR, an all-news
station. Probably one of those at low volume, so she also has the
option to get away from the "music" if she doesn't like it.

I could also leave the TV on without sound. (I don't want a situation
when she has no escape from the sound anywhere in the house.)

Careful with the TV....I used to investigate fires and other accidents for a
living. TV's frequently start fires in homes.....Also, don't leave torchier
halogen lamps and other high energy sources energized while you are gone.
Now, I will leave these small screw-in fluorescents on, but seldom anything
else....

"Cat Protector" wrote in message
...
Cats should be kept indoors all the time. By letting them roam outside
they can get hit by cars, encounter people who might harm and abuse them,
become a target for predators, and get in fights with other cats. All 3 of
my cats are indoor cats and I'm a lot happier knowing they're safe.


I'm sure the newgroup is sick of the argument but for anyone who does feel
like joining in...

My cat is an indoor cat. The thought of him ever making it outside makes me
sick.

That being said, my position is that if a cat is not raised as an indoors
cat and has its claws, then I see no problem with allowing it to roam
outdoors.

Cats are animals. They live outdoors in the wild. In the past I may have
said that cats should not be allowed out doors in big cities but I live in
an apartment in a metropolitan area and there has been a cat I catch jumping
out of our dumpster on a regular basis. It is a healthy looking at so I am
not sure if it has a home that it goes to but it manages to survive the time
it does spend outside. I've thought about trying to catch it and calling
animal control but it is alive, it looks healthy, and it will not stay that
way if it gets euthinized.

I think arguing that cats should be kept indoors all the time because of the
reasons you mention, Cat Protector, is made for good reasons but is
unrealistic. An indoors cat could die in more than one ways from being
trapped indoors. I doubt an unbiased party has attempted to generate
statistics for the chances of an indoor cat living vs. an outdoor cat but
even if it is well know, the point is that you can not protect a cat from
everything.

A person can get in a fight with a bear camping, but (some of us) still go
camping. A person can get hit by a car but we still go outside.

As much as we want to provide for and keep our cats safe the simple fact of
the matter is that they are vulnerable living beings, just like us.

My two cents.

David



"William Graham" wrote in message
. ..

"RPSinha" wrote in message
...
As I have mentioned previously, I am caring for a cat who is about 1
year old. During the warmer days she was outdoors all day, but came
inside to sleep. Then she met her first Midwestern winter and didn't
know what hit her. But she has adjusted, sort of, goes out many times
each day and returns in 1/2 hr to 2 hrs depending on the weather and
her mood.

Now we are facing a sudden development I need your expert advice with.

We must leave her alone for something like 24-30 hours. I realize that
this is no big deal for many cats but this one is simply not used to
being locked in for so long. The maximum she has been locked in alone
is like 5-6 hours, so this will be a big jump.

We'll of course feed her just before leaving, leave some of her
favorite canned food for a little later and kibble for after that,
fresh water and fresh litter (I know this will be a torture for her,
she like to "go" outside unless the weather is truly dreadful).

Any other advice you can give from experience? Should we leave the
windows shades open or closed? I can't decide if looking outside will
be fun for her or torture?! What about lights: lot of lights on or just
a few?

TIA!

(The temperature on that day is predicted to have a *high* of 34, so
probably too cold for what *she* would want as we leave: to be left
outdoors! She often has those moments but always comes running back a
little later.)

I use cat doors....They are small rectangular openings that you put in
doors that have a leather or vinyl flap with a magnet at the bottom that
kind of holds them closed to keep the cold air out. but the cat or small
dog can push against them and they will open so it can go out. If you
install them as far away from the door handle/lock as possible than
thieves won't be able to reach the latch and get in, so they will be
relatively safe. but they do require you to saw a rectangle in your door
in order to install them.....They usually come with instructions and a
template for doing this.....They also have a panel which will block them
so your cat (or any other animal) won't be able to use them. They also
make them in long aluminum sections for installation in sliding glass
doors that lead to patios and the like....We have one of those, and two
of the regular kind that lead from the kitchen to the garage, and thru
the garage door to the outside so our cats can come and go day or night
to either the front or the back yard.

"David" wrote in message
an apartment in a metropolitan area and there has been a cat I catch
jumping
out of our dumpster on a regular basis. It is a healthy looking at so I
am
not sure if it has a home that it goes to but it manages to survive the
time
it does spend outside. I've thought about trying to catch it and calling
animal control but it is alive, it looks healthy, and it will not stay
that
way if it gets euthinized.

If that outdoor cat was spayed or neutered, I'd agree with you. However, too
many wild, outdoor cats have a difficult time living outdoors in cities or
anywhere else, especially in climates that have frigid winters. Add into the
mix how fast cats can procreate and one realizes that feral cats can quickly
become a real problem. To ignore outdoor cats assuming that they're living
well is dooming a substantial number of them to hard, difficult deaths by
starvation, cold, traffic, abuse or otherwise.

My cat still has her claws, but she is the gentlest, most friendly cat one
would ever want to have. I shudder to think of her foraging outside by
herself in winter and struggling to survive.

My two cents.