Cats Home Alone

Originally Posted by Nancy Prentice

Am considering leaving my 2 indoor cats at home alone while I go on a 7
day vacation. Nobody available to do the pet-sitter thing. If they have
the run of the house, plenty of food and water, extra litter boxes,
toys, and each other -- do you think that this is a feasable plan? I
don't see any problem other than the fact that they will be a bit
"anti-social" for a day or two once I return. Cats seem to get over it
much easier than people!

I couldnt handle that, my wife and I took a 5 day cruise and worried about our kitties most of the time even though my mother inlaw checked on them every day and spent the night a few times. Sad to say when we got home from our cruise my cat Riley looked very thin, took him to vet a few times, changed vets and found out he had kidney failure and wasting disease, we had to put him down 2 months after. Needless to say I will never leave my cats for more than 1 day.

Harry - Do you think that your 5 day absence had something to do with
your cat's kidney failure???? If so, could you explain how?

- Nancy

Originally Posted by Nancy Prentice

Harry - Do you think that your 5 day absence had something to do with
your cat's kidney failure???? If so, could you explain how?

- Nancy

HOW is simple. There was nobody around to notice a difference in that cat's normal functions and take it to the vet immediately.

Nancy, I think you're just looking for justification and the blessings of others to do what you know in your heart is not in your cats' best interests. So you get defensive and start calling names ("emotional, irrational," etc.) when you aren't getting the response you want. So just who is emotional, really??? It seems to me the only thing you are not emotional about is your cats' welfare. Where is your passion for that?

I pay a pet sitter $15 a trip to look after my two cats when we are out of town. She and her family come over every afternoon, play with the cats, clean the litter boxes, feed and water them, pick up mail and papers, water plants, makes sure the cats habits are normal (litter box leavings are normal) and that they are acting healthy, check and make sure there is no mechanical problem in the house, they even feed the birds outside. She has all the info regarding the vet and emergency numbers. Then she leaves me a written report on how the visits went. My shy cat, she reports, is still a "little shy" but the other cat "really enjoyed the attention." Just like normal for my cats. If you can afford a trip overseas, then obviously you can afford $15 - $20 a day for a pet sitter. Cats are happiest in their own home, but they are not happy being left alone for days on end with no contact with "their" humans (or a good substitute). They will adapt very nicely to a good pet sitter. As others said, contact your vet for recommendations. Oftentimes, their technicians and assistants will do this as a way to earn a little extra money, and they really love working with animals. And your alarm system would not be a barrier to these folks.

The bottom line is, if you are not willing to do what is right for your cats, maybe you should be asking why you have them in the first place. They are living creatures who in their way love you and show it by giving you head bumps, nuzzling up to you when you're reading or on the computer, snuggling up to you at night, mewing at you when you're fixing a meal, rubbing up against your legs when you are sitting at the table, licking your hand or face, crawling into your lap or sitting next to you or on the back of your chair/sofa when you're watching TV. These are all cat ways of saying, "I love you." They wouldn't do any of these things if they didn't care about you. The question is, do you care as much about them?????

Dori - Would you please explain how it is that you KNOW what cats are
feeling when they are at home alone?

- Thanks, Nancy