I'm A Little Stressed. Please Help!

tabbysia

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I will be possibly going on a mini vacation next week out of state. I will be leaving on Tuesday at about 9:00 in the morning and returning on Thursday at about 7:00 in the evening. I am a bit of a recluse and don't really have any friends or neighbors to check on my cats, and all of my family is gong with me, so this means that my cats would be at home unattended for the entire time that I am away. I have NEVER left my cats alone for this length of time. I am really considering not going on the trip, and it is making me physically sick to my stomach thinking about it and having to make a decision. What do you think I should do? Has anyone else left their cats alone for this length of time and had everything turn out okay?

I know some of you will probably recommend hiring a pet sitting service, but this is not an option for me for many reasons.
 

Mia6

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As long as you have extra litter boxes, water and food they will probably be fine.
When my m.i.l. was in hospital, Lena, her cat who my ex husband and I eventually had come live with us, was left alone from Sunday nights till Friday nights when we would come from Columbus back to Cleveland. She was fine and she was also one of those cats who didn't like strangers. Your cats will have each other. But if you are physically sick over this maybe you could call a vet and ask their opinion.

Could you do a trial? Stay all night with someone for one night and see how they are when you get back?
 

marmoset

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I’m generally in the get a sitter camp but in an emergency it’s not that long. Growing up we left cats alone for the weekend with extra food (dry not wet) and water bowls and we did not have problems leaving 1-3 cats that way.

I would not leave elderly or kittens without a sitter or any cat with health issues alone for that period though.

I hope you can work it out to go on that trip with family. That stuff is important too.
 

maggie101

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Pet sitter or board them. Not just leave out food. What if they dont eat because your gone. Or ants. Sarch and look for reviews in yours area. Ask co workers
 

maggie101

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Short story. My cats only eat wet but When I went on a trip, I left out a dry food dispenser and a water fountain. Week after I came home, I took my cat Peaches to the vet because she was lethargic and stopped eating. She had a dried up stool in her and was dehydrated. High white blood count. She was on meds for 2 weeks
 

basscat

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Pet sitter or board them. Not just leave out food. What if they dont eat because your gone. Or ants. Sarch and look for reviews in yours area. Ask co workers
All I've ever had from pet sitters and boarders was disappointment. CONSIDERABLE disappointment.
I'll count on a cat to eat when it's hungry before I count on a person to follow instruction.
 

KarenKat

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We’ve left our guys alone for 3-4 days before. We don’t do it anymore because after switching to wet food and getting a piggy cat we prefer to hire a pet sitter. But I believe they will be absolutely fine while you are gone. It’s not a very long time.

Just be prepared to have ALL THE SNUGGLES demanded of you on your return!
 

Willowy

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I have done that, yes. However, I found out that state law here requires that an animal must be viewed by a responsible human at least once every 24 hours. Which probably isn't enforced much (only if something goes wrong), but still. I wouldn't want to recommend anything that's technically illegal.

Does your vet do boarding? Cats hate that but at least you wouldn't have to worry.
 

basscat

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maggie101 maggie101 , your story of leaving one alone sounds about as bad as me boarding one.
Might not be any correct answer.....
 

Jem

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We've left our cats for 2-3 days before, but that was the longest. We also only did that when they were healthy, when none of them had developed their chronic issues yet.
We would put out extra litter boxes, leave out multiple water bowls and food bowls and scatter every cat toy we had around the house. When we came home the only thing we ever experienced was a lot of "desperate for attention" meowing and purring. Then by the next day, all was back to normal.
 
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