Leaving a cat at home for a long weekend, once a month

[tarasgirl06]

There are a lot of good links and suggestions already here. Adding my thoughts: Wet food should definitely be the main diet of any cat, and as good a quality as you can afford. From the financial standpoint, it most often means fewer vet bills; from the caring standpoint, you want your cat to be as happy and healthy as possible. I feed Blue Buffalo and Soulistic wet foods, available from Petco.com and most other venues, online and physical, that sell cat supplies. I do have bowls of Blue Buffalo chicken formula dry cat food for older cats (my cats are 13 and 16) available, as well as a filtered water fountain and 2 bowls of fresh water changed daily. I use SoPhresh unscented litter (cats prefer sandy substrate and do not like perfumey formulas) in uncovered litterboxes. I scoop 5 times daily. This is like humans prefer for our toileting. Cats are very fastidious and often will not use a dirty litterbox, so if you travel, you may want to consider having 2 or more boxes for when you go away. Hopefully your cat sitter is bonded and very trustworthy, or is a well-known relative, co-worker or friend?

 

[Norachan]

My friend is a reputable vet and she said wet food isn't great for their teeth and cats are fine on a high quality dry diet, provided they don't have health issues and are drinking water.

This is really not true. Kibble is not "good for their teeth" at all, and a wet diet isn't bad for their teeth either.

I think your friend is probably a great vet, but not necessarily a great cat nutritionist. It would be a good idea to do a bit of your own research into the matter.

 

[AmandaRox]

I just struggled with this. I am about to go visit a friend 12 hours away for 3 days. I looked into sitters, pet boarding, and flying with her. I have a 2 nanny cams, 3 fountains, and purchased more bluetooth toys and an autofeeder. The highlight of Rox's day is when I come home from work and take her on her walk. I researched flying with her, but since I'm far from an airport and there were no direct flights, the flight day would be only 2 hours less than driving. This would be the first time we would be separated for a whole night since I adopted her last June. Pet boarding became the best option for me, since she chewed off the tie around my kitchen faucet and flooded my entire 20 foot home (she turned on the faucet and swivelled faucet head onto countertop, running water the entire workday). However, after calling a few places, no one agreed to walk her on her leash, and therefore she would be alone, in a cage, surrounded by other animals in cages. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I decided that she's coming with me. She loves truck rides anyway, but I do wish I could leave her home. The anxiety of her burning down our home, darting out the door when a sitter opens it, or being neglected in a strange place was too much for me. If you dont have a rambunctious teenager cat or kitten who gets into trouble more than a puppy, I would say that most cats are okay home alone with the appropriate setup!

 

[Willowy]

If you haven't gotten the cat yet, I'd recommend getting 2 kittens or a bonded adult pair, that way the kitty won't be lonely since you're gone so much. Kittens always do better in pairs anyway.

But yeah, cats can stay alone for a weekend no problem, especially if you have someone check in just to make sure everything is fine. They do have cooled automatic feeders if you want to provide canned food while you're gone too .

 

[tarasgirl06]

I just struggled with this. I am about to go visit a friend 12 hours away for 3 days. I looked into sitters, pet boarding, and flying with her. I have a 2 nanny cams, 3 fountains, and purchased more bluetooth toys and an autofeeder. The highlight of Rox's day is when I come home from work and take her on her walk. I researched flying with her, but since I'm far from an airport and there were no direct flights, the flight day would be only 2 hours less than driving. This would be the first time we would be separated for a whole night since I adopted her last June. Pet boarding became the best option for me, since she chewed off the tie around my kitchen faucet and flooded my entire 20 foot home (she turned on the faucet and swivelled faucet head onto countertop, running water the entire workday). However, after calling a few places, no one agreed to walk her on her leash, and therefore she would be alone, in a cage, surrounded by other animals in cages. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I decided that she's coming with me. She loves truck rides anyway, but I do wish I could leave her home. The anxiety of her burning down our home, darting out the door when a sitter opens it, or being neglected in a strange place was too much for me. If you dont have a rambunctious teenager cat or kitten who gets into trouble more than a puppy, I would say that most cats are okay home alone with the appropriate setup!

Good choice and the one I'd make, too, AmandaRox -- if you have a nice roomy carrier, and spray the interior well with Feliway spray, she should ride just fine. We drove a cat from L.A. to Utah (Best Friends) in a Furrari carrier that contained a small litterbox, a cat bed, and clamp-on food and water dishes. He did really well.
Best thoughts and wishes for you and your cat on the trip!

 

[klunick]

I also have left cats for up to a week. Just set out a large bowl of dry food and water upstairs and a smaller bowl of dry food and water downstairs. They weren't fed wet food so didn't have to worry about that. They were fine when we got home although I wouldn't recommend clumping litter if you are gone a week. Came back home to half the box being a solid rock of clumps.

 

[GoldyCat]

The longest I've left my cats without someone coming in is three days. For that length of time I put out extra food and water. I also change the litter from clumping clay to crystal litter with extra litter boxes. Even then I'm not comfortable having no one check on them in case of accidents, but sometime there isn't really a choice.

 

[tarasgirl06]

The longest I've left my cats without someone coming in is three days. For that length of time I put out extra food and water. I also change the litter from clumping clay to crystal litter with extra litter boxes. Even then I'm not comfortable having no one check on them in case of accidents, but sometime there isn't really a choice.

Yeah, I'm with you on that being the outside limit. I had to do that one time. All was well when we returned.

 

[AmandaRox]

Good choice and the one I'd make, too, AmandaRox -- if you have a nice roomy carrier, and spray the interior well with Feliway spray, she should ride just fine. We drove a cat from L.A. to Utah (Best Friends) in a Furrari carrier that contained a small litterbox, a cat bed, and clamp-on food and water dishes. He did really well.
Best thoughts and wishes for you and your cat on the trip!

Thanks, but she rides out of the carrier. My job is 100% travel so she's been a "road kitty" since I got her.