Leaving cat for holiday...

[malt]

Hi there - not sure if this is the right topic to post this under and I'm sorry if I got it wrong. I'm going away for 3 weeks to visit my family in another country. Which means leaving behind my kitty cat :C I took her in after she had been abandoned and I've only had her for not quite 5 months yet. I love her more than anything and I have good reason to believe she loves me as well. She's like a second shadow - she greets me when I get up/come home, she follows me around the house, and she even cries if I shut myself in another room for too long. As I'm writing this she's kneading all over my dressing gown, with me in it. I'll be gone for 3 weeks. I'm still not sure she feels 100% secure that this is her home and that I am her human and that she has me for the rest of her life, you know? She was about a year old when I took her in and she had been abandoned as a kitten/young cat, and while she has settled into being a pet so quickly I get the sense that maybe she feels this is life for now but perhaps not for ever. 

I don't want to leave her. I don't want her to miss me. I don't want her to wonder where I am and if I'll ever come back. I don't want her to think she's been abandoned again. Please reassure me that she won't be too distressed by my absence? (naturally, I'll miss her like crazy...!) 

 

[stephenq]

The best thing you can do is have a friend as a live in cat sitter, and introduce them before you leave so the cat has some familiarity with the person.  If you're just going to have someone visit 1x or 2x a day and give food and clean litter then I can't give you any reassurance.  But if there is a live-in presence that should help a lot.  And leave her some dirty clothes with your scent on it in several locations including her favorite sleeping spots.

 

[fhicat]

If you have an answering machine, you can also call home when you're away and leave voice messages to "talk" to her. Cats do recognize their human voices on the phone.