Maybe some of you remember me posting before, but in short our neighbour's cat slowly moved in with us over a period of time, and we now have a cat flap so he can come and go as he wishes. The neighbours are friendly and fine with the fact that he prefers to spend time with us - they have numerous other cats and other pets, so we assume that's the reason. However, they, as is entirely their right, wish to continue feeding him and providing his vet's care, etc. Therefore, we respect their wishes and don't feed him. The result is he spends about 22 hours a day with us and only really goes 'home' to eat.
He's always been a very affectionate cat (when he's with us), spends a lot of time on our laps and without fail sleeps every night in the bed with us – which we love! If anything he's becoming more cuddly and affectionate, and going out less as he ages (he's around seven). If he comes into the house and can't find us he'll cry out until he does. He's a very sensitive boy!
The problem we have is with going on holiday. In May we're due to go to the USA and Canada for 15 days. Normally in these circumstances, you'd get a cat sitter to come to the house each day and feed the cat, but obviously we don't feed him, so that approach wouldn't really work. We're really worried because he's so bonded and affectionate and used to sleeping in the bed with us, that he might become distressed and react badly to being left for such a long period. Worst-case scenario, he might think we've gone forever and run away.
His owners seem pretty relaxed about the situation and believe he'll just revert to staying there while we're away, which would obviously be fine. We've considered asking a friend or family member to come and live at the house and provide comfort for two weeks, but it's proving difficult. What would you do? Are we being overly anxious or are our concerns valid?
He's always been a very affectionate cat (when he's with us), spends a lot of time on our laps and without fail sleeps every night in the bed with us – which we love! If anything he's becoming more cuddly and affectionate, and going out less as he ages (he's around seven). If he comes into the house and can't find us he'll cry out until he does. He's a very sensitive boy!
The problem we have is with going on holiday. In May we're due to go to the USA and Canada for 15 days. Normally in these circumstances, you'd get a cat sitter to come to the house each day and feed the cat, but obviously we don't feed him, so that approach wouldn't really work. We're really worried because he's so bonded and affectionate and used to sleeping in the bed with us, that he might become distressed and react badly to being left for such a long period. Worst-case scenario, he might think we've gone forever and run away.
His owners seem pretty relaxed about the situation and believe he'll just revert to staying there while we're away, which would obviously be fine. We've considered asking a friend or family member to come and live at the house and provide comfort for two weeks, but it's proving difficult. What would you do? Are we being overly anxious or are our concerns valid?
Good luck !! Its sweet of you to be concerned about a cat that is actually a neighbors . He is lucky to have you!
We're so worried he's going to feel abandoned and anxious when we're gone…
