New Cat Advice

[PrISM]

Hi, I come seeking advice from all the knower-of-cats around here.

I've always liked cats (grew up with them) and I'd like to adopt a pair now for myself. The issue is that I live by myself and travel frequently for work. When traveling, my trips are typically for three nights (ex: leave on Mon and return on Thur) and I average two trips per month. On average, I'd say I'm gone six nights total in a month, with some months less than that and some maybe more (three trips in a month - nine total nights - is the maximum). When I'm not traveling, I don't have much of a requirement to go in to an office (I suppose nobody does nowadays) since I can work from home.

So my question to you all.. Is that too much time to leave a pair of cats (I would look for a bonded pair) by themselves? Naturally, I'm leaving ample food & water for them and hopefully they're able to keep each other company while I'm away. Thoughts?

Second question... If all of the above isn't an issue, I have a girlfriend who doesn't live with me, but visits every couple of weeks for a few days at a time. It it better to have her be a part of the "bringing my new friends home" process so they can acclimate to her at the same time as their new home? This way, from their perspective she's part of this whole new world. Would that be better than her showing up brand new to them after they spent a few weeks getting settled in and used to their new home?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[EmersonandEvie]

My two cents would be to get a pet sitter to come at least once a day when you're gone, just to make sure everything is good in your house/apartment and to give them some social interaction and to clean litterboxes. I would get an older, bonded pair so that you don't have to worry about the antics of kittens, and they require more attention than adults. Plus, adults are less frequently adopted than kittens, so you could really be a savior to some older kitties.

As for your second question, if she isn't there consistently and would be a "newcomer" every few weeks anyway, I don't think having her there for a few days while the cats acclimate would matter. It may be helpful if she left some clothes or a blanket that has her scent on it so they would recognize how she smells when she does come over.

Welcome to TCS! There is a load of good information on here, from litter to food to toys to what to expect behaviorally. Only rulle is, you have to post pictures of your new furkids when you get them. Good luck!

 

[molly92]

3 nights is a doable time frame for most cats. They might get a little lonely, but not extremely so. You will have to make arrangements depending on how they are fed. For example, if you have a cat prone to weight gain and need to portion out meals, an automatic feeder could be looked into instead of leaving out dry food. It's also best for all cats to get as much wet food in their diet as possible to prevent many common and dangerous health conditions, so if it were me, I'd probably have someone come over at least once and put out some wet food for them to supplement their dry if they're healthy, or if they have health conditions, I would keep it to wet food only and have someone put it out once a day (when I do this I put one meal in the freezer and one not, and the pet sitter can set out both at once, and the cat eats the thawed one first, and then by the end of the day the frozen one is warm enough to eat). There are lots of different arrangements people come up with, depending on what works best for them and their cats.

If you have enough litter boxes, (1 per cat plus 1 extra), they probably can go 3 days without being scooped, as long as your cats aren't super picky. The more litter box options, the better.

For introducing your girlfriend, I think most cats will be fine if she's around from the start. If they are extremely fearful of new people, you can always take a step back and introduce her to them more slowly. If she wants to bond with them, make sure she gets chances to feed them and play with them.

A lot depends on the cats though! They can have a wide range of personalities and quirks, so you might need to come up with different strategies once you get to know them. If you want to get them, though, your schedule does not make me concerned and you should have lots of options.

Getting 2 is a great idea! Good way to prevent some common behavioral issues. You can get 2 kittens of similar ages and through them together and they should do very well even if they don't know each other beforehand, or you can get 2 adult cats that already know and like each other, and it should be fairly smooth sailing. Introducing 2 adults that don't know each other requires more effort.

Congrats in advance, and enjoy your new kitties!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I think that this is doable! I agree, an older, bonded pair would be ideal. They aren't as prone to getting into trouble as kittens are. And I would suggest a pet-sitter, especially for the first two months as you get to know these cats!

Welcome to TCS! We'll look forward to meeting your new family members when you have found them!

 

[PrISM]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like I should be OK with how my schedule works. I was thinking perhaps getting someone to come check in on them mid-trip, at least at first until I get a good idea on how they're faring. Does anybody have any idea what a pet sitter might cost for a day to come in to check on them, food, litter box, etc? I've never had to hire one before.

What would be a good age for them to be mature enough to be left alone for a few days? Kittens require much more close supervision so they're not getting into trouble so I don't think I'd go with them (as cute as they are).

 

[molly92]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like I should be OK with how my schedule works. I was thinking perhaps getting someone to come check in on them mid-trip, at least at first until I get a good idea on how they're faring. Does anybody have any idea what a pet sitter might cost for a day to come in to check on them, food, litter box, etc? I've never had to hire one before.

What would be a good age for them to be mature enough to be left alone for a few days? Kittens require much more close supervision so they're not getting into trouble so I don't think I'd go with them (as cute as they are).

Usually around $20 dollars for a quick visit, give or take. If you don't have any recommendations for local pet sitters, you can search for them on sites like Rover.

I think it would probably depend on the cats. Usually around 1 year or older, they start to mellow out. Still usually have some kitten energy and playfulness, but not the, forgive me, kitten "stupidity." You'd still probably want to make sure you've put away plants and loose strings when you go away for the first few trips until you have a good idea what kind of mischief, if any, they're prone to.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

And don't leave breakables on shelves. Even well-behaved cats will, when bored, push things off just to watch them fall.