Should I cancel my summer trip? (right after moving with young cats)

Maggiez

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I don't feel like traveling anymore after adopting my two cats last October. I used to travel extensively but everything changed since last year. My life is so much happier after adopting 6-month's old Loki and Pen Pen.

This year I have a business trip to Alaska coming up in August (I'm fully vaccinated). It was scheduled last year but got postponed. I was very excited about the trip last year, but now I'm not interested at all and I want to cancel it.

Since this March, we've moved from our apartment to airbnb waiting for our house renovation to finish. And next month, we have to move to another airbnb because the renovation was delayed. We're hoping to move into the house in July (fingers crossed). My cats have been doing well with all the moving but I feel so bad to "abandon" them right after moving again. My husband will stay at home, but I'm the main caretaker and my cats are more bonded with me. On one hand, I'm sure he can take care of them when I'm away. I also think the trip is good for my mental health because I can finally go somewhere and socialize again. But deep down, I really don't want to leave my cats and I'm afraid I would feel miserable during the trip missing my cats. They are 1-year's old now but still super active and need a lot of attentions during the day.

Would you take the trip or stay at home with your cats?
 

KarenKat

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Personally I would take the trip. Especially if it’s good for your mental health, then your good mental health is good for them. Getting them used to occasionally leaving will help them adapt in the future. And they will have your husband around to provide normalcy and comfort.

Ways you can help everyone adapt a little would be to leave some unwashed clothes for them to smell you. Also have your husband text pictures and updates so you know they are doing ok. While it’s great to be devoted to your furry friends, I think some time away is healthy too.
 

She's a witch

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I would take a trip. Especially when they are young and easily adaptable, it’s good to practice leaving them alone. It will be more and more difficult later on when the routine will so much more important to them than now.
 

arr

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I think you should take the trip too. The reason I think so is because I’m in a similar situation as you and I am making myself take a trip because I think it sets a good precedent for the future.

Our three cats are pandemic pets and we haven’t spent even one night away since we got them. My husband works from home (even before the pandemic) and I stay home as well so we are always here. Our cats are used to us being here all the time, they all sleep with us, I have their food situation perfectly calibrated, their daily routine is so predictable, I feel like they are so dependent on us. We have to take a one week trip to help my husband’s mother move cross country and the idea of leaving the cats is stressing me out so much, I have been having breakdowns about it. I deal with anxiety disorder and since we got the cats, all my anxiety seems to have funneled into them. I wish we could have eased them into it with a few shorter trips first, but it didn’t work out that way.

I have the option of staying home and letting my husband help his mother, but he could really use my help. I also feel like I need to do this to get over my anxiety of leaving them. I need to see that they will be fine, otherwise am I just never going to travel again? I just don’t think it’s healthy for me to be like this moving forward. We have hired a pet sitter to come twice a day. I would have liked a live in pet sitter/house sitter but we don’t have anyone who can do that. In your case, since your husband will be home and can keep the daily routine somewhat, I would definitely go.
 

AmandaRox

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I'm with you. I'd stay home or take them with me. I know that's probably easier said than done, with two. Every time I'm close to going without Rox, I bring her along, yet, Alaska is a long flight... I'm just speaking honestly. My cat only knows the travel life, so my opinion is somewhat skewed. I'm sure if they already live with your husband, they will bond with him even more.
 

Babypinkweeb

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I think you should take the trip, based on your feelings about going out again and your cats behaviors. Since it seems they aren't too fussed about moving to new places (my cat is like that too), as long as they still have a familiar person (your husband) they will be fine! At one point of my life I had to leave for 2 months in summer across the world to deal with family issues and had my cat with my gf. He missed me but he was fine otherwise because I knew he would be. When I came back he was happy to see me and smothered me with affection for a week before going back to his independent self.
 
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Maggiez

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I'm with you. I'd stay home or take them with me. I know that's probably easier said than done, with two. Every time I'm close to going without Rox, I bring her along, yet, Alaska is a long flight... I'm just speaking honestly. My cat only knows the travel life, so my opinion is somewhat skewed. I'm sure if they already live with your husband, they will bond with him even more.
For this trip I cannot bring them with me because it's a business trip and the host has pretty strict rules on things. I did thought about traveling with my cats for future events like visiting family during holiday season, however I'm not sure if they appreciate flying. They travel fine in a car but did not enjoy it. During the time I moved them from the city to the suburb, they are both quite calm sitting in one large carrier for 2 hours. Lately I've been taking them in two smaller carriers during shorter trips (20 mins) and they always complained. I also tried leash training. So far they got so nervous when going outside, and I'm not sure if I want to continue to try.

How old were your cats when you start taking them during traveling? My cats just turned 1 year old but I wish I started leash train them when they were younger...
 

AmandaRox

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My 1 cat, Rox, has been traveling since she was adopted at 8 weeks old. She is 1 year old now, and my job requires 100% travel. I'm guessing Rox has traveled with me an estimate of ~12,000 miles. We are about to go to OH then VA for a week from Iowa, which will be another 3,000 miles of her napping and window gazing in the truck. She doesn't get crated. My beloved cat Molly (RIP) travelled with me in college 3 times from VA to Cali and back.. I guess if you start them off young with lots of travel time, they don't mind.
 

AmandaRox

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I just started an Instagram for her travels @rox.everywhere
I hope I can keep up with it
 

Rhall

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Definitely go on your trip, especially if your husband is home. It might provide some great bonding time too for your cats with him!
 
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