My college apartment is about 3 hours away from my home town so I travel back a lot and usually take my cat with me. Im traveling to California on thursday for the Easter weekend to visit my mother and I can’t travel with her because I don’t want her to be uncomfortable on the flight for that long. Is it okay to leave her at my place with automatic feeders or will she go crazy from lonliness? I can’t take her to a kennel because there’s not any in the area.
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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
In my experience, it is just fine to leave a cat for a few days. They really are not as needy as dogs. Yes, when you are around you should give them the attention they need, but for example, they don’t have to be taken outside all the time to go potty.
Once I had to go somewhere for a whole week and could not find anyone to look in on my cat. So, I just put out PLENTY of water and food and when I got back everything was fine. I just took into account about how much he ate every day and put out about 8 or 9 day’s worth. Most importantly though, they MUST have enough water. If the food runs out, not a major problem. If the water runs out, bad, bad, bad.
Maybe you could get one of those dishes that you can put an upside down pop bottle in — that holds a lot of water.
From what I have read, when there is nothing going on to stimulate a cat’s interest, they may sleep up to 23 hours a day. I think that is pretty much what mine did. He was asleep when I got back even.
At first they might be lonely, and it is probably not the ideal situation, but I really don’t think that a few days is a major problem. Actually, it seems like they would be better off in their own home where they are comfortable than in a kennel with strangers all around.
Prepare well and go have a good time. Don’t worry.
She’ll be fine, she’s a cat.
Auto-feeder is good, leave the toilet seat up for drinking if she needs it.
Extra cat box might be a good idea, too.
We just got back from a few days away, and boy was ours glad that we were home.
She will be fine. I left my cat alone over a weekend – like you, I took a trip away and couldn’t take her – and she was fine. I left out plenty of food, especially dry food, since that doesn’t go bad quickly, and made sure her box was clean.
When I got home, she was fine. And very glad to see me.
she will be really upset and may poop or pee on your floor.
She should be ok. Is there a porch or cat house ( no pun intended) where you could leave her outside?
yes, but be sure she has adequate food and water and try to get someone to stop in and check on her. just be prepared for her to be up your as* when you get home!
She should be fine. If you are really concerned, you could board her at a local veterinary clinic or kennel. Just call around and see what’s available.
You might want to have someone come once a day to feed her and give her some love…look in the phone book under pet sitters.
Hope that helps!
Sure…she’ll be fine…
Could you not get a friend to cat sit? If you could get someone to call around and visit even just once a day then I think it would be ok but I think it would be cruel to leave her totally alone.
I would say up to 4 days is okay. Get an automatic waterer and one or two automatic feeders, like you said. Just make sure there’s enough food. Cats are pretty good about eating a little bit each day if you leave a bunch out. A dog would eat it all in one day and starve the next 3 LOL..
If it’s more than 4 days, or regardless, you can pay a neighbor/neighbor kid that you trust 5 or 10 bucks to check in on it, or feed it once or twice while you’re gone.
kids always like an easy fiver.
Oh, and totally change the litter the day you leave, so it’s spanking clean. That way up to 4 days should be okay.
as long as the cat has fresh water, and toys, the cat should be just fine.
I think it would be ok of she has an automatic feeder, so she’ll have food to eat. We leave our cats at home whenever we go on vacations, and they do just fine.
But make sure you change the litter box right before you go our it will stink really bad when you get home.
Your cat will be fine for a few days. Leave a radio on and get her a catnip mouse. Also, see if you can get a friend to check up on her once or twice (just to spend 20 minutes or so). I leave one weekend a month for the National Guard and my cat gives me a lot of attention when I come home. She’ll be fine.
The most time I left my cat was for 5 days when my husband & I had to take a trip for a family event.
He was fine on his own.
I put out five huge bowls of water and three huge bowls of dry cat food. I also made sure to leave him with a clean litter box.
When we got home, the litter box was full, but he still had food and water. I just put out a lot just to make sure that he wouldn’t run out.
One thing about automatic feeders that I don’t like is that they can get clogged and stuck. I do not use them.
Yes, you can leave her alone for the weekend. Consider setting up an extra litter box for her while you’re away. If you are concerned with her becoming lonely or sensory deprived, leave the radio on at a low volume.
Yes. Make sure she has plenty of water and food. An extra litter box is a good idea too. Purchase a few extra toys and hide treats around the apartment. Leave the curtains open or blinds open on a window so she can look outside. She’ll be your best friend when you return.
I think so but you might want to have a friend check up on her every day make sure shes OK and all that not getting into stuff that could harm her but other than that i don’t really think there’s any thing else to worry about.
yes it is o.k to do this has long as they have food they should be fine and yes the cat might miss u but won’t go crazy but will proably want a lot of attention when u get back from this trip but its nothing to worry about
No one knows your cat as well as you do, but in my opinion, she’d be fine. My cat is very needy, and she has done fine by herself over the weekend. If possible leave a trustworthy neighbor with a key and have them pop in once a day to check on her.
my mom is a professional pet sitter and going on jobs with her, personally i think the cat would be find. make sure plenty of food and water, leave the TV on and most importantly i would "cat proof" your home, pick up and put away things that she could get into that may be harmful, also ask a trusted friend to stop by a check on her………………………..
I believe it is–I’ve left my cat alone for a few days, although we had our neighbors feed him. Does your cat need attention? If so, maybe you should get a neighbor/friend to feed her. My cat can do fine alone.
We have an auto feeder, an auto water bowl and an auto "popper picker-upper." Oreo is lonely but he’s fine. We also leave "Animal Planet" on TV for him!
We got "yelled" at when we got home.
Yes they would be fine, but sometimes they get a little (very little) upset. My mom always tells me a story that she went away for the weekend, and she would find poop right in the center of everyones bed. She whether or not’t go crazy, trust me.
She’ll be fine. Do you have a friend who could maybe feed and water her and also clean her litter box? Thats what we do when we go out of town. I enlist one of my wonderful friends to take care of my cats and then reward them with a gift certifiate as payment. And cats don’t get lonely. They just put up with we humans.
it is, mmm not fine you take of pet
Your cat will be fine alone for a few days. Just leave her plenty of water and dry food to eat. Leave several of her toys out for her to play with also. Leave a radio on softly so she will hear human voices while you are away. I left a cat I used to have alone for a long weekend once and I actually called home and talked to my cat over the answering machine she he would hear me and not think I abandoned him. That cat lived to be 20 years old so he survived me leaving him for a long weekend.
Some cats react better to being left alone than others. If your cat is used to going everywhere with you, she might have some major seperation anxiety. If it’s just for the weekend, then you can probably leave atomatic feeders and lots of water for her. When you get back, give her lots of attention!