Home Do you leave your kitty home alone?

[oobiecoo]

DH and I will be going out of town in a couple of weeks. We''ll be leaving on a Saturday morning and coming home Sunday night. Is that too long to leave Shogun home alone? I don''t want to be a neglectful mommy!

 

[Octavia]

That''s only one night, right? We usually don''t get a cat-sitter if we''re only gone for one night, and the kitty is mildly annoyed but fine when we get home. If we''re gone for more than a night, I have a friend come to make sure he''s got plenty of food and water, that his litterbox isn''t a disaster (for this part, it''s helpful if the cat-sitter is used to scooping!), and to give him some lovin''.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I would leave a cat for a night or two with LOTS of water and food out, as long as I knew that she wasn''t the type of cat to eat all the food in one day!

 

[DiamanteBlu]

If we are gone for one or two [maybe 3] nights we leave the cats home alone. They are all irritated when we get back [how dare you leave me with all these miscreants!] and hungry [since they eat whatever has been put out on the 1st day, I''m sure, LOL!]. If we are gone for a longer period that we will get somebody to look in on them and feed them.

If you are just leaving for one overnight your kitty should be fine.

 

[packrat]

Shogun should be fine for just that night. Our cats are pretty good about not eating everything right away. The couple times we''ve been gone for a week, once we had a relative check on them, and the 2nd time we had a friend who was unemployed stay at the house for the week. We had a few outside dogs tho, otherwise I doubt we would''ve needed anyone to actually stay..just to feed/water and clean the litter.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

All the time. I take call and can be at work up to 30 hours at a time. That is why I got two cats right away. I just leave out the right amount of food, and clean the litter box right before I leave. They have never had an issue. If I am gone for more than 2 days, I get someone to come and feed them.

 

[April20]

When I had cats, my rule of thumb was two days alone and coming home on the third day was fine. If I was going to be gone the 3rd day, I had someone come clean the litter box and check on them. I had the self feeder/water setup, so there was never really an issue of them running out, but they liked being loved on and seeing someone.

 

[VRBeauty]

Absolutely for one night, sometimes for two. Are there "approved" windows he can look out of when you''re gone? When I''m gone for more than one day my cats seem to get bored and start climbing things they don''t normally climb on (the fireplace mantle, for example) to look out of new windows. You might consider giving Shogun access to some new vistas while you''re gone to keep him from getting into trouble.

 

[bee*]

I always get someone in to check on Manolo if we have to go overnight. He''s a trouble maker so I like knowing that he''s safe and hasn''t gotten stuck in something or injured himself.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 6/13/2009 4:11:09 AM
Author: bee*
I always get someone in to check on Manolo if we have to go overnight. He''s a trouble maker so I like knowing that he''s safe and hasn''t gotten stuck in something or injured himself.

Ditto.

 

[luckystar112]

Just make sure that you have someone responsible come to check in on your cat.
We THOUGHT that our ADULT neighbors (who treat their dogs like babies) would be the best choice to come and give our cats food/change litter when we went on vacation for a week, but they SO weren't.
When we came home we noticed that their litter hadn't been changd, and they had basically overflowed the bowl with food to the point it was spilling over (I guess so they didn't have to come by as often

).
On top of that there were hair balls and vomit all over the living room and they had peed on EVERY SURFACE imaginable. We actually had to spend hundreds of dollars on new furniture because of it...I'm not kidding. Couldn't get the smell out for weeks.

So yeah, our cats obviously have a problem being home alone. lol.
We've done it multiple times, but for some reason they really went crazy this time. I would suggest removing all of your couch cushions and storing them in a closet. OR, if you happen to have a master bedroom with it's own bathroom and lots of windows I'd consider putting your cat in there with its food/litter box. I know that some may disagree with me on that, but it's what my vet told me to do next time. It's the whole "the cats won't pee where they lay" thing.

ETA: Just realized you're only going to be gone for one night. You'll be fine! I'll leave my story up as a warning to others though.

 

[Rhea]

I would leave her for a night or two if I needed to. One night isn't worth uprooting her to take her someplace. I'm sure she gets lonely, but the uprooting would be worse because of her slow to adopt to change personality.

 

[BeachRunner]

We leave our cat home alone for a couple of nights. We will leave extra food and water for her. She is 7 years old, so she doesn''t get into a lot of trouble. If we''re gone longer than two days we have someone come over to feed and play with her.

 

[cellososweet]

we''ll leave the kids up to two night alone. But, we have three, so they have company. Cats are a little "special" when it comes to rationing. As diamante said, they usually eat everything the first day and are starving by the time you get back. haha.

We usually put two extra bowls in odd places in the house so if they are really hungry, they''ll sniff out the extra stuff. Usually in the bathroom or by the closet in the bedroom. Somewhere where they might venture into if they were hungry.

Kitty will be fine

 

[Haven]

If it''s only one night I think he''ll be fine.

We typically always have someone come over when we''re gone, but it''s only because we feed our kitties raw food (can''t just leave that out for them!) and I''m a bit of a worrier so I like to know that someone''s been around to make sure nobody''s gotten themselves hurt or anything.

 

[cnspotts]

We always leave our cat. I''m not sure that he even notices that we''re gone but I''m sure he does know that he has the whole house and it''s a dog free zone. The longest we''ve left him was 2 weeks but a friend came by daily to hang out, feed, and get away from her life. She even stayed over every couple of days here and there. The little guy is more vocal when we get back and he''s kind of like velcro for awhile but overall he doesn''t seem too bent out of shape that we leave him.

The dogs? They go to "camp" and never look back as we drop them off. lol

 

[MustangGal]

We leave our 3 cats for up to 4 or 5 days. The few times we''ve been gone longer we had someone come by once in the middle to check food/water and litter. Ours are always on a self feeder and water system, so that doesn''t change anything for them, and we have a huge litter box that we only scoop twice a week anyway. They don''t make any trouble when we''re gone, but they sure are happy when we return!

 

[MishB]

Overnight yes, but not more than one night. We have a friend who comes over to feed/play with (while she watches our cable TV, good arrangement), and we also have a professional service who can come in at short notice (they have our key). He won''t be overly happy when you get home, and will either smootch you to death or give you the cold shoulder. But he should be safe and well for one night.

 

[applequeen]

We always leave our cat at home. The longest was 8 days but we had someone come and check on her every other day (food, water, and to play with her for a little while). If we''re going to be gone longer than 2 days we have someone check on her otherwise we just leave food and water. We always leave enough food and water (feeders) to supply her for the entire time we''re gone just in case something happens and our friends aren''t able to stop by but that''s never been a problem.

I talked to our vet about boarding her before our last trip (4 nights) but he said that, in his opinion, it was less traumatic to leave her alone in her familar setting than to board her. I think she''s happier at home than she would be at the vet''s boarding faciility or staying in someone else''s house. She''s an only child and doesn''t do well around other animals.

I think it just depends on the animal''s personality. Our cat is very laid back and isn''t at all destructive and is always very affectionate when we get home. It''s not an ideal situation but I think it''s the best one for us.