Where Should Fluffy Spend Her Staycation?
This is Part 2 of a series on Fluffy’s Staycation: What to do with cats who stay behind while you travel. In conjunction with this series, PetSmart is sponsoring a giveaway in which the lucky winner will win an overnight stay and TLC at a PetSmart PetsHotel. To enter, just leave a comment on this post, and on every post in this series. Each comment serves as your entry in the giveway; no more than one entry per post per household, please. Details here.
If you’re planning to travel while your cats enjoy a staycation, how do you decide what to do with them while you’re gone?
HOME ALONE
Most cats, given the choice, would prefer to stay at home with familiar smells, sounds and toys. If you’re going to be away for just a couple of days, leaving them at home alone with extra kibble and water is not a bad solution. However, it’s less practical if you have more than one or two cats, because the litter boxes will fill up and you’ll come home to a house that reeks of cat pee. And obviously, this is not an option for cats on medication.
Home Alone Tips:
- Buy a couple of disposable litter boxes to ensure your cats won’t be dissuaded to use a filthy litter box.
- If you have a cat door, secure it before you leave on your trip.
- If you’ve ever had a problem with ants, nest the food bowls into saucers or plates with water, creating a “moat” so that ants can’t get to the food.
- If you have outdoor cats (ferals and strays, for example) that you feed, you should have a neighbor drop by each morning or evening to leave food for them.
- Run a Feliway Diffuser in your absence to calm the cats.
CATSITTER
Hiring a catsitter is a good option. Someone will come to your house once or twice a day (or even stay at your house 24/7) and offer in-home care. Even better if the catsitter is a family member or a friend with whom the cats are already familiar.
This is probably your best option when you travel on extended trips, or even for weekend trips if your cat needs medication or other daily attention. As with the Home-Alone option, if you have a cat door, secure it before you leave on your trip. We’ll cover how to select a catsitter later in this series.
BOARDING AT VET
If you have a cat with special medical needs, you might consider boarding her at a veterinary facility. If so, it should be at a facility in which dogs and cats are separated (many cats will get stressed by constant barking), and sick cats are not in the same quarters as boarders. If your cat suffers from severe separation anxiety (for example, won’t eat or drink when you’re gone), a vet is available to administer fluids, food, and a sedative if necessary.
BOARDING AT KENNEL or KITTY SPA
A boarding facility is a popular option, and some offer state of the art technology including webcams and spa treatments. Later in this series we’ll provide guidance on how to select a boarding facility for your cat. (And don’t forget to leave a comment on each of the posts in this series to be entered into the PetSmart giveaway for an overnight stay and TLC at a PetSmart PetsHotel.)
In short, here’s a summary of your options:
Home Alone
- Usually fine for very short trips (3 days or less)
- Limited by litterbox capacity
- Fine for cats accustomed to a kibble diet (not a good option for cats who primarily eat wet food, since a dietary change is not recommended while you’re away from home)
- If you have more than a couple of cats, a catsitter is probably a better option
Catstitter
- Best option – cat stays in her home, but someone’s there to look in on her
- Many catsitters are trained in administering medications
- Many catsitters will double as housesitters and will water plants, etc.
Boarding at Vet
- Might be the only option if your cat has special needs
- Best option if your cat suffers from separation anxiety
- Make sure your cat is in an area separate from dogs and sick animals
Kennel or Kitty Spa
- Most kennels and kitty spas can accommodate special-needs cats
- Make sure your cat is in an area separate from dogs–ideally with its own ventilation system
- In addition to purrsonal references, sites like Catster Local and Yelp can provide online rating and reviews that can help you in your decision-making.
The bottom line is, base your decision on what best suits your cat’s temperament and needs.
If you’re planning a vacation of any length, it’s wise to consider doing a trial run first to see how your cat fares before leaving her with an untested catsitter or dropping her at a boarding facility for a 3-week stay. You don’t want to get a phone call a few days into a European vacation telling you that Fluffy is refusing to eat and drink. See how she does over a long weekend. If she’s none the worse for wear, that’s great. If she appears to have been traumatized by the ordeal, you’ll have time to consider other options before you leave on your trip… or opt to have a staycation, yourself, instead!
We’ll delve deeper into each of these options this week, so stay tuned.
If you have a good story about your cat’s staycation–whether it’s a cautionary tale or a funny anecdote, tell me about it. If published in The Cat’s Meow, you’ll get five additional entries in the PetSmart giveaway.
[IMAGE CREDIT: Catsitter: SuperLaugh.com; Vet Hospital: veterinaryhospitaldesign.dvm360.com; Cat in Boarding Facility: petcamp.com]
We has a catsitter who works with Mommie. When her goes away, he comes over to feeds us, make sure we is okay and spends a little time with us. Mommie always leaves emergency numbers to reach hers, in case something happens, as well as vet numbers and locations.
I have to say that leaving kitties alone for more than a day is really bad because things can happen really fast when a cat gets into trouble or gets sick. Or they could dump their water and then end up with none. I just wouldn’t recommend it.
I can’t have a pet sitter or be boarded due to my medical care needed. Not even staying at a vet as we do things that would not get done there. So I either go with my pawrents on a trip or they have to stay at home.
Meows will have a Staycation at the Cat Clinic aka the Kitty Spa. I am so timid when anyone comes (don’t tell anyone it will ruin my Pirate Reputation!) that no one could take care of me. I am happy at the Kitty Spa because I love everyone there especially the Doc – and I get to supervise him all day,
I get the biggest and best cage in the place – and Meowmy brings all my Pirate Gear.
Meowmy will be able to take care of the rest of the Gang while Daddy is away.
We can see each other from the windows! The hospital is near the Kitty Spa and Meowmy will come visit both of us!
A trusted cat sitter is such a comfort. Dibbles and Pippa are blessed with many human friends who love to care for them. But, then again, I’ve gone away for more than a night exactly once in the last five years!
Since I need my medicine three times daily, we could only be boarded at the vet’s or at a facility. If we were at home (either with a sitter or not), Tabby would harass Starla to no end.
We’re gonna be on staycation in about a week. Our non-Catster catsitter is okay, but I won’t be getting my 8 meals a day that I’m used to. Samoa is going to the pet resort for the first time since she and Newman can’t be trusted together. It doesn’t matter because we think Newman is gonna totally destroy the house in a week – with or without a non-Catster catsitter!
Mom will leave us overnight and sometimes 2 nights by ourselves. She leaves out about a million bowls of water and food and makes sure our litterboxes are in pristine condition. Mom also leaves the toilet lids up so we can drink from there if we knock over the water bowls (Ozzy likes the challenge of tipping over non-tippable bowls but mom finally found a few he can’t tip). Mom leaves out our favorite toys and fresh cardboard box for Ozzy to shred. She puts fresh food in the bird feeder so we will have entertainment outside and leaves Animal Planet on the tv so we have nighttime entertainment too. She always feels guilty about leaving us but we hate the car and catch up on our sleep while she’s gone. The best thing is mom brings us new toys every time! If she ever goes away for longer she’ll get us a catsitter!
Our Mommy never leaves us alone when she is away. We have a neat sitter and she stays with us 24/7. She is really cool. She always brings new toys for us to play with and we get to sleep with her. We only let Mommy brush us though!
Of course even the most loving of cat people can’t care for the cats if you tell their husband you want them to cat sit and the husband never bothers to pass this on to the cat loving wife. Believe me, my human was so mad at her ex when she got a call from a friend of his asking how their cats were and she hadn’t gone over BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T KNOW THEY WERE GONE!
My catneighbors have their mommy and daddy come take care of me. It’s worked out nicely since I can just have my own lounging around the house with out all the disturbances of shower-water running or the clanking of dishes when I’m trying to sleep. I do have to have my cat-drugs every day, so I get to see them twice when I’m left to run the house as I see fit!
I’ve only been away overnight for five days once in the last couple of years. My friend was kind enough to come over once a day for the three days I’d be gone. I left several bowls full of dry cat food and several bowls of water. As I usually change the water and refill the bowls on a regular basis, as well as having some separation anxiety (mainly me, not them!), provide pettings and reassurance, not to mention cleaning that litter box about a half dozen times a day, I was afraid of what I’d find when I returned on the fifthday. Wonder of wonders, all was well. Full litter box of course, but water was still available and there was still some food left. I’d been gone?
When we went to Bermuda on our only ever cruise, my Mom stayed at the house, and my Dad came every day for lunch. Mom was great with the dogs – and some of the cats – now for the horror part -
I had caught an awesome orange & white kitty who was dumped and gotten him neutered and all his shots. He was living in my laundry room recovering from his surgery while we were gone.
My parents job was – feed him 2 times a day – do not even worry about his litter box – it was HUGE !
Well my Mother went in to feed him and he hissed at her – so what did she do? She opened the back door, chased him outside with a broom!
She told me when we called from Hamilton and she screamed at me because I was angry.
I came home and looked for him all over the neighborhood – no luck.
Two weeks later I came home from work to see a dead racoon posed with a beer can on my neighbors lawn – and this little guy sniffing it.
I called him – he ran for the hills. We called the state police about the racoon, insisted it be rabies tested because we knew the stupid teenagers handled it.
It was positive for rabies – thank heavens the cat had been vaccinated – but that was the last time I ever saw him.
My parents were never allowed to creature sit again.
We rarely go anywhere anymore – the creatures are mor important than a vacation.