Leaving the cat at home

gfarmcafe · 10-05-2015, 04:23 PM

We have a cat (Mylo), who's 11 years old. Very laid back, house broken and can be left home alone by himself. We've never been gone for more than 4 days without someone looking in, but just wondering if anyone has left theirs longer without being called "abusers". Don't want to get this board started by the cat haters kidding about leaving theirs alone for 6 months or more, or "the only good cat is the one laying under my tire". He's a big part of our family, but doesn't like to travel and will let everyone know within earshot. Doesn't like cages either. Just curious if anyone else has this problem.

bob caldwell · 10-05-2015, 04:40 PM

Have 4 and lucky for us, we've been able to have a friend check on them every 2 days...we were gone 5 weeks last time, and they all use the doggie door, but the're so used to company, wouldn't feel good about just leav'n them.

00buck · 10-05-2015, 05:09 PM

A week is the longest we've left our cats home alone. Lots of food in self-feeding dishes. Same with water. A few extra litter pans. The house stinks like . . . when you get home, but open the windows for a while and it's back to normal.

BooBoo23 · 10-05-2015, 05:24 PM

If your cat doesn't like travel then the best thing to do is hire a pet sitter or someone that you can depend on. Even though our cats (2) never go outside they still need attention every day. They should have fresh water and litter box cleaned daily. We had a cat loving neighbor check on cats we had a number of years ago and didn't take care of them to our desires, never used her again. We have good sized dry food feeders so that is not a problem. 2 days is the max that we would leave them alone. We take our 2 along on all our trips. It takes them less than a day to get used to the different environment but after that it is no different than at home. They travel in the TT and usually get under the bed covers when on the road. We have a front bedroom so it is a comfortable ride. When we stop they come right out wanting food and potty break.

Summer2Go · 10-05-2015, 07:58 PM

I have a crew of Persians, some are old, one 17. When I travel, they stay home and keep each other company. I have 2 self-feeders for water, and 2 for dry food. I have left them for a week with very full litter boxes. They're always fine. We usually have some family home overnight, but I would be surprised if they had very much time to spend with the kitties. Years ago I had one cat home alone, with someone checking, and he was totally freaked- slept the whole time in my daughter's bed. I also boarded, but this was very traumatic also. They are much happier in their own environment, and better with kitty companions.
I remember camping once, and my neighbors cat got out of their RV. They were looking for that cat for at least a day, and had to leave without him. Be very careful with your choice. I know what trauma is caused by a car ride to the vet, I wouldn't try to travel with my cat in my hybrid, there is not a lot of comfortable space when it is closed. Still, you know your pet the best.

Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

coupevillefish · 10-05-2015, 08:28 PM

We have two neighbors that feed our cats and change litter boxes at least daily. Ours are indoors only so clean litter boxes are critical. The Great part is that the cost is zero because my wife takes care of their mini farms when they need coverage. We have been gone up to 8 weeks with this arrangement.

We do take one of them with us on longer v trips so my wife can have her cat fix.

trbomax · 10-05-2015, 08:36 PM

When we had the MH we traveled with 2 himalayans and 2 bitchons.They all loved it.One of the cats would ride up on the dash of the KW,the other was always in the cabover bunk.Now,there is only one cat who is terrified of going outside,so he stays home.The husky and aussie go where ever we go.We have a house sitter to take care of the livestock,so she deals with "pudge"

Timtation · 10-05-2015, 08:44 PM

We find that kittygirl is more than satisfied curled up in the storage below the armrest in our PU. She travels well puts up with us far better than staying home with sitters. We had used sitters with previous cat and found some more ethical than others. With the cat with us we have no limits on returning nor considerations about ethics.
I would rather have a dog but would rather not have an attorney, we have a cat.

hydrope · 10-05-2015, 09:53 PM

We spent the bucks on one of those automatic ball shaped litter boxes. It will hold two cat for a max of 12 days with no smell. I highly recommend the ball shaped litter box. Empty it once a week, no smell, no fuss.

Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

Blackrock · 10-05-2015, 09:58 PM

We can leave Moesha home alone for a week with someone checking in on her midway.

tomjsas · 10-05-2015, 10:00 PM

We have 3 cats. We take one with us every trip. She rides well in her carrier with us in the truck. Then loves being in the camper. Very careful with the door but she's not really interested in going out. The other two stay home and friends or pet sitter looks in on them once or twice a day.

jeff64 · 10-06-2015, 08:43 AM

We have 2 Siamese cats, if we camp locally, we stop back daily to see 'um. If we're going farther away, I have a friend look in on them daily. If we go to Door County, Wi., I bring back smoked fish.. for the friend not the cats, he loves smoked whitefish!

Edmund · 10-06-2015, 11:21 AM

We were gone for ten days and had a friend come over and check litter, water, and food about every three days. Cat could have cared less that we were gone!

rompinroo · 10-06-2015, 11:53 AM

Her majesty has stayed by herself for a week (I think she prefers when we leave). I have a littermaid cat box, gravity feeder and water tank. Never have had a problem. Lol, I have a sneaking suspicion that she walks all over the furniture when I am gone!!

RubberNail · 10-06-2015, 01:25 PM

Okay, I admit to being a dog person, but we live in the country and have an outdoor cat that earns a living keeping critters under control. We use a "Large Automatic Pet Feed Electronic Programmable Portion Control" feeder (AMAZON description) that's good for a month or more. One trip of 6 weeks we enlisted a neighbor to check and refill the feeder every couple of weeks. We are regularly gone for 3 to 5 days most every month and this has worked well for us. Also have a heated outdoor cat house via Amazon that works well.

I Roo The Day · 10-06-2015, 01:25 PM

You might check into the Cat Genie automatic cat box for your inside only cats. We have 3 cats and 2 Genies, one to use in case the other is cleaning itself. They both clean at least once per day, and are also cat activated. We think they are wonderful, have been using them for 4 years.

elchilero53 · 10-06-2015, 01:29 PM

Both cats travel with us when we go. We used to leave them home with plenty of food and water and three large litter boxes for about a week or so. That was until the male turned up with diabetes. Now, he needs insulin twice a day. At first, they weren't happy campers, but after three trips with the trailer, they travel well and have their special places to sit and watch things go by. We've made special arrangements in the trailer for litter and food, and other than the mail tracking litter everywhere everything thing has worked very well (much to my wife's delight).

V-Lite Fun · 10-06-2015, 01:51 PM

Our neighbor was hospitalized for several months. She had a cat that was very reclusive. We went over every few days to fill food and water bowls and clean out the kitty litter. We didn't ever see the cat for months. We only knew it was still there and alive by the disappearing food and the poo in the litter. Finally, after several months he made an appearance. I guess he finally got lonely. He kept his distance but seemed happy to see us. Cats are a different critter. They seem to do well left alone. If you have someone checking regularly, I think you could leave for months, no problem.

bob caldwell · 10-06-2015, 02:01 PM

Cats just visit where the food bowl is, as they are so independent...although, 2 of mine are like shadows.

Loraura · 10-06-2015, 02:12 PM

Unless my kitty needed medication, the litter box was the limitter on how long I could leave her home alone. After 3 days she would be very very upset about the condition of her box, and come up with her own solutions....

We could leave her for a weekend, no problem. Longer than that, it became an issue.

So having someone check in every 2-3 days and make sure her box was clean and she hadn't somehow managed to dump over all the water bowls was what worked best for us.

You may also like: