How long would you leave cats home alone?

[pasusan]

Or - how long have you left them home alone?

We have 2 cats that we take with us when we travel in our trailer. They both do really well - they are happy and we love having them with us.

We have had family emergencies where we have had to travel quickly without our trailer for 3 or 4 days. Those times we left the cats at home with an automatic feeder and waterer.

Our 2 cats are sisters that *love* to sleep together - they are always curled up using each other as pillows.

Now we have a class B for short trips and we have gone 4 days without the cats, but I want to go longer - maybe 6 or 7 days. Our B is really too small for them and we don't feel comfortable that they would be safe and not accidentally get out.

Would like to hear the consensus - do you think they'd be OK at home alone for longer periods as long as they have plenty of food, water, and litter?

[Tvov]

Wanderlost wrote:
I would never, ever leave an animal unattended. When we absolutely had to leave our cats at home, we arranged for a cat loving human to come by each day or two, to check on the food and water, clean the litter boxes, make certain the cats had not been locked into something, and in general to give them attention.

In return, I would do the same for them when they had to leave their cats at home.

"each day or two" - so you would leave your animals unattended for a day or two. Which is fine, just be careful making blanket statements.

[Kittykath]

3 to 4 days max for a social cat. I usually leave a couple blinds open, plenty of food and water, and a radio turned on to a talk station. DH doesn't think the radio is necessary, but it can't hurt. She also has the run of 3 floors and the garage. Any longer than 4 days, and my son will come keep her company and take her outside for fresh air...at the same time clean out our pantry and fridge.

[Wanderlost]

I would never, ever leave an animal unattended. When we absolutely had to leave our cats at home, we arranged for a cat loving human to come by each day or two, to check on the food and water, clean the litter boxes, make certain the cats had not been locked into something, and in general to give them attention.

In return, I would do the same for them when they had to leave their cats at home.

[wildtoad]

We have left our cat for as many as 10 days. Maybe even longer in the future. Cats are very independent, do not over eat, and are very happy being alone. We leave a large bowl of dry cat foot, big water bowl, and a large storage bin converted to a litter box. We are quite prepared to have to do a bit of cleanup when we come home. Takes the cat a few hours to quit complaining that we left her alone but she does thus while rubbing up against us.

She has been with us on a couple of trips and I'm convinced she is much better having separate vacations where hers is a staycation.

[Dennis12]

I wasn't the best of a child when i was younger. My parents moved and i was 3 weeks finding them on my own. Hope this helps

[RVcrazy]

3 days was our limit, & it was 2 1/2 mostly. If longer, we had a neighbor check the food, water, and spend a few minutes with the cat. They do get lonely. Having someone check on them lets them know they have not been forgotten...

[Tvov]

We will leave our cats for a long weekend - mid Friday until the following Monday. Longer than that we have friends come over to check on them every other day.

[pasusan]

OP here - Lots of good advice - thanks!


Some ramblings...

I think they would be traumatized if we boarded them.

They aren't very social except with us (and each other) - they pretty much hide whenever anyone comes over, so even if we had someone check on them - they would certainly hide.

We do also leave extra bowls of water and food along with the automatic ones. But - great idea for the dripping faucet!

The doors are a scary thing. They love closets and have actually locked each other in while playing. So we pay attention to all the doors - close the ones that could cause a problem and put wedges under the doors that have to stay open.

Our last trip without them we were gone 4 days - 2 of which were short driving days so were just a few hours each. When we came home they were curled up in their bed together and barely lifted their heads to say hi. 😉

[Pawz4me]

I wouldn't leave them longer than three or four days w/o having someone come by and scoop litter boxes, check on food and water and make sure they're okay.

[toedtoes]

I've known cats who have been left for a couple weeks at a time. But it can be very lonely for them.

I know one family who had one of their cats go into hiding right before they were taking them to board. They brought the others, but the one was hiding until they had to leave for the airport. They ended up placing multiple bowls of water out (in case one spilled, there were others for the cat), several cat boxes, and filled the tub with dry cat food. He was sleeping on the bed when they got home.

The bigger concern is loneliness. 2 weeks is a long time alone for a social cat. If you can have someone come by a visit with them every few days, it would be better.

[azdryheat]

A month. Our cat was abandoned as a kitten and adopted us. We've been gone a month and he's been fine. He eats what he catches to supplement the cat food. Daughter looks in on him while we're gone.

[camperforlife]

We have left ours for 2 weeks but we do have someone come in and check on things and refresh the food and water and clean the litter every couple of days. Here is my advise if you leave a cat home alone for several days: If they sleep on your bed, cover it up, an expelled hair ball can stain a bed spread. Close the doors on rooms you don't want them in. Prop all the other doors open so they can't accidentally get shut out or in.

I don't care how independent your cat is they will get lonely. Have someone come by who likes cats and will spend some time with them. I think ours actually likes the break from the dogs 🙂

[rockhillmanor]

Friends of mind had to do the same thing due to an emergency had no choice but leave them.

Because water bowls can get knocked over even the self feeding type. What they also did was put a bowl under the tub faucet and let the faucet drip water as a backup for the cats in case they needed water.

Thought it was a pretty good idea as a safety net for them.

[stickdog]

My neighbor always planned his training classes while his kids were out on spring break. Gee his classes were in Boca Raton. Nice gig if you can get it. Wife and kids would go down for a week and I watched their cats. They had three.
I just made sure they had food and water. They had big self feeder and self waterer. They all lived. No I didn't deal with their kitty potty.