Take Her or Board Her?

[whiskers151]

I have a quick question. I have to go on a trip for about 10 days involving a 1300 mile drive each way. I hate the idea of boarding her while gone but I wonder if the trip would do more harm for her than good for me to bring her along. Having someone check on her while I am gone is not an option.

Would it do more harm to subject her to the drive each way or to leave her at the boarders? I can imagine the travel in the car would not be fun her.

Thanks in advance.

 

[goldenkitty45]

If she is not used to riding long distances, taking her with you is not the wisest choice. You will have to either hire a pet sitter to come in twice a day or board her. IMO the best would be to leave her home where its totally familiar and have someone come in to feed, water and clean the pan.

 

[mcat]

I once had to board a kitty. My friend who usually checked on her was away at the same time. My cat had to be up to date on shots. The boarding place was excellent. It worked out OK.

Is the place you'll be staying cat-friendly? I can't imagine your kitty will be happy in the car. It's too bad you don't have a cat sitter or a friend that can check on her in her own home.

Good luck whatever you do.

 

[persi & alley]

Originally Posted by Whiskers151

I have a quick question. I have to go on a trip for about 10 days involving a 1300 mile drive each way. I hate the idea of boarding her while gone but I wonder if the trip would do more harm for her than good for me to bring her along. Having someone check on her while I am gone is not an option.

Would it do more harm to subject her to the drive each way or to leave her at the boarders? I can imagine the travel in the car would not be fun her.

Thanks in advance.

What kind of car do you have? In December, we took Persi with us on a 1200 mile trip each way for 17 days. We have a large SUV so I was able to put his carrier, his bed, his litter box, and his dishes and blankets in the back with the rear seats folded down flat. When one of us was driving, the other just layed down in the back with Persi. Everything worked out very well. Boarding to us was just not an option. If you have a smaller car, I don't know what to tell you but perhaps you can work it out. 10 days is a long time to be worrying about your cat and I know I would have worried every day had we elected to board Persi.

 

[EnzoLeya]

The ride is going to be aweful for your poor kitty if they aren't used to it. It will be aweful for you too, imagine listening to your kitty meow, puke, and poop because it's scarred. It's so not fun!!!

Is there anyone who could keep the kitty while you are away?? Having someone check in on the kitty would be the least stressful but I notice that's not an opion for you. Boarding them is always so scarry with all the smells and noises. Plus your cat might not like being trapped in a cage all day.

 

[whiskers151]

Just a follow up on her behavior since I returned.

Well I ended up boarding her since I did not know how she would react to the long car ride. They took good care of her from what I can see but now I am seeing something new from her since she returned home. She was there for 10 days.

She responded immediately when she saw me at the boarders to pick her up which I figured was a good sign. Since getting her home she almost never leaves my side. If I leave the room she follows and lays down somewhere she can see me. If I am moving about the apartment doing stuff she is usually not far behind. It just seems to me she does not want to let me out of her sight as if I might leave her again. Even if she appears to be napping and I walk out quietly she is not far behind.

I am hoping this is just temporary because I don't want her constantly worrying I am going to abandon her or something. I am already planning to take her out on some extended car rides to see how she reacts so I can plan any future travel accordingly so I do not have to board her if at all possible.

Just a little feedback for those interested.

 

[snickersmom]

I recently had to board Snickers. I researched boarders and found one that was a "luxury" kennel. I don't know if I'd call it luxury, but they did have the cats in a separate sound proof room from the other animals. They had big cages and let each cat out individually once a day to go into a play room, where there were cat trees and other kitty toys to play with. The price was the same as boarding at a vet - about $12 a day.

Despite all that effort to make her comfortable and happy, when we picked her up, she acted much like your cat. She's not a lap cat at all, but apparently she curled up with my boyfriend every day and followed him around the apartment. We've kidded around ever since we got her that she has abandonment issues (because we adopted her after she was found in a woodpile as a kitten). But whenever she first comes home from being boarded or the vet, she REALLY does have abandonment issues and always acts needy. We actually love it when she's like that because she's extra sweet. But it never fails that after about a week of her being all lovey dovey, she realizes we're not going anywhere and goes back to her independent self that just uses affection to manipulate us into giving her food!

So I doubt being boarded that one time will scar your kitty for life. It'll probably just take a week or so for her to readjust.

 

[buzbyjlc10]

I've never boarded Oliver, but I have left him in the care of a kitty sitter (whom he knew well), a boyfriend and my parents (my mom's actually put him on the phone with me in the past, haha) when I've had to go away... every time (no matter how long the trip) he's always more than happy to see me when I come home and usually follows me around closely for awhile (the length of time varies depending on how long I was gone)... when I went to Florida for the Orange Bowl in 2006, he was so excited when I came home, he ran around, woofed down food, ran around then puked.... of course it was all the running around and it was kinda funny just cuz he was such a goof for doing it... hopefully this will just be temporary behavior from your cat, especially if it was the first time she was away from you

I usually just shower Oliver with more attention than usual (hard to do, haha) and spend lots of time with him when I return home and tell him how much I missed him while I was away and that I came back just like I promised - seems to help, haha