Leaving cats at home whilst you are on holiday...

Next week we are returning to the uk Mon-Sat. We live temporarily above me in-laws (long story!) so they will be feeding the cats for us. Now George is an outdoor/indoor cat with his own cat flap and Marcel is 6months-ish and is currently indoor cat.

I'm going to shut the door to the study where the cat flap is so George will only have access to that room where I will put his bed/food but he will probably be downstairs most of the time with in-laws which he really likes an of course he has access to the garden.

So Marcel will be alone most of the time apart from being fed a couple of times a day. He can't go downstairs because they have a dog and they wouldn't stop him from going outside.

George and Marcel have only just got used to being together so i'm wondering if after 6 days of seperation they will forget each other and I will have to start all over again with re-introducing them?

I'm also a bit paranoide that the in-laws aren't going to be careful about making sure that Marcel doesn't get out, he tries to escape all the time so I have put a sign on the study door KEEP THIS DOOR CLOSED!!

Finally I think that Marcel is going to be bored stiff! I am going to hide all of his cats toys and hopefully make him some catnip bags this week to hide around, does anyone have any tips on how to keep him occupied?

Any tips at all really appreciated

Do you have some of the treehouses where he can climb and sit by the windows to look outside? Maybe leave the radio on so its not totally quiet.

Yeah he's got a double level cat tree where he can see out. He's also got access to the beds, couches, window ledges etc it's probably a cats paradise! I guess i'm just more concerned because i'm normally at home nearly all day and he's not quite 6 months.

He'll probably be throwing cat nip parties every night!

Thanks

He will probably miss George, but reintroducing is not as hard as introducing the first time as they seem to remember that they are familiar.

Is there any way that your in-laws could play with Marcel a bit when they are there to feed, etc? I realize that you're worried about him getting out.

DH and I have left Whisper and Reagan for a few days before, and we've never had a problem with it (at all). The last time we left them, however, we had our neighbor come over and socialize with them. We returned to two *very* happy kitties, and neither of them was as clingy as they were when we weren't having somebody play with them.

Whisper hid for the most part when we were gone (I guess you'd say he's feral and only social with me -- he was born feral, to note), but you could still see a significant difference in the fact that Reagan got some catnip time with our friend.

I think he'll get stroked a lot when they feed him but there not really cat people so I don't know whether they will really play with him.

I've got him a new cat nip toy which i'm going to give to him just as we are leaving and then we are going to hide the rest of his toys around the house and roll lots of balls of aluminium paper which he loves more than any of his toys! George will be fine, he's used to it and he can roam about everywhere, lets just hope that the week goes quickly!

Thanks for your ideas!

I have a question on the same topic, so I thought I'd continue the discussion here rather than start a new thread.......my situation is that I am in a new town and the only people I know well enough to watch over my cats are people who will be gone for the holiday (I am a grad student, so the people I associate with are other people who don't call this area 'home' and therefore are not here for the holidays). My cats are 7.5 months old. I have left them for one night twice before (extra food and water and extra litter box) with no problems and they still have food left over when I return. How long would you leave your cats alone without anyone stopping by? I would like to leave them 2 nights (leave Thursday morning and return Saturday afternoon).....but the thought is making me really guilty and I am thinking I should return on Friday afternoon instead, which would cause me to miss spending time with a good friend who I rarely see. So how long is too long for the kitties to fend for themselves?

We have a big house so I don't feel so bad leaving my two moggies on their own for a few nights. They also have automatic feeders (which I don't like as much) and an automatic litter box. They've been fine up to 3 nights alone, with plenty of water, food, and toys.
Normally we get a house sitter.

Well we just got back from our vacation.

We left the radio on for Marcel and my in-laws came and fed him twice a day and played with him a bit, they also let George come up a couple of times.

From the minute we walked back in the door Marcel acted like we'd never left! Laid right down in-front of our feet for scratching and spent the rest of the evening jumping in our suitcases until he crached out on my lap. George ignored us completly the first night. He always does this but the next morning he's seems to come in and check if we're 'really' staying and then he gets as close to us as possible and won't leave our sides for at least 12hours!

The two of them also just carried on as normal, like they's never been apart, phew!!

Thanks for all the advice!