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When you go on holiday......

post #1 of 22
5/26/08 at 1:01pm
Thread Starter 
Hi all

When you go on holiday (camping/hotel not overseas) do you leave your cat/s with someone or do yo take them with you????

Thanks
Angela
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post #2 of 22
5/26/08 at 1:15pm
Our cats stay in our home.
If we're only going to be gone for a day or two one of my friends comes to the house two or three times a day to check food and water bowls, clean litter boxes and play with the furkids.

If we're going to be gone any longer than that, the cats still stay in our home but my Niece just comes here and stays with them.
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post #3 of 22
5/26/08 at 1:20pm
If its for the weekend, we leave them home alone (cats). The dog either comes with us, goes to a friend's house or someone will come in to feed her and let her out.
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post #4 of 22
5/26/08 at 1:27pm
We don't actually travel that much, but when we do the cats stay home. Usually we have a pet sitter come in to tend their needs and play with them. If it's only overnight, we sometimes leave them on their own with lots of food and water, but I prefer to have Debbie come in.
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post #5 of 22
5/26/08 at 7:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45 View Post
If its for the weekend, we leave them home alone (cats).
if it's only 2-3 days, that's what i do, too. otherwise, i have someone check in on them every 3 days of so - if only to empty the litterbox containers! [littermaid boxes]
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post #6 of 22
5/26/08 at 7:24pm
Now that we live 4 blocks from my parents--we just have them stop by and feed and water Jack.

Thus far we haven't left him for longer than 6 days (and we had someone come in daily)

In July we will be on vacation for 9 days and will have our close friends (who actually found us our baby Jack) come and care for him. They are cat lovers and will love on him, play fetch and feed and water! Jack loves his Aunt Jackie

Leslie
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post #7 of 22
5/26/08 at 7:26pm
My cats are never alone when we are away, a friend comes and stays here with them
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post #8 of 22
5/27/08 at 12:38am
We prefer to let our cats stay at home while we are away. If only overnight, we leave them to their own devices (with lots of food/water and extra litter boxes of course), but if more than a day, I have a friend come by and check on them daily. I think staying at home is probably best for them - I think taking them away from our home would just stress them out too much (they are formal ferals, and they really only trust us).
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post #9 of 22
5/27/08 at 6:30am
I have my brother come and care for them. He loves them and cuddles them and plays with them.
But I have taken them with me to hotels before. Seldon and Mary seem to find it an adventure but Cleo stresses out. So I keep them home.
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post #10 of 22
5/27/08 at 7:17am
This is a good topic for me. I am actually really worried. I have plans to be gone from the evening on Thursday July 3rd until afternoon/evening on Sunday July 6th. I am just going to be camping and celebrating the Fourth of July with lots of good friends.

But, I will have only had the new kittens for 3-4 weeks at that point, and I am very worried about leaving them at home alone. I don't know any pet sitters, and all of my friends have full time jobs. I am not sure who to ask. I was thinking about going down on Thursday, driving back up Friday evening (late) and staying that night at home to visit with the babies, driving back on Saturday morning and then home again Sunday night, so that they will only be alone for 1 night each time. I will be about 2.5 hours away from home, though, and that is a lot of gas and travel time.

Should I just try really hard to find a friend who can visit with my kitties, play with and feed them? Or should I not leave them because they will be so young? Aaaiieee!
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post #11 of 22
5/27/08 at 8:02am
I can't leave mine alone, I always have someone on meds or something. So, my family doesn't take "family" vacations....one of us always stays home (usually me).
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post #12 of 22
5/27/08 at 1:26pm
Thread Starter 
when we have been away in the past its been back to scotland and he wasnt able to travel then. We did miss him and he stayed with friends but the last time we went away it was a bit of a nightmare the friends had to bring him back to our home early so I had another friend check him everyday then she suddenly had to leave and someone else had to come . I think he was a bit stressed about all the different things happening and I couldnt get back sooner.

We plan to go camping in south Germany this summer and I want to take him with us but Andy (hubby) said we would look stupid taking a cat with us on hols but we dont have anyone to leave him with now and im not putting him in kennels.

What would you say if you saw a family camping with a cat???

Thanks
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post #13 of 22
5/27/08 at 3:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zorana_dragonky View Post
This is a good topic for me. I am actually really worried. I have plans to be gone from the evening on Thursday July 3rd until afternoon/evening on Sunday July 6th. I am just going to be camping and celebrating the Fourth of July with lots of good friends.

But, I will have only had the new kittens for 3-4 weeks at that point, and I am very worried about leaving them at home alone. I don't know any pet sitters, and all of my friends have full time jobs. I am not sure who to ask. I was thinking about going down on Thursday, driving back up Friday evening (late) and staying that night at home to visit with the babies, driving back on Saturday morning and then home again Sunday night, so that they will only be alone for 1 night each time. I will be about 2.5 hours away from home, though, and that is a lot of gas and travel time.

Should I just try really hard to find a friend who can visit with my kitties, play with and feed them? Or should I not leave them because they will be so young? Aaaiieee!
It's hard to say, and it will be hard to leave them, If you feel that your place is fairly cat proof then if you can get a friend to stop by 2-3 times a day to feed them, change litter and play with them that's your best option. Or if you want to find petsitter services kijiji lists lots of them, just make sure you meet the people first, maybe ask for a reference. The pet sitters will come in and check on your cats everyday and usually stay atleast an hour.
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post #14 of 22
5/27/08 at 4:11pm
When we're gone for a weekend for leave them alone with plenty of food and water. If we're going to be away for longer than that, we bring them to a kennel place. We found this really awesome lady who runs her own business taking care of cats. She has 3 tiered cages for them, and they can be together or separate in the cages; they are definitely large enough for both of them. She gives them time outside of the cage, with each other if there's two of them, or by themselves. Never with other cats. Her prices are great and she gives them attention and loves on them.

We don't know anyone around here, and I'm the type of person where I'm not letting a stranger into my house. I don't care how much they're bonded, insured, licensed, whatever. So a pet sitter for us would be out of the question. They like going to this kennel anyways.
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post #15 of 22
5/27/08 at 5:56pm
My kitties are fine alone for a weekend (from early Friday to late Sunday), but any longer than that and I have a pet sitting service that comes once or twice a day to play, feed and clean the litter box. I left it up to my SO (who I live with) to make arrangements for memorial day weekend when they would be alone from Thursday until Tuesday evening because I have been gone for two weeks on business, and I just discovered that he just had a friend (untrustworthy at that!) pop in and feed them on Sunday and that's all! I guess they were okay, but I am furious!!

As your kittens will be kind of new, I would see how they're adjusting before making the decision as to what to do. Alex was completely at home in 2 days and I would have felt comfortable leaving him for a night or two after a month, but Evie took much longer. I didn't feel okay leaving her for over four months and then it was difficult. Depends on the kitties needs and your comfort level; if you're going to worry about them the whole time, you might as well do the driving home. It will be worth it for your peace of mind! If you're comfortable knowing that a visitor has seen them once or twice, that's the way to go.
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post #16 of 22
5/27/08 at 11:24pm
Re: what would you think if you saw a family with a cat camping?

In Germany, I don't know what they'd think, but here in Canada it'd be impossible because domestic animals attract wildlife predators. Now I suppose that's not a problem in Germany, or in tame campgrounds here either.

If your cat was comfortable and safe in the campground, why not take him/her along? My cat would not have been happy. She hated the cage and did not know the leash. Now, if you have a camper and she's happy in there, and there's no chance of her running away, then that's one way of being safe. I can't see a cat in a tent or a cage. (I always camp with a tent.)
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post #17 of 22
5/28/08 at 11:31pm
zorana_dragonky...I totally understand your situation. We had to go back to England for a wedding about a month after we got the kittens. I stressed over the situation!

You do need to see how the kittens are adjusting to life in your house. We decided that our kittens would not do very well in a kennel, so a friend of mine came over. I know others have said 2-3 times a day...but my friend could only come over once a day. We took it! She changed their water, feed them their wet dinner, made sure they had plenty of dry food, changed their litter and played with them for a bit. We were gone late Thursday to Monday evening.

If you thoroughly kitten-proof, get a friend to pop by and leave plenty of food, water, litter-boxes I think your kittens will probably be okay - but do see how they adjusting!

Quote:
Re: what would you think if you saw a family with a cat camping?
Whenever I am camping in Europe (I do go sometimes when I am visiting back in the US as well, hence the differentiation), I regularly see people camping with cats. In France a few years ago, I asked one of the campers about it and she said they started when the cats were kittens and now they have no problem with it. I thought it was pretty cool.
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post #18 of 22
5/30/08 at 1:34pm
I'm rarely gone more than two days at a stretch, so I keep them at home and have one of my neighbors or a friend check in on them and do food and litterbox duties a few times a day.
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post #19 of 22
6/2/08 at 4:11pm
i havent had to leave church over night but if its just over night i would just leave a extra bowl of food and water for him ,
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post #20 of 22
6/4/08 at 9:30am
For just a weekend getaway, we leave them home alone - they take good care of themselves for up to 3 days or so. They have an automatic feeder with a battery backup, so I know they'll get fed the proper amount and the right times. If we're going to be gone longer than 3 days, I hire a petsitter (from a professional, insured and bonded petstitting company) to come to the house and play with them, check on them, scoop the litter boxes, check the food and water, etc. I would never take them to a boarding facility - they would be terrified and miserable. I also wouldn't take them with me because they really don't like to travel. But that's just my cats.
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post #21 of 22
6/5/08 at 10:42pm
My cats stay at home when I'm on a trip, my brother takes care of them.
My dogs sometimes come along--- my Golden Retriever always comes along unless it's a plane trip, and for the last 4-5 years I've also been taking my terrier mix along as well but I think this year he will be staying at home and just my Golden will be going...
I kinda wanted to take my kitty Church on vacation because he LOVES visiting new places, loves the outdoors (on leash) and loves riding in the car, however the cottages we've been thinking about renting mostly say "no cats" even though dogs are allowed.
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post #22 of 22
6/6/08 at 11:14am
if its overnite and im not going that far away (like in the same state) i leave them home alone with plenty of food, etc.

but if im traveling for more than a couple of days, i take them with me. theyve never flown but they usually travel by car well. they dont get carsick but patches sure does b1tch about being in her carrier LOL! then chloe starts in about having to listen to patches hahaha

after awhile they quiet down and either enjoy the view or go to sleep. sometime patchy will throw in a grumble just to make sure we know shes still mad
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