Leaving 2 cats alone for a day and a half

nightshadz

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I'm heading to DC to celebrate two 30th Bday parties and another one who has his Bday today. He's big club promoter in the DC Area (we're getting a $500 table w/ top shelf liquor woohoo!) Ok... enough gloating.

My question is, I plan on leaving early Saturday morning and feeding the cats one last wet meal before we head out (around 7am). I will be returning the next day, Sunday, in the late afternoon/early evening. Will they be OK for that day & half if I make sure to clean their two litter boxes before I leave, leave them extra water and lots of dry food?

Any answers would be appreciated. Thanks

- Worried owner
 

aswient

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They should be fine, as long as theres lots of clean water before you go and fresh dry food, clean boxes for just that period of time. No problem. I usually leave a couple of ceiling lights on.
 

goldenkitty45

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That's fine - about the same amount of time we would leave the cats at home going to a show. We usually fill up the bowl with dry food, give an extra bowl of water and some canned food (which they eat first) before we leave.

Never had a problem - we've left on a Friday and gotten back home late Sunday night.
 

zoeysmom

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You'll worry, but they'll be fine! It will likely be harder on you than on them!

For my peace of mind, I have someone come over daily to check on my girls when we go away for a weekend. They'd be fine without it, but I like being able to call someone and check how they are doing. I'm working on getting the cats to answer the phone and give a self-report!
 

judi

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Originally Posted by nightshadz

I'm heading to DC to celebrate two 30th Bday parties and another one who has his Bday today. He's big club promoter in the DC Area (we're getting a $500 table w/ top shelf liquor woohoo!) Ok... enough gloating.

My question is, I plan on leaving early Saturday morning and feeding the cats one last wet meal before we head out (around 7am). I will be returning the next day, Sunday, in the late afternoon/early evening. Will they be OK for that day & half if I make sure to clean their two litter boxes before I leave, leave them extra water and lots of dry food?

Any answers would be appreciated. Thanks

- Worried owner
That sounds fine. I suggest that besides the large amount of fresh water that you leave, also leave a bowl of ice. As the fresh water doesn't taste as good as when you left, the ice will melt and be more apealing.
Have a good trip.
I love New York!
 
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nightshadz

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Thanks for the tips guys, epsecially with the bowl of ice. I never would have thought to do that. I'll have to buy some ice trays (yea, im a poor recent college grad living in the city and can't afford ice trays
)

Thanks for giving me the peace of mind in needed.
 

miso

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I had the same question so I read these posts- thanks everyone!

My kitten is 5 months old. Is that too young to leave her for the weekend? I am planning to leave Friday night and be back Sunday afternoon, with the next door neighbour hopefully coming on Saturday to freshen her water and check her food (and to say hi to her).

She's my first cat so I don't know if this is too young for her to be home 2 nights alone, even with someone to check on her.

Opinions?!

Thanks!

Lindsay
 

zoeysmom

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My two are 5 1/2 months old and we've left them alone a couple weekends already. As long as they're not trouble makers (more than any other kitten) and you are sure to pick up anything that might cause trouble, they'll be fine.
 

goldenkitty45

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For that young of a cat (5 months old) I'd confine the kitten to one room and have the neighbor make sure the kitten is back in the room and not running around.

I feel that under 8-9 months they would get in trouble too quick if not being supervised
 

zoeysmom

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I feel that under 8-9 months they would get in trouble too quick if not being supervised
I think it depends on the cat and the house! If your cat is not used to being left alone, then it might be good to confine them!

I live in a small apartment and the kittens were left alone in the apartment while we are at work since they came to us at 10 weeks old. The kittens have already pretty much gotten into any trouble they can find, so we are pretty kitty proof. We have no picture frames standing up, because they just get knocked down. Our shower curtain hasn`t hung in months because it gets climbed and shredded. They have easy access to all the windows...because if they didn`t, they`d just find a way to get there! When we recently left them alone for a couple of nights, they had knocked all the pillows off the bed and there were footprints on the bathroom floor so I think one of them must have been sticking their feet in their water. At least I could see they had some fun while we were gone!


If you are going to leave them out, I suggest taking a good, long look at your place and seeing where the kitten could find trouble!
 
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nightshadz

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Having them eat only dry food for a day and a half won't wreak havoc on their stomach will it? I've heard that cats stomachs are sensitive to drastic changes in their diet, and they are used to getting two meals of wet food a day and a small amount the same dry food they'll be gorging on for the 40hrs following my departure in between the wet meals. That's ok, right?
 

goldenkitty45

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Its ok, but I'd increase the dry food for a little while so they know they will be eating more of it (and less canned). Ours get one meal of dry, one meal of canned.
 

miso

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Thanks for those responses!

Miso is not too mischievious, though based on paw prints I know she likes to hope on the kitchen table when we're out, since she's not allowed when we're here!

I haven't decided yet if I'm comfortable leaving her, I know as she gets older I will get to know her better and will feel better leaving her alone over night. We've only had her a week, so that is playing a part in my decision also, she's still fresh from the pound!

She's an awesome cat though, keeps herself happy for ever playing with her toys and a maze of cardboard boxes I made for her.
 

wendyr

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We had to leave our cats alone when they were kittens for a few days - they were only about 6 months old, which was shortly after we took them in (not an expected acquisition - they were feral kittens living outside our house). We had a friend come and check on the them and they were fine. We have left them alone for several weekends since the (usually with a friend coming to check on them once a day). I suppose, Miso, the main concern I would have is that you have only one cat - the boredom might set in and that is when trouble occurs. But, if she is used to being home alone, then she might just be fine.

I always try and kitten proof the house before we go away, but inevitably, they find some strange way to amuse themselves. The first time we went away, they moved all the apples from our fruit bowl to the stairs. My friend was very surprised to find a bunch of apples on our stairs (I would have loved to see them do this - a bunch of six month old kittens dragging apples to the stairs...). The most recent time we were away (just for a night - celebrating the husband's 32 and our wedding anniversary) we came home to discover that the kittens had attacked our newly purchased 12-pack of toilet paper. Our kittens tp'd our house!
 

jellybella

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We've left our two alone that long. The biggest issue I have is that Stan never wants to go back to wet food after a weekend of "all you can eat crunchies"


I'm not sure about a 5 month old kitten alone. I would worry about a lot of seperation anxiety...especially if it's only one kitten--that's still a baby in my eyes. I would try to get someone to come in every day.
 

katgoddess

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You can always freeze up some canned food and right before you leave, put it out for them in a bowl.
 
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