Traveling Advice....please...

Well I have 2 cats, and I live alone (people wise that is)... well in about 2 weeks, my mom is going to have surgery and I am going to take a vacation to be there and help her out. I am going to be gone at least a week, and I definately can not afford to board my cats. I have a friend who might look in on them for me, but she has a lot on her plate right now and I'm afraid she may forget. My mom says I should bring them with me, however, she has cats herself and a recent addition of a puppy. I really don't know what I should do... I don't know what would be the less stressful solution for them... leaving them home alone with as much food and water as I can leave out and hope that they don't run out (i have a self watering dish but they seem to be going through the water every couple of days), or take them with me so they will have me and their necessities but have to deal with strange animals in a strange environment!

Have you traveled with your cats before? If not, then perhaps it would be less stressful for them to stay at home, (if someone can look in on them that is).

Our older cat(don't know about the younger one yet), but she would come with us everywhere. Even if we left for two days, she didn't care where she was as long as she was with us. But we never took her anywhere where there were other animals.

Also the possibility is there that even your cats will be ok in the other environment, that your moms pets won't be too happy about the visitors. So maybe leaving them home would be better, and in the end less stressful.
If you can make sure that your friend will come by to check on them, then leave them home.

I would also think that it would be less stressful to stay at home where it's all familiar. You can't really explain to them that they're going on a visit and it's only temperary, and I would anticipate a lot of fighting to occur at your mom's as cats are territorial animals and tend to fear dogs if they haven't been socialized to them.

If your cats have never travelled before, it would not be good to start now. Especially since your mother has other cats/dogs. Cats are not as social as dogs are and most have a problem walking into a place where there are resident/strange cats.

Our show kitties never minded where they went as long as it was with us. But they were trained for travel at a young age.

I would find a pet sitter or neighborhood reliable person come come every other day and check on them, feed/water, and clean pans for the week you are away. Be cheaper in the long run and the cats would be a lot happier.

Unless your cats are seasoned travelers, it will be better for them to stay at home.

Perhaps you could hire a responsible neighborhood teenager to take care of the cats each day (you shouldn't have to pay a huge amount if you hire a kid), and still have your friend look in on them as well. That way if the teen you hire doesn't do a good job, your friend will be there as backup, but by the same token if your friend doesn't come one day, the person you hired would have been there anyway so things should be fine.