Least Stressful Option For Our Absence?

My fiance and I are getting married on December 11, 2005. A couple of days after the wedding we'll be leaving for our honeymoon cruise and we will be gone for two weeks. We are trying to evaluate and find the least stressful option for Cotton & Spike while we are gone.

1) Board at a reputable vet/kennel.

It goes without saying that I would thoroughly check out any place that we might leave our boys before making a decision.

2) Hire a petsitter to come in and feed them, play with them, and scoop the box.

My fiance is not keen on allowing a stranger into our home, having to give an alarm code, etc.

3) Have my best friend/maid of honor take the boys home with her after the wedding and catsit them at her house. She has a pair of cats herself. We would stop by and pick them up on our way home from the trip.

I know she'd take great care of them and I think Spike & Cotton would get along fine with Calvin & Vashti (her cats), but I am afraid it would be stressful for them to go to a new house with different smells and things and then come home again. Also, my friend lives three hours away and that means a lot of car time for the boys.


I want our absence to be as easy for the boys as possible, considering that I think they will miss us. They definitely missed my fiance when he had to go out of town on business for a few days last week. Ideas?

Thanks in advance for your input.

It will be A LOT less stressful if they stay at home. I would either hire a petsitter (they are usally bonded) or find a friend or family member to go to your home and take care of them.

When we go out of town we have family or friends come over once a day and scoop litter, give them food and water and also play with them.

You may also want to talk to your vets office and either get a refferal on a petsitter or even ask if any of them live close enough to stop by and do it for you. If so they probably would not charge much.

I would also reccomend the in-home petsitter. Make sure they are insured and bonded and that will cover you if anything happens.
We have a hired petsitter we use if we're out of town for more than a weekend. If its just a weekend or long weekend our neighbor watches the cats in exchange for a 12 pack of his favorite beer He has a dog, cat and two young kids so I know he's responsible
We boarded Oliver once because we couldn't find a petsitter and he got a bad, bad cold. wouldn't reccomend it.

I say pet sitter too.
I'm a petsitter - the move in kind. Ended up doing this by accident, and all my clients are referrals, so they dont worry about their house or pets. If I had the schedule I'd do once a day sitting.

The main thing the owners always stress to me is that their pets are much happier being in their home and having a consistent prescence. They are unhappy their owners are gone, but the sitters are the best option to keep the pets happy.

If you have a family member that can actually 'move in' and keep a regular schedule, that would be a good idea.

Definitely, let the cats stay home. Maybe you have a close friend or family member you can trust to come during the day to feed and water and play with the cats.
They will be lonely, missing you, but they will get along better in the surroundings they are accustomed to.

First choice - cats stay at home.

Second choice - cats stay with someone else

Distant third - boarding in a kennel

Definately let them stay at home, if possible.

Have they ever been at home alone for even a few days, and do you know how they would respond while you were gone? Perhaps give it a trial run with a weekend trip to see how they react - hire a sitter and see how it goes. With a 2 week trip coming, test out the sitter before you commit to them.

We travel on a regular basis and one of our vet techs who lives close by takes care of them while we are gone. She knows the cats, has medical knowledge so can watch for any illnesses, gives meds, scoops litter, sweeps up the hair, and she has even given our CRF fluids for us while we were gone. She doesn't ask for money but we give her a hefty thank-you card when we return.

I contacted the rescue group we adopted from and asked if they had any recommendations on reputable petsitters and I got a couple of names. We are going away for a weekend for my bridal shower (in my hometown) so that's a good time to try things out.

My fiance feels better about it because the rescue ooordinator personally vouched for the people she suggested.