Kitties punishing me for going on vacation - help!!

Hi! I have 2 wonderful cats - a male and female, neutered/spayed. I adopted them both - 1 almost 2 years ago, the other about 8 months ago.

I've gone on a couple of short (5 days) vacation, and had a pet sitter come in to feed and take care of them. They have always been fine. Recently, however, I went on a longer vacation - 10 days. They were apparently ticked off that I'd left them so long, because they pooped in my bed and peed in at least 3 different areas around the apartment that I've discovered so far. I don't think it's a medical problem, because they've been using their litter box just fine since I got home.

I have a couple more vacations coming up in the next few months - a short one and another long one. I am nervous about leaving them alone again, afraid of what I might come back to! What can I do to prevent this problem from happening again while I'm away?

Thanks for any advice!

Hi and welcome to TCS.

The first thing that comes to mind is that the pet sitter is perhaps not cleaning the litter box as well as you do and the cats found it unacceptable.

Something you can do is wear a t-shirt either while you get really sweaty from a work-out or wear it to bed for a few nights. You'll probably need a shirt for each cat. Place the shirts in a zip-lock bag to preserve the scent. Take them out of the bag and put them in the cat's favourite spots on the day you leave. Your personal scent will comfort them while you're away.