depressed cat with seperation anxiety

I'm going away for Christmas and will be gone for 28 days. I have three cats that live at my house and someone will come by to fill their feeder and empty their box twice a week. But one of my cats is a "people cat" and will miss me a lot. My husband's in Iraq and our cat Merlin took it very hard. He's been depressed since my husband left a few months ago and now that I'll be gone for almost a month I'm really worried about him. I'm flying Southwest and they don't take pets on board. Also, I thought it was be less traumatic if he were still in our home. What can I do to make the seperation easier on him?

I am so worried about him, I just don't know what to do. I'm almost at the point of canceling my trip and spending Christmas alone just so that Merlin doesn't have to stay by himself.

awwww...that is sad for your kittys ..I have a neighbor who goes on vacation for a week at a time, and we take care of her Ragdoll cat Samantha for her. Samantha is SO out of sorts when they are gone it is terrible. What they try to do is leave her some clothes of theirs for her to sleep near so she doesnt get too lonely. But the cat still feels depressed when they leave, and I dont think there is much more they can do.

There are several tricks you can employ so Merlin doesn't miss you because you will be there.

Start sleeping with his toys. Keep them as close to your body as you can so they can absorb all your body odor (sorry but that is what it is). Put the toys into plastic bags with zip locks and give them to whoever is taking care of your cats with the instructions of giving merlin one toy every 3 days. Keep the rest in the refrigerator.

Get some old clothes really sweaty and leave those behind so he can find them and crawl into them (warning, he will more than likely pee on them) as that will comfort him as well, so make sure they are really old clothes. You can do the same thing with old slippers or shoes just wear them without socks to get them real sweaty

Once you arrive, take a piece of thin paper and press it to your forehead, rub it all over your forehead then so the same with the envelope mail it to the caregiver ask her to put the letter on the floor for Merlin to find. Keep doing this every day if you want while you are gone. It really does help

Also invest in several comfort zone room diffusers and burn those as well in your home in your absence.