Traveling and What to do with Kittens

[jiminyhcricket3]

My husband and I are tentatively planning to go out of town for a few days but aren't sure what to do with our two 3 month old kittens. We would love to bring them with us but we are going to be staying with family and they have 3 dogs... Our male kitten is going to be getting neutered a few days before we may be leaving which is making me even more nervous about leaving them. I don't want to send them to a kennel because I've had bad experiences in the past and am just nervous of what might happen. I would feel so much better if I could just bring them with me, but I don't think that's an option at this point. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I should do?

 

[hexiesfriend]

How many days are you going to be gone?

 

[catlover73]

Do you have anyone who could come over and check on the kittens for you?  I have a friend that comes over when we go out of town to check on my cats.  If you do not know anyone perhaps you could ask your vet's office if they know anyone or talk to some of the vet techs.  Some vet techs do pet sitting.

Also if there is a way the dogs could be kept out of the bedroom where you are staying you could possibly take them with you.  But you would really need to confine them to a room that the dogs would not have access to and it would take a group effort on the part of everyone in the family to keep the kittens away from the dogs.

 

[jiminyhcricket3]

 

[catlover73]

Talk to the people you are going to visit and see how they feel about having the kittens there. If they are ok with it then talk to them about which items may need to be re-located to not be destroyed. If they are uncomfortable with that idea then talk to your brother-in-law about checking on them.  Have the kittens spent any time around your brother-in-law?  If they do not know him I would invite him over as much as possible so they can get comfortable around him before you travel.  My cat sitter is a long-time friend of mine so all my cats have grown up around her.  My oldest cat has known my cat sitter since she was a baby but still considers her a stranger and hides from her no matter if we are there or not.  She tends to hide under the bed and my cat sitter knows this.  I have no doubt in my mind though that if my cat sitter heard my scared cat sneezing/coughing or any other sign of illness that she would find a way to get her into a carrier and take her to a vet.

It is perfectly natural to be nervous leaving your babies for 4 days.  I know and trust my cat sitter with mine and my cats lives but I still worry when I travel.  My friend calls and lets me know how my cats are doing while she is at my house.  One time right before we went out of town one of my senior cats grabbed people food he should not have had.  We were gone for a week and my poor cat sitter was left cleaning up his poop squirts.  She went out and bought an extra litter box to put in my upstairs bathroom just for him.  She also made sure he was eating/drinking and was not dehydrated.  My friend has money and if she felt he had needed vet attention then she would have called me to tell me she was taking him to the vet to get checked out. She also has the phone number for one of my other friends who lives close by should she an emergency arise.  My other friend also knows when I am traveling just in case anything happens.

When Starbuck was a very young kitten we took her to my parents house with us for Christmas dinner. She went to the vet for vaccines the day before and we wanted to keep any eye on her.  She was 6 weeks old at this time and managed not to destroy anything.  The worst thing that happened during the visit was when she asked my parents senior cat to play by swatting her.  My parents cat hissed and ran away.  My dad found her some toys to play with and she left their cat alone.

 

[jiminyhcricket3]

I think what we're going to do is just reschedule the boys vet appointment so that I don't stress out about leaving him when he's just had surgery. My brother in-law is going to take care of them while we're gone. We trust him to do a good job taking care of them and the kittens love him.

 

[catlover73]

 
I think what we're going to do is just reschedule the boys vet appointment so that I don't stress out about leaving him when he's just had surgery. My brother in-law is going to take care of them while we're gone. We trust him to do a good job taking care of them and the kittens love him.

That is a great idea.  I think it will be much less stressful for both you and the kittens.  I would not feel comfortable traveling either so close to one of my cats having any type of surgery.  My cat sitter has her own cats and would know what exactly what to look for in terms of any issues after a cat was spayed but I still would make the same decision you just made.

Also it is great that the kittens love your brother-in-law it will make it much easier for him to take care of them while you are traveling.