Can we leave the cat for the weekend?

[LookAtTheFlowersKerry]

We're going away in a few weeks. Last time we had my brother in twice a day and he cocked up the alarm code and it was all a bit of a drama, so he's loathe to do it again.

We're away from Friday am to Sunday pm.

I'm thinking one of two options.

1. leave her shut in (no cat flap) with both kitchen sinks full of water, a big bowl of dry food and a covered litter tray.
   
   
2. leave her out with a bucket of water and some dry food up on the garden table. She's a hunter and eats what she kills.
   
   Obviously option 4 is finding someone to come in, and we could still do that.
   
   She's not a people cat, she only comes near us when she wants food or to go out. So she won't miss us and doesn't need company. She goes out all night and most of the day.
   
   I'm leaning towards leaving her out but would like opinions.

[LookAtTheFlowersKerry]

(I can count, I just can't type..)

[PuntCuffin]

I would leave her in rather than out. Food left outside on a table might get eaten by other cats/rats, get shat in by pigeons (or eaten by them).

That said, a litter tray will be grim as you like after 48 hours and she might refuse to use it and crap in your bed!. So, it would definitely be better if a neighbour could pop in at least once to deal with that.

I regularly leave our cat for a weekend but we have a cat flap (can you fit one?) and he is very social. Luckily our neighbours are cat mad and will happily cuddle him if when he uses them as his holiday home.

[Wh0Kn0wsWhereTheTimeGoes]

With the outdoor option there is a risk that other neighbourhood cats / wildlife take all the food. Also has she got any shelter if it rains a lot? That would also ruin the food. We leave ours for a max of 36 hours (Fri pm to Sun am) with an open catflap, dry food and wet food in an autofeeder.

[Belle1409]

I would go for option 1 as I would feel better leaving the cat inside. However is she likely to try and get outside and potentially destroy things?

We have two cats and have left them for the same length of time on a number of occasions, they have been fine and very happy to see us each time. If we are away for one night I would leave then extra food however for two nights I usually use an automatic feeder. Is this an option for you? I use wet food in the feeder and also leave a bowl of biscuits separately.

[IamRonnieBiggs]

Have you seen if there are any local cat sitters? Or someone who could let them in/out one day
I know my cat would go mental

[ProfYaffle]

Agree with pp about leaving the food outside, is there anywhere to leave it at least protected from the rain? Automatic feeders work really well. I suppose there's no way to leave a small window open anywhere so the cat can go in and out?

[claraschu]

I would get a cat flap, if possible.

[TheWayYouLookTonight]

I've left mine for this long before - shut in the house but with the run of nearly every room. For 2 nights away I give 3 litter trays (normally the cat goes out in the daytime and has just 1 tray for overnights).

For feeding I have one of these:

<a class="break-all" href="//www.amazon.co.uk/Cat-Mate-Automatic-Pet-Feeder/dp/B0002AR0D8?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">//www.amazon.co.uk/Cat-Mate-Automatic-Pet-Feeder/dp/B0002AR0D8?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
which can technically do meals for up to 4 days I think. It has ice packs in the base so at least the first couple of meals can be wet food. Then just plenty of water bowls in different places! I think DCat sleeps for most of time when we are away, he never seems any the worse for the occasional weekend like this.

[LookAtTheFlowersKerry]

There's literallly nowhere to put a cat flap, the back of the house is all patio doors.

We have a big covered litter tray that we used when we moved in and kept her in for six weeks. I can close off downstairs easily so she has the run of four rooms but can't get upstairs. And can certainly get an automatic feeder.

Keeping her in is sounding like the best option.

[Sparrowlegs248]

Get a cat flap. The litter tray will be awful after half a day and she'll probably need to poop elsewhere.

[LookAtTheFlowersKerry]

A cat flap would cost hundreds, we'd have to remove a huge pane of glass and replace it. We've looked into it before.

[Rumtopf]

When we had a cat we fitted a cat flap onto the back door for the garage as it wasn't practical to have one on the house. He had a really cosy bed in there up off the floor, plenty of water and an automatic feeder.
He was fine for 48 hrs or so, any more and a friend would pop in to fill his water and reset the feeder every 3 days.

[LilCamper]

Buy another litter tray. General rule is you should have one per cat plus one anyway.

[JennyOnAPlate]

This would be fine I think. I would leave at least 2 litter trays though. We have 3 trays between 2 cats and I have to empty them at least three times a day because they won't use one that has already been used!

[GingerHanna]

Keep them in. Get a second litter tray and put a few bowls of water in different places in case they knock one over. They'll be fine.

[TizzyDongue]

Pretty sure cat flaps can be fitted in patio doors. You need a glass cutter, no need to replace the pane.

But in the meantime Option 1 - though I'd probably feel better if someone I knew called in to say hello

[fessmess]

I would never leave mine like this. The water is not fresh and what if she was injured or ill? Also, mine sometimes vomit/pee in house. Want to come back to that? I'd use a cattery.

[TizzyDongue]

Just thought, the friend I know who has the cat flap in a glass door is extremely wealthy. So it's very possible her 'it wasn't much' might be hundreds; though she's usually decent at appreciating relative costs.

[Bluebell28]

I would leave her in but with 2 litter trays and close the bedroom door. That's if she likes being inside as we have one cat who gets very distressed if she's in after ten minutes so we leave food out for her when away for a day or two but the other cat goes into all the houses on our road and eats their food after a large bowl at home ( she's friendly and loves being petted). They are from the same litter of kittens but very different

[LeviOsaNotLeviosAR]

I have 2 cats and have only ever went on an overnight leaving them. They are both indoor cats.
I would probably put them in a cattery tbh. But then mine are really sociable.

If I couldn't do the cattery, I would leave several bowls of water and 2 litter trays (mine are both happy to share the 1 tray but I generally do a scoop out every day and a full change every 5 days or so).
I have a big food dispenser I got from home bargains so that stores enough food that I wouldn't need to worry about refilling. I did have the same for water but one cat rejected that and only drinks from his small bowl.
As long as you know they have enough food and water and you know they won't reject the litter trays within that time I'm sure they will be fine.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I wouldn't do either. RSPCA guidelines are that a pet is checked every 24hrs.

I would use a cattery. 3 days without checking is unacceptable in my mind.

[Wh0Kn0wsWhereTheTimeGoes]

I think cattery or cat sitter is the best option for this long too.

[Helbel82]

We have only left ours for a maximum of over 1 night without having someone come in and feed him. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him any longer without some human contact / to check on him / empty litter box. We have a cat feeder which is on a timer and works well for this but it only has two compartments and so would only do for 1 night as if we left dried food out he'd eat it before we'd got out the door!
Can you not get someone to come in on the Saturday evening to check in?

[9GreenBottles]

Leave her in with automatic cat feeder but pay a professional cat sitter to come in at least once. Don't know where you live but one visit here costs £9. Less hassle than getting to a cattery.

[PuppyMonkey]

Dry food, plenty of water and a covered litter tray, safely kept inside where she can't get into much trouble? I'd be ok with that!