Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To leave cat home alone

78 replies

monkeyallen49 · 20/07/2021 22:23

Family holiday booked for end of August. Usually one of my family would look after our cat while we are away but this time we are all going.

We live rurally and my cat is old, mean and very much an outdoor borderline feral cat. He spends most of his time in the fields and woods around our house. He comes in to be fed then he's scratching to be out again. I'm toying with the idea of asking our neighbour to feed him while we're away and keep an eye on him but basically to leave him outside. With appropriate shelter of course. My only worry is that something happens to him and we're not there.

I honestly feel like putting him in a cattery at his age would be very distressing for him. He hates being inside never mind cooped up. Any suggestions?

OP posts:
caringcarer · 21/07/2021 00:40

Why not just get a cat flap on back door and leave kitchen door shut so cat can get into kitchen with comfy bed and pay neighbour to pop in twice a day to leave food out. Cat might need to go in for shade in this weather.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 21/07/2021 02:33

So totally as an aside catteries are intriguing… this is the second thread I ‘ce read today that has mentioned them and I’d never heard of them. (Obviously not common where I live).

So on to practical advice. Yes your cat sounds like it would be more comfortable at home. You mentioned a neighbor and that sounds like a good option for food and water. I’m going to assume it spends most of the time outside. That sounds like the best option if that’s what you can manage. But a flap or a an out of the way window propped open would be even better if practical.

Ours routinely go 12 days with a sitter stopping in.

Savoury · 21/07/2021 02:58

My sister looks after a neighbour's cat like this. She goes twice a day and never sees the cat for the whole week. Food is sometimes eaten, other times not. At the start my sister would fret and worry about not seeing the cat, fearing it had been hit by a car or similar.
The minute the owner got home, the cat would return and start meowing at the back door as if the cat had been there the whole time.
For a self-sufficient cat with a willing neighbour, I would leave her at home.

sueelleker · 21/07/2021 10:21

YANBU We've always left our cats at home, with a neighbour to feed them. Cats are generally much happier in their own homes.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 21/07/2021 10:26

My cat wouldn't tolerate a cattery.

We go away and a neighbour pops in to feed him and she adores him so gives him a cuddle too.

I would fit a cat flap OP.

TheTurn0fTheScrew · 21/07/2021 10:27

fine. IMO cats want as little disruption as possible to their routine. Ours have a cat flap, and a daily visit from my lovely neighbours. The cats go round the neighbours' house if they're bored or in need of company.

MumofSpud · 21/07/2021 10:29

My cat loves the dog's water and ignores her own - cats are weird!

Original poster
monkeyallen49 · 21/07/2021 10:30

We don't have a cat flap but we do have an outdoor kennel/dog house that the cat can use. Thank you I was expecting a lot of replies about irresponsible cat owners but I think most people seem to realise that cats are free spirits and would be very cross about being disrupted just so their selfish owners can have a holiday Grin

Interestingly my cat never seems to drink either, at least not from his bowl. I've been trying to encourage him in this hot weather but he's not interested.

OP posts:
Megan2018 · 21/07/2021 10:30

We never use a cattery, always a pet sitter that comes in 1-2 times a day. Often we use a neighbour and reciprocate for them but have used a professional sitter too. But they book up months ahead so you’ll be unlikely to get one now I’d think.
We’ve been away for up to 3 weeks this way. In 43 years of cat ownership we’ve never used a cattery. Cats are much happier at home.

Clymene · 21/07/2021 10:34

I only ever get a cat sitter. My cars do not appreciate a cattery one little bit. Same with my dog.

CheshireDing · 21/07/2021 10:35

We have left our old cat for long weekend since with just multiple bowls or food and water he was fine.

What about for food outside so that wildlife cat eat it the cat bowl whixh recognises the cats chip and then opens? We have one but I can’t remember what it’s called 🙄

Ilikeknitting · 21/07/2021 10:59

If he’s an old cat, used to roaming the fields, it would be pretty cruel to kennel him for four nights.

Put him out a big BIG bowl of kibble and a big BIG BIG bowler of water, like a washing up bowl, baby bath type size because other animals will drink it.

Definitely get a cat flap if you can. Just so he can access indoors if the weather turns nasty.

We have a cat flap, leave our two cats (one geriatric) home alone for a Friday to Sunday, get cat sitter to visit and put fresh meat, fresh water, check on their well being if we are away for more than two nights.

TheSilveryPussycat · 21/07/2021 11:12

Hunting cats get much of the water they need from eating their prey Shock

bellabasset · 21/07/2021 11:19

Cats don't like catteries. If your neighbour is happy to top up food and water he should be fine. My ndn's looked after my cats for years when we were away.

mintginger · 21/07/2021 11:19

Hi OP, it’s easy to get a cat sitter to come in. I’m in London and they’re about £6 per visit. They will change the water and food (important in hot weather) and maybe spend a bit of time with the cat of hers about.

But also, why not just get a cat flap?

The only thing with just locking him out is that the weather is so weird at the moment and what if everywhere floods again (as it did near us recently)? Also, cats know when you are not there and they may tend to wander off further than normal. If it’s an elderly cat, it may get disorientated or get heat exhaustion in very hot weather.

queenatom · 21/07/2021 11:41

Just chiming in to say we did similar when we went away at the start of last year. We found a local cat sitter who would pop in in the morning to unlock the cat's flap and make sure he had plenty of water and his tray was clean (he doesn't really use it but always available as a back-up). Come evening she'd come by again, set his flap to entry only so he'd be in for the night, fill his bowl and, if he was in (which he pretty much always was) spend half an hour or so playing with him and giving him some attention. Worked really well and I suspect he was a lot happier and less unsettled than he would've been at a cattery.

moynomore · 21/07/2021 11:45

I'm happy to read this. I tried to employ a cat sitter for 10 days (someone who would come to my house once a day) and they said they won't do it for that long and I should put him in a cattery. I am totally convinced he would hate a cattery and be much happier in his own home (where he can sleep all day in the bathtub like normal). Thankfully I have neighbours who will come once a day.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 21/07/2021 11:47

MIL comes in twice a day to feed/fuss our cat, although last time she locked herself out which was a huge pain. Ours would hate a cattery.

Since Covid we have become good friends with our neighbours and now madam has a choice of nearby slaves who can visit her when we next go away.

Katefoster · 21/07/2021 11:56

We didn't let my cat out until he was 8 months old and if we went away my brother would normally come and stay for however long we were gone so he had company. Now he's an outside cat we ask our neighbour to come in and feed him, he has a cat flap so comes and goes as he pleases

CustardyCreams · 21/07/2021 11:58

Yanbu. You have plenty of time to ensure your cat is happy being fed in the kennel, I think it will be fine. If you live rurally, is there an option to leave a window open for the cat to jump in and out through? We trained our first cat to jump onto the counter, onto the windowsill, out through the window, down onto the window ledge then down a series of bins and tables to the ground. If he is too old to learn, then that might be no use at all.

Largethighsbadeyes · 21/07/2021 12:00

Nothing wrong with it imo.

When we go away we leave one window slightly open and someone pops in to feed him twice a day.

He's not dead yet!

LST · 21/07/2021 12:00

We go away most weekends this time of year an I leave my 3 cats. My mum comes round in a morning and at night to let them in and out and feed them

RogersVideo · 21/07/2021 12:01

YANBU, thats called having a cat sitter and it's what I do when I go away. It's the least stress for the cats.

CimCardashian · 21/07/2021 12:02

We have always left our cats when we go away. Next door neighbour pops in and he goes round there when we’re away 😂

Sounds like your cat is very independent and won’t even notice!

redtshirt50 · 21/07/2021 12:18

Our cat sounds very similar to yours, and we leave her when we go on holiday.

We have a shed so we leave this open and set up a bed for her in there. The neighbor comes in once a day to fill up her food.

She always seems fine when we get back

Swipe left for the next trending thread