Wants to leave young cat to fend for itself whilst on holiday

[Catsaver]

I have been dating someone for a few weeks, and we have been getting along very well… I thought.

This evening, she told me she was going on holiday, and mentioned a young cat in passing… she hadn’t actually mentioned she had a pet at all!
I asked: “Who will be taking care of the cat?”
I was told that the cat would take care of herself!
What about water? “Cat never drinks at home”
And food: “Cat is a good hunter”
Can I collect your cat to be rehomed? “No, cat will be lost and confused to be taken to a strange place”

What would you do?

It made me very sad and upset to think of a cat coming “home” one day to find the family have upped sticks and left one day and all the doors and windows are closed!

She's being completely irresponsible towards the poor cat, and I wouldn't trust her not to just be shutting you up by trying to placate you with empty words that she will be getting her friend to tend to cat, then just go ahead with her original plan

She shouldn't be going on holiday if she doesn't have a plan for cat care

We live in a farm , our cats stay outside while we are away , they have feeders that last a week and the same with water . They also have a safe shed with heating blankets ( in winter ) . I once tried to pu them in a ,cattery and had to abandon my holidays as none was eating or using the litter on day 4 .
if like ours they are outside cats ( ours have full access to the house too ) and have access to food , water place to safely test etc I see no issue .

What's the betting she's just saying she's got someone to feed the cat? I bet she hasn't.

Can you pop along after she's left and just take the poor thing home with you? You could look after it for a week....

Oh well, the poor little thing will adopt another 'owner' soon enough I hope.

My female cat hunts loads. She will catch and eat at least two fieldmice a day in summer, and they both routinely disappear for over 12 hours.

When we go away we always arrange cover for them (usually my dad who lived next door) but the female cat used to disappear for a few days the minute we left and often not return until we got home (minutes after we arrived).

But we’d still always arrange cover. I don’t like the idea of catteries or kennels, so would prefer someone to call in or house sit. We have lots of other animals anyway.

edited to add, we are rural and have stables and sheds the cats can get into, so a different deal to most people’s situation.

Even feral cats can struggle to fend for themselves, I've had ferals that ate bird seed they were so desperate before being rescued.
Any pet cat needs food water and a daily check as a minimum. What would happen if it became ill or hit by a car while the owner is swanning off on holiday?

I’d pop over once she has left. Wouldn’t it be a shame if the cat got in your car and you didn’t realise until you got home.
Then I’d cut her off entirely.

Our cat sitter only charges £6 a day.
Your girlfriend is cruel and tight.
Incidentally our cat was dumped with the RSPCA because her owners couldn’t be bothered to pay for a sitter.

Hopefully a person who will go and rescue the poor bloody animal before it's run over/starves/killed by a dog as it goes into somebody's garden in search of food because it's starving, then dump the arsehole girlfriend, deny all knowledge of what has happened to the poor bloody cat and then go back onto the dating market whilst your new rescue cat sleeps happily in a warm, safe and caring home with you.

How old is the cat?
How long will they be left?
Is there a cat flap?

We leave our cat for up to a week alone. A massive bowl of food, several bowls of water and a cat flap and they're happy as Larry.

We've previously put them in a cattery and they hated it and it took a long time for them to forgive us. We've also had a cat sitter a few times and they end up toileting all over the house and over-grooming with the stress. Home alone is what they're happiest with.

I don't necessarily see an issue with it, assuming she's planning to leave food and water.

And if she does leave food and water, the RSPCA won't care.

I don't think my cat notices or cares when I leave the house, so long as I'm there to feed him at 6am and 10pm.

Clues are in the OP's posts.

About a year.
One week.
No cat flap.
Doesn't need to leave food because it hunts.
Doesn't need to leave water because it hasn't been seen drinking before.

100% report her to RSPCA and / or Cats Protection League.

Don't discuss anything any further with her. There is no reasoning with people like this.

If it was me, I would go and rescue the cat now. She probably won't even notice.

Whatever you do, don't let her keep the cat. This is animal cruelty.

A lot of cats simply prefer a puddle or something outside that has collected rainwater and will not drink clean tap water from a bowl.
maybe it’s the taste or they don’t like the sensation of their whiskers touching the sides of a deep bowl. I could leave a hundred bowls of clean water for my cat and she will always choose a dirty puddle instead.

I’m inclined to think the owner knows her cat better than the OP

RSPCA then LTB. This is my only LTB.

I used to leave my cat and he was fine. He didn't like me leaving but he did have a catflap and a feeder. He always drank rainwater.

He liked being outside and it seemed kinder that imprisoning him in a cattery.

This is all very cat specific. Some cats are basically wild/ others die without their daily lasagna.

Mine gets separation anxiety - she can only be alone for a few hours. A day out is met with a crying cat when I get home

My cats don’t drink the water I put out for them either and I often see them drinking from puddles.

But there is always a bowl of water for them inside and I’d never go away assuming they didn’t need any.

You shouldn’t be regularly leaving your cat alone for 12 hours, but this is ok to do occasionally if needed

from Cats Protection League:
Leaving a cat alone | Meow Blog (cats.org.uk)

They are actually stating that it is ok to leave your cat alone for more than 12 hours.

Step 1: rehome the cat while she is away.
Step 2: dump her

We’ve just come away for a week and I’m already missing my cats. Even though I’ve paid dd’s friend (in her early 20s) handsomely to move into our house for the time we’re away, on the basis that she can revise for her finals and just be around/come and go and supervise.
they have microchip cat flap, overnight curfew, microchip feeders and a huge tub of dreamies for her to charm them with.
I could not have ANYTHING to do with someone who would leave a cat to fend for itself. Mine are hunters but wouldn’t deign to eat the mice they catch.

That's awful

It's unthinkable that she wouldn't even leave it a food and water bowl, even though that wouldn't last long enough.

Is this that bad? When we go on holiday for a week or less I always leave ours out (they can go in our shed via a cat flap) with their food in there in one of those timer bowls and their water fountain running. Sometimes I get my sister to pop by half way through the week to check on them and they're invariably sunning themselves on the patio.

Is this that bad

Its considerably longer than any of the advice given by cat experts, @TheCatOnMorrisseysHead

What would you do if the timer stopped working?