cat owners! do you think it would be alright to leave kitty for almost 20 hrs?

[nailpolish]

going to FILs 65th birthday party. leaving the house at 6pm at night and staying overnight and we will be back at 2pm the next day (sooner i hope tbh)

if she is out all day (as she usually is in nice weather) and i bring her in and give her her usual cat food and leave a huge amount of dry food

she does go ages without the toilet (we dotn have a catflap)

Will she use a litter tray - if she does, that would be something I'd feel comfortable doing.

hmm

she used one until she was 6 mths old - but ive thrown it out

(she is 12 months old now)

re food & water - i would say yes fine
re toilet - not so sure, we have a catflap. maybe be prepared for a) accidents & b) scratched doors where she tried to get out.

Couldn't do it without a litter tray.

But if you have one, then yes - leave plenty of dry food and lots of water down.

dh wants to leave her OUT with food and water on the back stoop

she really loves being out so i see his point kind of

but i think the crows and foxes and squirrels will eat it

If you could find a seed tray or something to put litter in I'd say it would be fine. Only from the experience of my cat, but she's been going to the loo for months now but if we ever go anywhere with her she swaps straight back to using the tray with no problems. hf and gl

unless we get one of those timed feeder things?

i suppose i could get another litter tray

*going out to the loo

what do you think about leaving her out?

Get a litter tray and give her lots of dried food. Give her the run of the house and she'll be fine.

wouldn't leave mine out personally but would leave her in with a litter tray (NEVER have one any other time) one portion of wet food on leaving and then plenty if dry food and water.

When is she normally fed? If you feed her before you go I would think she'd be fine to be left outside and then fed again when you get back as long as she has water. I know our cats would prefer to be outside than trapped indoors.

Put her in the house (she will be much safer and so will her food and water!) with a few bowls of water and a good dish full of dry food and a litter tray and she should be fine. you should also consider getting another cat anyway as a companion as they are really happier when they have a companion.

We have been away overnight and left our cat. Both in and out, depending on the weather. If in, she uses a litter tray no problems, as we don't have it out any other time. Also don't have a cat flap.

She has also been fine when left out but we do have an outhouse she can use. Have left food and timer feeder for her and always been fine.

Think the food / water thing is fine. You'd feed the cat before you left and so really she'd only be getting her morning food a few hours later than usual. She'd be perfectly OK with that.

I wouldn't want to leave a cat without a litter tray or outside access though. I just have this mental image of the poor moggy crossing it's paws and feel it would be rather like me being stuck on a long journey somewhere with food and drink but no loo. Not fun. I'd get another one - they're only a couple of quid. Our cat, who always uses the flowerbeds will use one on occasions when staying away from home without any trouble at all. I'm sure yours would know what it was for too.

What cece says

We leave ours in and out. Although we do have a catflap into the shed where I leave her food and water.

Yes I would leave for 20 hours, with food and water, and two litter trays just to make sure!
We often leave our cat overnight as he gets very distressed going to a cattery.

(by often, I mean one every three months or so, not like weekly or anything!)

Surely this is one of the benefits of a cat as opposed to a dog?

Yes, it is. When we do go away for the night, doggie goes to kennels and cat has a nice sleep in the dog's bed!