Shit. On 2 night residential this week and unsure what to do.

[JonSnowKnowsNothing]

Hello all - please help me solve this logistical nightmare! I'm away Wed and Thurs night this week and don't know how best to look after my cats. I have:
Scabbers - reluctantly I have accepted I have to let him in and out as he pleases. He buggered off last week for 3 days and is currently on his third day away this week
Snowy - Indoor neutered 12 month old boy
Cersei - 5 week old kitten I found last weekend.

Ive spoken to a local cattery who were nice but only willing to look after Cersei if Snowy came too, for company. Thing is, Snowy plays so roughly with Cersei I'm worried he will stress her and hurt her. He does like her, but he's so much bigger and sometimes when they play Cersei does squeak if he's playing roughly.

Cattery lady also suggested just leaving Snowy and Cersei alone in the house with my friend popping in to feed them. Cersei can't do stairs yet. Also, if Scabbers comes in I would worry for her as he really hasn't taken to her yet.

I wish I didn't have to bloody go!

Any suggestions??

Advertise on local FB pages for a responsible teenager with references to cat sit, set conditions as you want them. I got deluged with replies when I did that.

Really?? Wouldn't have ever considered that! I'm really, really rural though so not sure what the uptake would be. At the moment I have a friend who is willing to pop in once a day to feed and cuddle....Thanks for the idea though, I need to think about that

We are semi-rural & I still got flooded with offers. Even less employment for teens when you're semi-rural. It was the area "For sale" pgs I advertised on.

Yes, cat-sitter. There are a few professional ones round here, we use one and I use another one's van regularly. Ours charges £5 a visit and she picks up mail etc and stays for 15 mins or so to play with the cats.

Just looked online and there's a decent looking cat sitter very near me! Six quid a visit. So if she did one on each day and my friend did another visit, that'd be great!
I think I'm going to give the kitten free run of the house. She's definitely getting better and running from snowy when he plays a little too enthusiastically and can do the stairs now!

Oh good, is scabbers back yet?.

Nope
I'm just trying to accept he wants to be outside. If/when he comes back I think I'm going to have to feed him, give him lots of cuddles and keep the catflap open so he can come and go as he pleases.
Bloody kitten has drank the milk my shredded wheats where in. Great!

Ouch. Keep an eye peeled for squitters in case of lactose intolerance. (Although she's young enough that you may get away with it.)

Ouch indeed.

Here's a pic of the breakfast thief to show you how well she's doing though!

She's quite gorgeous.

She's got the most beautiful markings - I hope you don't miss them too badly when you're away next week! Good luck.

She's gorgeous!

Tis I - JonS - posting under a NC due to posting about a horrible work issue. Just to say THANKS for the comments, she really is lovely!
Also, the cat sitter is coming over tomorrow evening to talk over what I want and take a key. She sounds really nice! Feel better now.

Oh and, even better, now that the kitty an dSnowy have spent a whole weekend with the free roam of the house, they're no longer all about the mad rough play!

she is georgous

Isn't she pretty. I love her half-black and half-white nose!

Thanks, she's a right little character!
Tonight she pinched a chip off my plate and when I went to retrieve it she did a proper squeaky little growl and swiped at me! I know that's not ideal behaviour but it did make me smile.

Got home this evening and all 3 of my kitties were in the house and hadn't murdered each other so I'm feeling ok about leaving them tomorrow. The pet sitter was LOVELY.

Harden that heart, CatKisser. If you were a Mama cat, you'd be near apoplectic with them all by the time they reached this stage so infractions would be dealt with severely. Nature's way frequently works best.

Haha! I was a bit more harsh then she tried to steal the pork chop - I had to properly wrestle it from her!!

Wow that's good value - our local cat sitter was £12 for first visit and £9 for a second visit on the same day!

Wow, that's expensive! I I did think six quid was good though. And the woman clearly loved cats. She mentioned stealing the kitten a worrying number of times....

We always get a cat sitter as our two are nervous little things and a cattery would be hell for us them. If you have more than one cat the price is comparable AND you don't have the stress of catching the little buggers and getting them into cat carriers.

Just got back. Kitten hissed at me so I'm feeling extremely guilty. Lots of cuddles this weekend. You're right, Manatee, the cat carrier is always horrific.

Oh and snowy has shit deliberately on the carpet as punishment. Like, right next to litter tray.

It's the cat version of a V sign that is.