How long can we leave our 5mth old kitten for?

[Cookadoodledoo]

Can you talk me through best options please?
We have a wonderful 5mth old kitten who is very much loved and part of the family - generally pretty spoilt!
For various reasons, we need to go on a trip imminently that will see us being out of the house in the daytime for approx 12-13 hrs. Taking the cat with us isn't realistic as a lot of that time will be spent in the car.
Our kitten is fairly sensible most of the time and hasn't got himself into any awful scrapes yet. I feel confident leaving him the run of the house for that time.
I'm thinking of getting a cat sitter to come in for half an hour in the middle of the day to play with him and feed him. This will tie in with his usual meal times.
My concern really is the company aspect as he's very affectionate and I think might be lonely.

Catterys are generally an overnight service aren't they? I think that would probably be more disruptive for him anyway.
I feel really bad for having to leave him for so long but this trip was unforseeable. Any advice?

It should be ok if you’re only gone for 12 or so hours. Leave it some food, water, toys, it’s bed and secure some rooms of the house so it doesn’t have free reign everywhere.

Posted too soon...I must admit I leave Alexa on playing the radio for my cat for a few hours if no one is in the house for a good few hours. I just ask it to switch off after a few hours.

Ooh Alexa is a good idea! Thank you. Reassuring to hear that you don't think it's too awful to leave him for that long as a one off.

If it's just the one day, it's absolutely fine to leave him.

If he goes out already, keep him indoors while you're away with the cat flap locked and blocked though, for his safety.

My cats both really like classical music. Debussy, Chopin and Satie are particular favourites. It seems to really soothe them , so dunno if that would be worth a whirl?

Haribo is nearly 6 months old and also spoilt rotten. We went away for 2 nights a couple of weekends ago. My sister popped in during the morning and evening and he was fine. No way did he have the run of the house, just kitchen, living room and utility.

He has had to be left for nearly 12 hours a few times because of work. He has dried food for grazing and a pouch morning and evening. He entertains himself for ages with the ripped off top of a food pouch.

Haribo hasn't gone out yet and I'll keep him in as long as possible.

Thanks all. I fear I'm being a bit of a precious first time kitten owner!! Really reassuring replies . Think he'll be just fine. Maybe I'll be the one who misses him...