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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Going on holiday

25 replies

Maggiethecat · 28/06/2021 11:37

What do you do with your cat when you go on holiday?

Only for 5 nights next week just decided to go somewhere a few hours away.

Could leave her at home and ask friend to feed/ deal with litter tray but she’s seems a very needy cat (rescue that we’ve had for 9 months)
and not sure how she’d be. Also wouldn’t be able to activate alarm with her at home.

Could see if a friend will take her but wonder about this and whether she’d run off.

OP posts:

Alannawhorideslikeaman · 28/06/2021 11:46

You can get house sitters who will spend more time than someone just popping in for food and cleaning litter trays, or you can take her to a cattery where she will be cared for 24/7 in an enclosure.
My in laws have someone pop in for up to 3 days away, but any more and their Siamese goes to the cattery as he gets too lonely after a couple of days.

cupsofcoffee · 28/06/2021 19:32

I'm a cat-sitter and do visits for cats - £8 per visit (upto 30 minutes) which includes food, fresh water, treats, cleaning/changing trays and play or fuss if the cats want it.

Fluffycloudland77 · 28/06/2021 21:31

If she’s needy I’d use a cattery or cat hotel so she doesn’t wander off thinking she’s been abandoned.

RustyFig · 28/06/2021 21:45

We have a pet sitter who comes twice a day and does much the same as what cupsofcoffee has described. I don't think he thinks he's been abandoned- his rumbling tummy brings him back home twice a day! I definitely think he prefers being at home (he hates even a short car journey), although plenty of people take their cats to catteries and must be happy with the care their cats receive, so I guess it comes down to personal preference.

Original poster

Maggiethecat · 29/06/2021 08:13

Ok, called a couple of catteries and left messages, waiting for them to get back.
Reviews seem mostly good so hope someone has space 🤞🏽

OP posts:

cupsofcoffee · 29/06/2021 08:55

I think you may struggle getting somewhere at such short notice, in all honesty.

I would have a look at some local cat sitters just in case - they tend to be more flexible, and won't fill up as quickly as they're only at your house for half an hour each day.

Sparklingbrook · 29/06/2021 09:05

Definitely cattery. But they are all booked up around here for months (I am lucky enough to now have teenagers who don't come away with us and do the necessary)

It depends on your cat. Sparklingcat would be stressed by if strangers were around and needs 4 tablets a day.

snowy0wl · 29/06/2021 09:09

If it is for longer than a weekend I always book my cats into a cattery. I hope you can find one with space.

Ramekin · 29/06/2021 09:13

Our cat hates catteries and gets stressed and refuses to eat.

He is much better staying at home in his own environment with someone he recognises popping in every day - our teenage neighbour does a good job, and he always eats well.
He does get confined to the house for safety while we are away.

He still tells us off indignantly when we get back, of course!

cupsofcoffee · 29/06/2021 09:18

The cattery debate often gets quite heated on here tbh.

I would never put mine in a cattery as I feel it's a totally unnatural environment for a cat. Mine are left home alone and someone comes in twice a day to feed them, change or empty their litter, make sure they have water and maybe play with the kitten.

The older two just sleep and don't want fuss or attention - just food and a sofa or blankets to sleep on.

juneybean · 29/06/2021 09:21

I used to use her breeder/groomer/catsitter who had lovely runs built in her garden, but the princess found it very distressing, so now she get's left in the house and my mum pops in to see her, clear trays and top up food. She is an indoor cat though.

Sparklingbrook · 29/06/2021 09:25

I thought the same as you about catteries @cupsofcoffee until I found a brilliant cattery.
Sparklingcat wasn't mad keen the first time, but she got to know the people and the routine and the last few times she's been I have to prise her out of the owner's arms. She had an ensuite room with a view of the enormous garden and the free range chickens.

Sleeping a lot at home v sleeping a lot at the cattery it's much the same for Sparklingcat.

I don't know why the cattery debate is heated other than there must be some awful catteries out there...

Marcanana · 29/06/2021 09:36

I used to pay a trusted neighbour until she moved away. She was a real cat lover and it worked brilliantly. Now though, the cat is too old and medical care too complicated to leave him, so we don't go anywhere.

Silkiecats · 29/06/2021 09:44

I think it depends on the cat. Our cat attacks anyone coming into our home and hates it, she takes the food and will then attack them and sometimes leave them bleeding. She seems to view it as her territory.

So we generally take her to the cattery. Now she is older she goes to the cat hotel where she has her own bedroom and she gets fresh fish 3 times a day and we get to give all her requirements. Catteries can be a bit variable, most we have had have been fine but one DH got she got very ill in and needed vets - tbf they took her. So after that I've done cat hotel and she much prefers that now she is older. They say she is fine with them and she was fine with cattery staff. The good thing about pet hotel is you can write a long list of how they like to be treated, ours only likes to be stroked if she has decided she wants a stroke. And ours is now very vocal. For summer we have to book quite a while in advance but for term time its much better.

snowy0wl · 29/06/2021 10:14

I’m presuming most who are against catteries have never been burgled whilst on holiday. We have and it was a really stressful experience. We don’t have reliable family nearby and so we will always use a cattery for long stays (we have a lovely one near us) so that we can put on the house alarm.

Mumdiva99 · 29/06/2021 10:37

We've decided to use a cattery for our cattery for our cats as we have greater peace of mind they are safe. We took them for a long weekend to try it out and they seemed fine. They didn't like the car ride but settled straight in at home when we got back. So they have another week booked for the summer and will also go for a long weekend again.

cupsofcoffee · 29/06/2021 11:37

@snowy0wl

But an alarm won't necessarily stop you being burgled, though I do see the logic.

We live in an area where you could probably leave your back door open for two weeks and your house unlocked without any consequence, lol. Not that I would, of course.

cupsofcoffee · 29/06/2021 11:40

I don't know why the cattery debate is heated other than there must be some awful catteries out there...

I think it's because some cats get really, really stressed and upset when they're put in the car - so lots of people don't want to put their cats through that just to go on holiday.

One of my old cats got so stressed in his travel crate/box that he would wee and poo on himself. I just wasn't prepared to put him through that so we could have a holiday. He was a million times happier at home with a friend popping in to feed him.

Similarly, we currently have three cats - two would probably be fine in a cattery but one is a rescue who is very wary of strangers and change, so we get a family member he knows to come and look after them now.

claireb7rg · 29/06/2021 12:09

We put ours in the local cattery, they are lovely and our boy loves the place. We picked them up yesterday from 3 nights there and it was our girls first time. She seemed to come out of her shell there which was great and also bought the 2 of them closer together (had asked the cattery to keep an eye on them and if they were struggling being so close together to split them up - we've only had girl cat 11 weeks), they ended up curling up together.

We've used this cattery for 2 years now and I wouldn't use anything else as they have a lovely set up and it's only 5 mins down the road

JorisBonson · 29/06/2021 12:28

For 3/4 nights away we have a great cat-sitter who we found on Cat in a Flat. She comes in twice a day and my cats love her. Anything longer than that we get a house-sitter.

Boy cat bolts at the sight of a carrier and absolutely hates being taken anywhere, and girl cat is a big wanderer so a cattery isn't for either of them. They do have each other for company tho.

Fluffycloudland77 · 29/06/2021 14:51

The cattery my dn uses has individual sitting room style rooms with fireplaces, wall mounted tv’s and beds with lots of toys. It’s a world away from the cattery I once viewed which was straw covered concrete pens facing a wall that stunk of cat wee.

Maybe the question needs rewording, it’s not a case of which is better overall it’s which is better for the individual cat. My Bengal boy was bonded to me, if I’d left him with a neighbour popping in he would have been very unsettled and gone off to hide.

In the cattery we used he was confined but he could see other cats who were calm & relaxed, and I knew if I got sick they could take him to their vets.

He was happier there than the time we asked mil to look after him but instead of staying overnight I think they went home & he vanished in under 24hrs. I had to drive 500 mile round trip in a day & get him in a cattery. If I’d been abroad we could have lost him completely.

Sparklingbrook · 29/06/2021 18:26

Yes, there are some amazing catteries out there now. it's no longer a small pen with a litter tray.

We used to get regular pictures and updates of her looking very happy.

claireb7rg · 29/06/2021 20:39

@Sparklingbrook

Yes, there are some amazing catteries out there now. it's no longer a small pen with a litter tray.

We used to get regular pictures and updates of her looking very happy.

Our cattery sends us whatsapp messages from the cats, they always look so happy and chilled out. They get lots of fusses as well

claireb7rg · 29/06/2021 20:41

This was last year's message

Original poster

Maggiethecat · 29/06/2021 21:33

Managed to get booked into one nearby - nothing fancy, it looks quite basic but clean.
I do feel bad that she will be in one 'room' for the whole time and hope she'll be ok.

OP posts:

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