How long would you leave your cat for?

[Maggiethecat]

Catteries are all booked up for July when we are away and I think I'll have to ask a friend to pop in to check in for a week.
Our cat only has dry food which we normally put out in the morning and she grazes throughout the day. I'm wondering if we could get away with friend, who she knows, popping in every other day, ensuring her food bowl was full and that she had enough water bowls and to clean the litter tray.

I'm not entirely comfortable with this but at the moment I don't have many other options. The one cattery we used before said the cat hardly ate for the first couple of days and I have been wondering if she's be better off at home anyway.

Would you do an arrangement like this and how long for?

I'd have someone pop in twice a day once in the morning and once in the evening. You don't say whether your cat goes outside or not. There are people that provide this service.

No, I would see if your friend can pop in every day, flies could get to the food, she needs daily fresh water and a clean tray. Can you employ a cat sitter if your friend cannot visit every day.

Try trustedhousesitters.com

Someone needs to go in twice a day. They get lonely and need reassurance.

That's the sort of care I'd give a houseplant not a cat. She at the very least needs someone in every day. What if she's injured?

We do this with ours and they're fine, they have access to the garden however and therefore don't need a litter tray to be checked. Mine also have dry food and graze on it throughout the day sometimes not even finishing it all and therefore have enough for the next day. Cats are incredibly resilient animals.

We have a camera on the cat and leave her for up to a week, we put food around the house, plenty of water in shady cool spots in big heavy bowls around the place, we have someone pop in once a week but thats for cleaning not for the cat per se but she sees her in person.
We used to have the electronic feeders but one time they didnt open and we came home early so didnt bother with those again.

I just left mine for 10 days with my daughter coming in every other day. Loads of dry food out, and a bowl of water in every room, just in case they got stuck anywhere. I have a few cameras up so can spy on them too. They looked at bit peeved I was back to be honest.

I personally like twice a day, but I'd say once every day is a bare minimum. Have you contacted any local dog walkers? There are loads of dog walkers round here these days, and most of them are happy to do cat visits as well (you'd probably have to pay for a 30 minute visit though)

If you really can't find anyone to come in, get a pet feeder on a timer and leave out lots of bowls of water. You could also install a camera to keep an eye on her.
www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Automatic-Feeder-Blue/dp/B00C22JSJS

If I was away for single night I'd leave cat from morning one day until evening the next so nearly as long, but a one off not a series of long absence. I think you'll need someone in at least once a day, and even then ask them to leave water in a few different places incase one gets spilled. If you don't have friends or neighbours to call on you could hire a cat sitting service.

We used to have an indoor cat who went to stay with a family member, who had previously had cats but didn't at the time. Still the stress of a new place, but no worse the going to a cattery, and more attention once there. Might be an idea if you have anyone who would help but is to busy or far away to call in everyday.

I use Petpals. One visit a day costs the same as a cattery's daily rate. I have an automatic timer feeder programmed for the day's feeds. The cat sitter cleans it and refills it with wet food, changes the newspaper it sits on - MrCat is a mucky eater - tops up his dry food, refreshes his water bowl and spends a few minutes interacting with him. They take a photo of MrCat when they visit and email it to me with a note about what they've done and how he is.

I'm very happy with the service. It's a franchise, so I don't know what other branches are like, but my local one is good.

I'd find a house/pet sitter who can be there full time.

Once a day has been good enough for our cats. They get suspicious of us when we first return but otherwise are fine.

She's an indoor cat - will go in the garden but not jump over the fence.

I'll have a look at paying someone to come in once a day - holiday is likely to be a bit miserable if I think she's unhappy 😩