Do you think cats know when you're going away??

[JorisBonson]

Going to away tomorrow morning til Saturday, an old acquaintance house / cat sitting.

Boy cat started the day by leaving us a mouse's head on the bedroom floor. He has since been in a foul mood, alternated between sleeping and yelling at us all day and is refusing to come to bed with me (his favourite when DH is on night shift, he gets me all to himself!)

Am I already being punished when I've not even left?

Yes, they can read us better than we can read them.

Yes, no heads thankfully but they act really moody as soon as the suicases or camping gear appear

Definitely!

Our old (otherwise housetrained) cat used to do a poo on the back kitchen doormat when we came home. Perfectly formed. Nothing wrong with him. Just a dirty protest. That’s what he thought of our holiday then.

My current cat goes to sleep in the suitcase the minute I open it to put stuff in. Guess she wants to come with me and when I come back she won’t sit on my knee. She actually sits with her back to me with “ears” on me and I can tell she's in a mood (proper little madam she is). Until feeding time!

And then there’s the …fun… of getting a cat that’s developed 20 legs into the pet carrier ..

Our cat disappeared half an hour before he was due to go to the cattery. He reappeared half an hour after I arrived back. The next time I decided to take him to the cattery a day early and exactly the same thing happened. They do know.

Yes. They know. Of course, they know.

And they will let you know that they know in many, varied ways.

Yes they do know. Our cat urinated on our bed on our return from holiday. She is a very clean cat normally. She doesn’t speak to us for weeks when we get back. Won’t sit on us, sits with her back to us. She is agitated and distressed in the lead up to the holiday and has been known to sit in suitcases too. She just knows something is up.

Dh was listening to a podcast about people and animals knowing when their being watched even over CCTV systems in shops it’s a good way of deterring shoplifters and they started talking about cat owners having to cancel vet appointments due to puss disappearing. They’d canvassed vets in the area and all but one said short notice cat cancellations was a huge issue, the other one said they don’t make cat appointments. If you can stuff it in a carrier and get down there they’ll see you.

I said to dh I was going to bin the bengals bed, he wasn’t using it and wasn’t even in the house when we discussed it, next day cats in the bed “I love my bed” after ignoring it for ages.

Cats definitely know. I make a point of telling mine when I'm going and when I'll be back. They always welcome me back. I've never had a dirty protest.

Definitely. She understands packing and suitcases and always gets stressed when she sees them. Never had a dirty protest though. It helps that quite often some if the household go away for a few dats leaving one person behind so she knows that suitcases don't always mean being left alone. We are trying to teach her enough understanding to reassure her about who will be feeding her and how many days till we are home - she's pretty intelligent so we are hopeful this will help. Doing this with very simplified language repeated several times in the same way each time we go away. We know she understands "take the cat to the vet" " do the flea treatment" "feed the cat" and "open the door" so she should be able to pick up these words eventually.

Cats also know when they are about to be given a deworming pill. I have recent evidence of this!

I think they pick up a vibe which is propelled by you and start behaving as irrationally as you do !

I always say my dogs know something is going on and it starts with the suitcases being packed in the living room. This is why I never leave them anymore and holiday with them which is what makes me happy. They still behave irrationally even when they are coming with us ..lol

We left this morning and they were very stubbornly sitting in the garden giving me evils (if you've seen my cat flap thread, girl cat now won't come in until the house-sitter arrives!). Not a sniff of a goodbye from either of them.

I travel frequently and girl cat has shown her displeasure by peeing inside my packed suitcase. Ever since then it's kept shut at all times, she stops speaking to me the day before I leave and refuses to say goodbye but when I FaceTime dh and she hears my voice she will get on dh's lap and rub on the phone. Other cat couldn't care less.

Over several years I needed ambulances on a regular basis and after the first couple of my disappearances, my then Honeycomb made her feelings very clear, as soon as the paramedics came in the door even though she would be shut safely away, she would start howling and hissing like a feral beast, as the house was closed up by a friend who would be in and out to her, she would howl at the window until the ambulance left and then lie down and barely move in a state of depression, on my return usually after a few days or more in hospital, she would give me a basic sniff and then proceed to ignore me. Another friend used to come in to keep her company if it was a long admission a few nights at a time and switch around.

I'm going away this weekend and I think mine suspect something.

It'll be only the second time I've left them and this time they'll have a stranger staying with them. I'm paying her but feel like I also need to offer her compensation for pain and suffering.

My girls are turds.

When it comes to going to the vet one of them still hasn't learnt what the carrier means - she'll check it out as soon as I put it down. The other one bolts. She also knows before I give any type of indication that a vet visit is happening and will give me wide berth for hours beforehand.

Definitely I normally tell my cats were I am of to, that there favourite cat sitting service lady will be in morning and night to feed them and pet them and they have a nice Dan of tuna she will give them. One of them still huffs that I dared to leave her though.

Mine don't notice until I put the suitcase on the bed. But I don't think they understand. They really aren't the brightest. My friends cats definitely do. They help him pack!