Holidays with an old/sick cat

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

Sorry, another Harry (Puss not Prince) question!

Harry has heart failure and is on frusemide, benefortin and clopidogril as well as Ipakitine for his kidneys. This goes into his food, frusemide and Ipakitine morning and evening and the rest evening only. If he eats everything he we give him biscuits if he's still hungry.

My question is, would you go on holiday and leave him at home with his lovely, experienced cat sitter coming in twice a day? I trust her completely but I'm worried about monitoring what he's eating, what to do about the biscuits as she won't know whether he's eaten the rest of his food. I can imagine him ignoring his wet food and waiting for the dry! We've got a UK holiday booked and I've got to pay in a couple of weeks and I don't know what to do!

I think for me it would depend on where I was going, and whether I could drop everything to come back home. In the UK, probably would. Flying away long haul, definitely not. Northern Europe, maybe.

We've already cancelled a holiday to Florida once he was diagnosed with heart failure - thankfully DH is as soft about him as me! We're supposed to be going to near Bath for 6 nights in April which is about 2 hours drive from home.

It's so hard to know what to do!

I'd go away if it was in this country, as long as you could get home quickly. I wouldn't go abroad.

Sympathy. It is difficult. Our cat is diabetic. He has insulin twice a day. And needs to eat his food at the same time. But he always does and wants more so that's not a big worry. We still go away. We have 3 people happy to come in and inject him. We also found a local cattery who would do medical stuff including insulin. Cat would need to be up to date with jabs. Maybe there's a similar one near you? I think I'm your shoes i would still do UK hols. 2hrs isn't terrible if you need to zoom home.

Does he prefer dry food to wet? The decision has to be based on what his inclinations are. It wouldn’t be a major concern for us as wet food goes as soon as we put it in the bowl.

If he’s less of a glutton could you maybe put the dry food in a dispenser on a timer so he can’t get to it for a few hrs after the cat sitter has been? Leaving plenty of time to eat the wet food.

I'm not sure a cattery at his age would be a good idea, I think it would stress him - our garden is cat proofed and he gets the arse if there's a cat in next door's garden! He would probably stress the other cats as well as he's learned to meow like a Bengal thanks to the cat next door - we had to explain to our neighbour that the strange noise she was hearing was Harry!

Have you thought about someone coming and staying in your house? One of our cats is frail and we have been considering this option if we go away www.trustedhousesitters.com/pages/vacation-pet-sitting-gbp/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAiJSeBhCCARIsAHnAzT8jycH6dgHzFUPGrw-AUgo3-tQkKKQTrfPv1scJtjnPRmpv96zYXUwaAjGaEALw_wcB

I was looking at Trusted Housesitters last night but I'm not sure how I feel about it to be honest. We've got 3 really good cat sitters but have had problems in the past.

It's such a hard decision!

I used to put my cat with multiple medical problems into a lovely cattery near home because then she could be monitored properly during the day. They do diabetic cats also.

I had this dilemma with our old puss.

In the end my DS came and stayed while I was away. Is there anyone you could ask to do this ?

I'm reluctant to put him in a cattery at his age (nearly 18) and I don't have anyone I can ask to stay. DH's sons don't live close by and they have children so that wouldn't work. We have a one bedroom flat and a cat who doesn't like children and isn't particularly fond of men!

Thank you for all the suggestions and sorry if I sound as though I'm making excuses, I'm honestly not. Harry is a bit of a diva to say the least and I don't want more worry from him than I have already!

I'd go for a trusted cat sitter and a timed feeder. Ask cat sitter to stay and watch him eat and/or set the automatic feeder to let biscuits out an hour or so after the sitter feeds wet/meds.

I think if you can't have someone stay in the house and he can't go to a cattery then. I would be looking to cancel the holiday - just because if something happened and I wasn't there I would never forgive myself.

I was thinking like that @whataboutsecondbreakfast but then I thought what's the difference if we go out for the day and he's on his own? I'd never forgive myself if something happened then but we can't stay with him 24/7.

Even if we don't go away I'll have time off work and we'll go out, probably not all day but at least until mid afternoon. He'll be on his own tomorrow as I'm in the office and DH is helping my Uncle with something (yes I will be worrying!) so something could happen then.

I am so conflicted with what to do!

I would 100% use a cattery in your situation. I had a cat on meds, who was given days to live, but in fact went on to live for another 10 months. But it meant we knew she could deteriorate quickly at any time. But we weren't going to not go anywhere for the foreseeable. I wouldn't have left the cat with just someone going in every day. The lady at the cattery was brilliant. We had 3 trips away in that time, and had peace of mind each time. I would do the same again in a flash - it was best for the cat, and best for us.

I think the difference between being at work and going away for a chunk of time is that if you're working, you're still the one doing all the feeding and the care.

Plus - he's your cat - you'll know if is behaviour is funny or if there's something off - whereas a sitter, no matter how good they are, may not realise what Harry's "normal" is, iyswim.

I'm a cat sitter myself and have a 19yo cat on my books - but he's not on medication and is generally pretty reliable - if something changed I definitely wouldn't feel as confident caring for him for a long period of time - just in case.

I genuinely believe it would be more stressful for Harry to be in a cattery. He's never been in one as I don't like the idea for him (I know some are great but it depends on the cat). He has two visits a day from his cat sitters and he knows both of them and he can sleep in his bed or wander out in his garden whenever he wants.

I'm leaning towards cancelling as I can't put him in a cattery.

I honestly don't think I would cancel a holiday for a cat! And I LOVE my cats. I am besotted by them and I can't imagine not having them, but I value other things too.

At the end of the day, you have to do what's right for you, but I honestly wouldn't rule out the cattery. My current cat is the most outdoor cat there is, who is NOT a fan of other cats, and she copes just fine with it.

It looks like a binary choice between the holiday or staying home to feed the cat. I know what I'd choose...

Can you do home boarding with cats? That's what we do do with diabetic dog who has to eat set amounts at set times for the insulin.

You can, but it's very rare to find it - it's mostly catteries.

I work in the industry and I don't know a single home boarder who does cats - it's all dogs - I suppose as that's where the money is, and you can't really do both!