Worried about going on holiday

[ivegotdreadfulpmttoday]

Got a cat and one of her kittens from a rescue last August after our beautiful old cat died a few months before. We are going on holiday soon and I am worried about leaving them. They don’t seem to like dry food very much and we feed them small amounts of wet food throughout the day. They have breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime food. Our cat sitter is only able to come once a day so this routine is going to be impossible to follow. Also we only allow them out in daylight hours so they will have to be in the whole time. I am worried they will be hungry and bored. Our old cat was absolutely fine to be left like this but she had a very different temperament and didn’t really like going out anyway.

Pop them both in a cattery.

We just got a cat and when we go on holiday we plan to use a cattery. We’re going away for a couple of days in June so will use it then to see how she does and hopefully we will be able to leave her for longer later on in the year.

Get a better cat sitter, we use a service which will visit twice a day for 30 mins (two cats, two visits, £22 a day) and plays with our kitties, brushes ans fusses. Does litter tray and food however we ask (one kitty only drinks water out the kitchen basin 😂) and posts a message and pictures twice a day on a pet portal.

Kitties have a great time

My cat sitter comes twice a day but also puts a pouch in a timed feeder for lunch. Could you get a cat flap and ask them to lock it at night?

We got our boy last year. Put him in for 2 nights in Sept and he hated it. He is indoor so really doesn't know other people other than us. The guy called him a tinker ( he was hissinf llg and growling). We knew he would be scared and that the owner spent time with him. We went away for 10 nights in Nov and I message the owner 4 times. First he was still a bit scared, next time he said he was completely different and rubbing up against him and giving head butt's. If you like the cattery and are unsure after 1st time I'd try again for definite.

Ime, cats are much happier in their own homes than in catteries. If you can't find someone to feed them more than once a day, get a couple of Cat Mate clockwork feeders and the cat sitter can feed one meal and set another two - one feeder per cat as they have two compartments. You can put them in different locations so each cat knows where their own food is. We have a programmable electronic feeder for dry food which gives our cat an evening snack every day, but she has both wet and dry food.

Get a new cat sitter

Also, automatic cat feeders for the other feeds will help - we use these for our cat - can put 4 lots of food in each one

Thanks everyone. I have bought a couple of cat mate timed feeders which have five compartments and integral ice packs to keep the food fresh. I will start them with those today so we can make sure they are ok with them. That should sort out the food timings and they will just have to stay in all week. I’m sure they will prefer it to a cattery, where they also wouldn’t have any outdoor access.