Older cat and cattery?

[GoinSouth]

We have an older rescue cat that belonged to my father. We don't think his early life was very pleasant and it took him along time to trust Dad, and then my husband and I. Anyway, we've had him 2 years now, he's about 12/13 and try to ensure he has everything he needs. He can be a little unpredictable though, so we're careful how we stroke him, not for too long otherwise the claws come out. So it's a case of watching the body language and just cuddling him until he's had enough.

To the point then... we're going away for a week in September and have our cat sitter coming in twice a day to feed him etc. so that he is able to stay in his home and we think, be more comfortable. However next year we need to be away for 2 weeks and I'm concerned that being alone for 2 weeks is not going to be good for him. I know the sitter will do all she can, but between visits, I think he'll be lonely. I know all he did last time we went away for 6 days was sleep and eat. But for 2 weeks, I'm seriously considering someone living in, or we put him in a cattery. With the cattery though, I'm concerned he'll be all claws if anyone tries to handle him - he's not a picky up cat, except by me when it's time to go to the vets, and I don't want them saying, oh he was a very difficult cat - it's not his fault.

If we just have a sitter coming in twice a day, he's going to be stuck in the same 4 walls for 2 weeks. I'd be climbing the walls if it was me, so same for him especially as he loves going out. And no, we don't have the set up to have cat flaps, unfortunately so that's a non-starter.

I don't want to spook or upset him, but we also need to be away and wondering, with his personality, what would suit him mostly. Any ideas?

my elder cat hated the cattery. i think she thought i’d abandoned her to the cats protection from whence she came. she was weird when i went to collect her. walked slowly like slow motion, wouldnt look at me. weird.

i didn't do it again. A cat sitter at home was much better. And you can get live in ones but you’d need to know thwy were ok.

Why do you think he would he be any happier shut up in a cattery than shut up at home?

Is there anyone who can hang out with him longer at home? I sometimes cat sit for next door and will stay for a coffee and play with the cats rather then just feed/do litter - I know that’s obviously not having someone at home all day. Our neighbour does the same for us, last time he even came back in to “put our cat to bed” with a cuddle late at night, and took a coffee out to the garden so cat could get out for a wander. (We also don’t have a cat flap.)

We’ve never used a cattery for either of our cats and I’m sure they are great, but instinctively I’d say they would be happier in their own home. There was a recent thread about this which was unfortunately quite a negative experience, but I know many people use Trusted Housesitters for live-in care.

That said, we have a decorator in today and I wish I had packed Louie off to a cattery because he is being a total agent of chaos and has had to be kept prisoner in the kitchen. He has the back door open so can come and go as he pleases, but what would really, really please him is being under the dust sheets and in the trays of paint in the living room.

Trustedhousesitters.com. Used them twice it was great. One annual fee (about £150) then it’s free.

I would always go for a cat sitter over a cattery, even for longer periods.

We recently had a cat sitter who was a student and would come in every day for a few hours as it was a quiet place to work for him- win win.

I used to use a cattery on the grounds that the cat was safe and fed if not necessarily happy.
Then cat sitters became a thing and I can't see any way a cat would choose a cattery over their own home.
Obviously helps if they are an outdoor cat with a cat flap but even an indoor cat is going to have vastly more space and no strange cats yowling in the next cage.
My cat sounds similar. Not a cuddly friendly cat. The cat sitter calls in the morning and puts down fresh food and sets up the automatic feeder for tea time. She is officially supposed to stay 30 minutes but the cat clears off as soon as he's fed, he's not remotely interested in being played with.

Catteries vary a lot so it's important to look around and get a feel for the people running it. Our cats quite like the cattery as they have sleeping boxes, high shelves for climbing and a good sized outdoor run overlooking a herb garden (lots of butterflies, bugs and bees to observe).

I will also say that the cattery saved the life on one of our cats - the woman found him lying rather listlessly in the litter box when she went to check on them at 10pm and rushed him to a 24 hour veterinary hospital over an hour away where he was diagnosed with an acute bladder blockage caused by urinary crystals and needed an emergency surgical procedure. He might not have survived until the morning.

I'm the poster who had a tricky time with Trusted Housesitters. However before this last time we had nothing but good experiences. If your old boy is relatively self sufficient but just shy he would probably do fine with THS as a lot of the sitters are actively looking for a low maintenance cat as they have other things to do. Our problem was having a young needy boy who needed a lot of attention that the sitter wasn't happy giving him.

I have never used a cattery for any of the cats I've had, even my own, although I know there are some great ones nearby. I also instinctively feel they're more comfortable in their own home - my only concern is him being alone, except twice a day when the sitter comes, for 11 days. We've left him for 6 days before, he was fine, in September we're away for 8 days, and then next March, the long 11 days. On the first occasion, apparently all he did was sleep, had a few pets, and ate food. He seemed fine when we got home but wanted to go as soon as we were through the door! Maybe I'm overthinking, humanising him - I know I'd get cabin fever if I was in the house for 11 days, with no windows open!! We have a good sitter, our cat doesn't need a lot of attention, he's not really the playing type (his drawer of toys that remain in the drawer is proof of that!!) - just concerned he'll be bored, depressed etc especially not being able to go out for almost 2 weeks (a catio in this case would be great!). It's a worry and I appreciate everyone's comments, thank you.

Another thought... there have been suggestions to leave a radio on.. but what sort of radio? An electric one plugged in? Could we use the radio on the tv? (We generally don't like leaving things plugged in when we're away.. .but possibly this is a 'needs must'.) Also, I have been told many times to get a Tapo camera to check on him when we're away.

the tv will switch off so that’s no use.

An old-school radio plugged in will stay on but you’d need to be sure it was safe to leave on. you dont want a fire. i think

i’d prob not bother personally.

we had a neighbour left a radio on when away for a holiday. you could hear it at night really loudly. really annoying. fine during the day. so if you do leave one on put it on at night and see how loud it is. your cat might not want it in 24/7.
i suppose a timer could work?

i got blink cameras for in and outdoors. one is effectively a cat cam.

We tend to have the radio on in the kitchen from morning til bedtime, and leave it if we are away overnight for a couple of days. Probably not for a fortnight though. It’s one of our cat’s cues it’s time for bed when the radio gets switched off - he gets really confused if I’m WFH at the kitchen table and need to do a Teams call so it’s off in the middle of the day!

Probably right... it's not as if we're in the middle of nowhere.. he'll hear dogs barking, cars and I don't think hubby would be agreeable to leaving a radio on for so long. I do think I'll get a cat cam though...

It’s hard with rescues that might have had a tough time when they were young, isn’t it? My plan would be to book a live in sitter if we went for that length of holiday. We’ve booked overnight sitters before when we’ve been away for weekends (so our cat gets some morning and evening interaction as well) and he seems much happier with that set up rather than the cattery. I look for sitters who are ‘cat people’ with lots of cat sitting experience- a lot of sitters tend to mostly look after dogs and as we know, they’re very different! We have a lovely sitter who works at a local vets, it might be worth asking your vet if they know anyone?

I would always go for a Cattery, after one of ours got badly bitten while we were away, but to the sitter he was “always asleep in his bed”

ours is now 20 and has just come back from her latest week away, absolutely fine

The sitter we use has several cats of her own, and has an animal husbandry certificate, DBS checked and we've used her once, very satisfactority - daily reports and photos. I'm using her again for our next trip in September and will meet her before we go. I'll speak to her about next year and see what she thinks. Obviously she'll want the business, though she herself doesn't do a live-in service. Hubby isn't too keen in someone living in our house for 2 weeks but I know many people that have that service and are very happy. I don't think I'll opt for a cattery - it's stressful enough for him going into the cat basket, let alone in a bigger cage for 2 weeks though he might appreciate the interaction. Perhaps I should go and have a look around some of the recommended catteries in my area.