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UK travel

Welcome to our UK travel forum where you can get advice on everything from holidays to exotic destinations, to tips on London travel.

Original poster

Holidaying with a cat...?

32 replies

JoeWicksHair · 28/05/2022 19:06

Our older cat has a condition that needs medicine twice daily. She also suffers from anxiety & stress, under certain conditions, which makes her ill. This combination means I now can't leave her even overnight & don't want her to go to a cattery as we'd have done previous years. I also don't want a stranger coming into our house 2x a day to see to her medicine as she would get stressed about a stranger doing this (orally administered so needs trust to keep her calm).

However this means we literally can't do more than day trips until she's no longer with us! I could manage that, but for my children this is a huge loss. I'm torn how to keep everyone happy. We have no family or similar to step in to help.

Is there such a thing as holiday accommodation that allows you to take your cat?! She's housebound now so this could work as long as there was no risk of eg an external cleaner entering during oue stay which might give her chance to escape.

Or are we stuck with day trips?

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 28/05/2022 19:08

Wouldn’t the travel and the different surroundings be stressful though. Our cattery used to give old girl her thyroid meds.

BlanketsBanned · 28/05/2022 19:13

Try the We Accept Pets site.

Beetle76 · 28/05/2022 19:25

We took our cat (and dog) on “holiday” with us when we had to move out of our new build for a week while the builders did remedial work. She was very old, needed medication but not easily stressed. (We’ve moved house 7 times in 15 years so we knew if she was with us she’d just think of it as another move)

She was fine. I found the little country cottage on air bnb using the pet friendly filter. Did check directly if they meant cats too. They just wanted to know that she was litter boxes trained. If you have options, I’d just chose one where there is more than one door between the cat & the great outdoors. Just in case she’s the kind to greet you at the door. I’d also make sure her chip details were up to date.

But you know your cat & what they are comfortable tolerating.

JugglingJanuary · 28/05/2022 19:27

You need a pet sitter your cat can get to know. I look after my friends cat & dog, anytime they go away or even just for evenings they're going to be really late back.

They know me & their very elderly cat lives to come and get comfy on me (I'm built for comfort!!). She doesn't (yet) have medication, but I've had cats that did, so it won't phase me & she'll be no less(or more!!) fine with me giving it to her, than my friend.

I took one of my cats to our family holiday home & she was fine, possibly because it smelled that same as st home and she was too old/unwell to want to do anymore than go onto the deck to lay in the sun. No longer interested in exploring! I wouldn't have taken the boy up though as he's have gone roaming or freaked about being lock in!

you don't have someone who would like to get to know your cat better & stay over?

etulosba · 28/05/2022 19:33

We used to take our cat camping with us. Perhaps not every cat’s saucer of milk though.

sleepymum50 · 28/05/2022 19:34

There are house/pet sitting sites on line. I haven’t used them myself, but I am thinking of becoming a pet sitter.

it’s the usual you have to pay a fee to the site, and they put you in touch with their registered sitters. I’m sure you get the chance to talk with them. I know some sitters have experience with giving medication.

Thats the only alternative I can think of if you can’t find a cat friendly holiday.

Beecham · 28/05/2022 19:36

My friend has just been to a gorgeous holiday cottage and took her cat. It was all fine and everyone enjoyed themselves.

GMH1974 · 28/05/2022 19:38

My ragdoll cat is neurotic and we're taking her on holiday with us although I'm quite worried that she won't particularly like the journey or the strange surroundings. I still think she'd prefer it to being left with someone which is what we did last year. She hid for a week and wouldn't eat. She's only 1 1/2, we can't just not go on holiday for years. We googled for cottages which would accept cats. Cottages seem happier to take dogs but we phoned and asked the owner.

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 28/05/2022 19:41

Two of ours have been on regular caravanning trips. All five are happy on a boat. BUT all five are used to being on a harness and lead when outdoors. Otherwise they are essentially house cats.
The hardest part is in the car….

etulosba · 28/05/2022 19:45

I tried a harness once but he just refused to stand up with it on. In the car, he was in a cage.

ginghamstarfish · 28/05/2022 19:47

It's hard to find holiday accommodation that DOESN'T allow pets (sadly for me), but why on earth should it only mean dogs?

parkrunner1977 · 28/05/2022 19:49

We have a cat that has had a couple of spells where he required complicated medication so we took vim away with us. Both times were to stay in caravans on Haven sites. You just need to make sure you book a pet friendly one and there will be a small surcharge. He was completely fine as we took his cushions, litter tray etc so he had familiar smells around him. Just had to be careful when coming in or out of the caravan in case he made an escape attempt but he never tried luckily!

User3568975431146 · 28/05/2022 19:53

Get a professional cat sitter. Animals at Home are excellent and have various branches. She's going to be much more stressed being moved out of her home and you do need a break.

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 28/05/2022 19:57

etulosba · 28/05/2022 19:45

I tried a harness once but he just refused to stand up with it on. In the car, he was in a cage.

Ah mine have been in harness since they were 10 weeks old. They know nothing else and refuse to move when they are taken off.
Air craft travel cages in the car, but it’s the yowling. If one starts - it’s a cats choir.

calmlakes · 28/05/2022 20:05

We took our cat on holiday several times when he was younger (pet friendly cottages) but when he was older we used a pet sitter as it was easier and less stressful for him.

icedancerlenny · 28/05/2022 20:08

We take our cat. He likes the car and it’s fine. Just check they allow pets.

HarrietSchulenberg · 28/05/2022 20:22

I once camped next to a couple who brought their elderly cat and had a kind of large chicken run enclosure for it. Cat seemed happy enough as it got to taunt my dog, who was on a tether 30ft away and couldn't get within sniffing distance.

Silkierabbit · 28/05/2022 20:59

When our cat got old we found a cat hotel that would take her and gave her a lot more attention than a standard cattery and she was OK there, about 20 pounds a day but worth it. She hated people coming to our house and would attack.

We have also taken her to a B&B with litter tray and she was fine with that but she was a cat who was indoor by choice and loved a bed and a radiator. We phoned B&B to check. We would put a tin of tuna in the cat box for travelling and she was fine, as long as she realised it was not the vets she was ok. She would also come on trips out with us when little as she hated not being able to see us and she went on a steam train etc. You know your cat best so just work around their character and phone to check its ok.

Cuckoo48 · 28/05/2022 21:12

We're in exactly the same situation OP. Just wanted to give you some solidarity and reassure you that you're not mad.

Our DCat is very frail and old; I don't feel comfortable leaving him for myriad reasons but mostly because of heavy dependency on multiple meds and his regular toileting trouble (relatively frequent accidents / litter box forgetfulness). Too much for even the most devoted cat sitter (and I would worry about our home getting covered in wee and poo!)

Also DCat has an ongoing condition which can flare up in a matter of hours and so needs very close attention. I don't really like leaving him for more than a few hours.

It's depressing but DP and I have resolved not to holiday (or at least, not together) until he departs this life.

I think DCat would find coming with us less stressful than being left behind, and much less stressful than going into a cattery which I am pretty sure would kill him - but I wouldn't trust him not to soil in a holiday home to be honest :-(

LazyJayne · 28/05/2022 21:19

I wouldn’t suggest flying anywhere with DCat, but try a nice holiday cottage that allows pets somewhere in the UK (Cornwall, Scotland, Lakes etc). We took our cat with us to a cottage in the Peak District as didn’t want to leave her for similar reasons as you. It was fine, she cried during the journey but soon settled in for the week.

Original poster
JoeWicksHair · 28/05/2022 23:46

Wow it seems I'm not crazy to look into holidaying with our cat! I was thinking about doing a trial night away but I've just realised we'd not get to do anything due to standard check in / out times and having the cat in the car rather than accommodationin those days. So maybe a 2 night trial is worth looking into, somewhere close to home.

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 29/05/2022 00:00

I haven’t, but did consider it with a previous cat, she liked going out in the car, had no issue with a vet visit, would follow me to neighbours houses and come in if I was there, she was more stressed by being alone than going places.

Current cat, I wouldn’t ever even think of it, she’d spend the entire holiday hiding in a room stressed by the new house - she gets scared if we get new furniture, lol.

So it very much depends what your cat gets stressed by.

AwkwardPaws27 · 29/05/2022 00:02

DCat has twice daily medication. We use a pet sitter who has experience medicating cats. Our current one is an experienced cat owner who also has a cat which requires daily medication; our former sitter was actually a qualified veterinary nurse but unfortunately she doesn't do pet sitting anymore.
DCat open-mouth breathes in the car, just going 5-10 minutes to the vets is stressful for her so no way would I be able to take her on holiday - not to mention the risks if she escaped & got lost.

Supermercado · 29/05/2022 00:09

Yeah that would be a self catering house/cottage but most likely not an air BnB or hotel