# When one must leave the cats overnight...



## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

Does anyone here have any tips on how to suffer less? I only go away overnight for work functions (unfortunately at my workplace they have those twice a year). I start suffering a month before already. A cat-sitter comes for half an hour in the evening to clean the litter boxes, feed them and play with them a bit, but the rest of the time, one day and a half to be precise, they're alone poor things...


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## robc22 (Mar 17, 2012)

.They will be fine and they have each other for company........ :daisy


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

The longest time I left my cats alone (with catsitter coming twice a day, staying 45 min each stay) is 2 weeks. When we were back they were happy to see us, but aside from that, they look just fine  And my cats are the most ppl orientated ones. I do missed them dearly though.


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## Thradia (May 6, 2012)

I wouldn't worry too much. I find, especially just overnight trips, cat take it pretty well. My cats always were happy to see me, but at the same time I wondered if they even noticed LOL

You have someone checking on them, so I think they will be just fine.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

suffer? for overnight? lol well, i have horror stories going waaaay back about being separated from my cats. the first one goes back to '96 when i was hospitalized for 12 weeks. i boarded coda and my boyfriend would even bring him to the hospital to see me a couple of times because i felt bad. he didn't love the hospital lol but he tolerated it.

the second time (in two years) i was hospitalized for 7 weeks, i chose not to board because i don't know, i just don't like the idea of them being cooped up like that, plus someone had given me a kitten (but she was over a year by this time) in the interim and i figured they would keep one another company. i had a friend go feed them. well, the day i came home, two windows were wide open and it was freezing, both their collars were off, someone had gotten into a box of styrofoam peanuts and latin flash cards and eaten some of each, there were diarrhea spots (small) on the carpet and both cats looked at me very startled like, "omg, you're home!" lol their hair was all wild and messed up and they were chasing each other. oh yeah, and diotima had decided that going number 2 in my huge potted plant was a good idea. this was not discovered for a few days, but after i was home she didn't do it anymore. i'm not completely sure why she was doing it.

last year i had someone who lives in the building come feed them and deal with the litter box for a couple of weeks, but they have since moved away. i'm looking for someone for the end of august, because i want to leave them here, but i'm trying to find someone to take diotima to their place because she needs her ear medicine twice a day, and she has a weird feeding schedule. the other two are fine being fed a couple of times a day. i'll only be gone a week, and i don't really miss them that much. i'm glad to see them when i get back but overnight? hee hee. nah, no such thing as suffering for me for that amount of time. (i really wanted to board diotima at the center for animal wellness where my vet is but they don't board anymore )


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## Cat'sHouse (Apr 5, 2012)

from the name I picked for here, cat's house, I might say that if we left for the weekend and came home sunday nite and they could talk I would hear"

"Oh, were you gone?" "no wonder the litter was piling up...thank god for the litter made."


I think you are putting too much of your feelings into what you think they are feeling. RELAX......you don't even need the sitter for a one night stay...just have one on hand in case you get car trouble or a flight delay. Just put out extra water jugs (in case one gets knocked over) or leave a faucet on a slow drip and put some dry food out and they will take care of themselves.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Overnight wouldn't phase me a bit. When I was gone for several days during Thanksgiving, I had a great cat sitter (their groomer) and didn't worry at all.


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## Milky's Mammy (Oct 17, 2011)

I fretted and fretted over Christmas as my husband and I were going on holidays for 5 days. It was the first time we left Milky alone in the apartment for so long. My in laws came over daily to feed him, play with him and change the litter. We missed him dearly every moment of every day but when we got home, it seemed as if he didn't know we were gone at all. He was still sweet and loving towards us. You and your cats will be fine, don't think too much about it. At least they have each other for company if they really are bored. And besides, cats just sleep during the daytime anyway, so it's not as bad as you may think!


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## LilyC (Aug 23, 2011)

Oh boy, I think we had separation anxiety. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Las Vegas for 4 nights and it was the first time Tequila and Maya had been left alone for more than 6 hours since we got them. Although we had 2 of our friends come by at different times (3x total) of the day, we missed them like crazy. We would talk about them constantly. I really think we could have come home after 2 days. 

When we did get home, they were excited to see us and stuck to our side but they seemed fine overall. Don't worry about them, they will be fine.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

I'm in a similar situation. I have to take a family trip in a few months. This will be the first time I've left MowMow. When SO and I go on vacation we only go to places that we can take him but this requires a 5 hour flight (plus car time). The only time we've been apart was when I was in the hospital a few months back and neither of us handled it that well.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

I've been working on this since we first got Rookie in 2005, and I must say I'm doing much, much better. Instead of thinking about Murphy every 10 minutes like I used to, I now only think about him a couple times a day. That's real progress.

One thought I had kind of helped: They're going to have the exact same experience while you're gone whether you worry about them or not. So if you accept that, then why not just not worry about them?!


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I think my suggestion would be to go away on more trips overnight.  Then they and you will get used to the idea that you're not always together.

I can sort of understand though, I often don't like leaving the dog overnight even though there's other people in the house! I don't like leaving here because she isn't always here so I like to have her around as much as possible when she is; she's actually my aunt's dog but since the dog thinks I'm her owner my aunt leaves her here half the time (despite us telling her if she wants the dog to treat _her_ like the owner she needs to do otherwise)... anyway, I also don't trust one of my family members not to feed her anything and everything, and it seems when I'm not around often the other dog and her trade off meals (they get different food) since my family doesn't pay enough attention. She also ate a brand new pair of ear muffs/headphones my friend got me for Christmas due to a family member opening my bedroom door while I was gone.

But since the dog is over here so much I've realised I can't put my life on hold over these reasons and I go out and have fun, and dog proof my room better!


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

I'm fine leaving Book. He entertains himself and doesn't care who feeds him, MowMow is the problem.

If I'm even late coming home from work he cries (according to my neighbors) the same yowl as the vacuum cleaner video I posted. When I was in hospital my Mom stayed over and she said that he cried all night while I was gone. As soon as the sun started going down he would start crying. When I'm home he has to be touching me. He follows me around and the second I settle he lays next to me touching me. Even the bathroom...... 

I arranged for it to only be 4 nights instead of a week, my family wasn't thrilled about that but they'll deal.  That's about the longest I'll be able to deal with all of them at once anyway.


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

i have that separation anxiety too! if our cats knew what we were thinking, they'd probably laugh at us and call us woosies. i'm sure you're way more worried about them than you have to be. or maybe you just miss them more than you worry about them. either way, they've toughed it out each time you've been away before, right? they'll be fine. just be glad you only have to go away on overnight trips. imagine what a wreck you'd be if you had to go away for a 2 or more nights! i know i couldn't handle it myself. on a recent trip, i think we called and left 5 messages a day on the answering machine to let our kitty know we'd be coming home soon! i am SO needy! LOL!


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

I'm a happy slave and I wouldn't want it any other way. I only leave my cats voluntarily to go on tours of Jerusalem occasionally, but that's just half a day in the middle of a weekend spending the rest of the time with them, every minute. I cringe at the thought of evening arriving and them waiting for me all night to come home. Today I came back from work at 11 pm, was gone for 14.5 hours (Management from the US are visiting so we had to go out to dinner) and all I could talk about at dinner was the cats. Fortunately the Americans and Europeans I was sat with are more understanding of this than the locals here in the Middle East, who just laugh at me and call me obsessive. I had the dinner leftovers packed for the strays, who had a feast of it as I came back.


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

Mainly I don't like to leave them because the 3 of them fear each other and scare each other (needlessly) when I'm not home. When I come back from work I find them tense and scared and depressed, almost immobile (often they don't even eat while I'm away) and they come to life, relax and start enjoying the day and the food as the evening progresses with me. I'm confident that things will only improve as time goes by, this family I've created is very new.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

i was dating an israeli at the time i was hospitalized and he brought the cat to the hospital to visit me. he wouldn't keep coda because he said, "you love that cat so much that i'm terrified something would happen to him while i was watching him and you'd never forgive me." that's why i was boarding him.

i got a lot of flak over my mothering that cat but he was my first, lol.


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

First cat or first Israeli? ;-)


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

lol. cat.


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## sandyrivers (Apr 9, 2012)

Hi,

I know how you feel about leaving your cats alone, even if it's ''just'' a day and a half.

Every Christmas, I have to leave my cats alone for 2 days...twice during the holidays!
I love them very much, but I am pretty sure that I suffer more from this than they do!

I try to reason myself that any time away from them that dosn't exceed 72 hours is fine... even with no visitors. This is their time alone when they can have all the fun they want without me being there to supervise!

Don't feel guity, a day and half is OK!

sandyrivers


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

Well, it's over, thank God. I'm back and the cats didn't seem like they'd missed ME much - they seemed like they missed their wet food served several times a day, their wand toys dangled, their water changed twice a day, their strolls in the garden, and their chins scratched. 

Thank you all for your support and putting things in perspective!


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## Viljaana (Oct 6, 2010)

Cats are usually just fine left unattended for a day or two, and I'm happy that yours were too .

I use to leave my late cat alone overnight all the time when me and my partner were going long distance. I even bought an automatic feeder to feed him (He ate everthing at once - no matter how much extra food was left for him) - BTW those thing work great! He hated been left alone and usually rewarded me by pooping on the sofa. But he had issues.

Now the cats (there two of them now) are left alone only occationally. If it's just one night, we leave the feeder to take care of them, if more we get some to check on them once a day - or leave them at my sister's.


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## BroganMc (Feb 28, 2010)

When we go away for a week or more my neighbor cat sits. Usually she just comes over in the afternoon to check on them, pet them, feed them, trim their claws and play with them a little. If its just a day or two, we just leave them extra dry food and water. They only get wet food once a day when a human is here to feed them. They are very good about not over eating and there are plenty of things for them to do in the house. 

I grew up with the notion animals are our friends, not our captors. E humans provide for them and keep them safe and well fed. We treat their illnesses when they are sick. And we exchange cuddles. But they like their independence as much as we do. Cats are much easier to keep because they are solitary animals. They can handle alone time better them most people. Dogs are the needy ones. You can't leave a pack animal alone and expect it not to suffer.

Our cats are happy to see us when we get home from a trip, but they don't freak out.


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

My cats are very dependent on me. They don't play by themselves and they don't get along between them. When I'm not home for a long time, they become more and more scared of each other (usually without reason) and immobile. When I come home and talk, move around, give them attention, play with them, then they start unfreezing... They're adult former strays and have only been with me and off the streets for 15, 10 and 4 months. My intuition tells me for a couple years to leave them as little as possible.


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## Catmamma (Apr 18, 2011)

I have found that setting the clock radio to come on every morning helps my indoor cats stay calm. I have a friend who comes to feed them and deal with the litter when I go away for longer than two nights. She plays with them and they like that. They do cling when I get home. The farm cats are happy to see me but no more than usual.


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

My neighbors went away for five months over winter and early spring. Friends looked after the house and cat. But when they came back, the cat went crazy/happy. She's a stray who adopted him a couple of years ago (they were dog people whose dog got cancer.) Cats really do love their human companion/guardians. If these go permanenly missing, the cats usually adjust -- to a point. I think my Missy still misses her previous companion.


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