# Dealing with leaving a cat alone.



## hishighness (Apr 16, 2009)

Hey everyone, I'm Murray. Up until January I had a beautiful Maine **** cat named Fluffer, he was 19 years old but finally as is inevitable his health began to fail I had to put him to sleep. I posted the story here.

Anyway, now that some time has passed I'm starting to feel like I want a cat in my life again. I miss having one but I wanted to wait some time to allow myself to properly mourn for Fluffer, I'm sure those of you who've lost know what I mean.

My main problem when it comes to this though is I live alone now, and from the time I leave for work until the time I return home 9 hours and 45 minutes passes. I just don't enjoy the thought of leaving my cat alone for that long 5 out of the 7 days a week. I know people do it but I love cats a lot and I wanted to get opinions from other people who love cats as much as I do about if this is a viable option. My main concern is for the wellbeing of the cat, I don't want it to be miserable all day while I'm gone. I mean I know cats are independant animals, in fact that's one of the things i love about them, but I just want to know how this would effect a cat before I do it. I'm one of those people who likes to look before he leaps.

I've also thought about getting two cats so that they could keep each other company, but I live in a small bachelor apartment so I don't know if it would be comfortable for two cats.

Any advice on this issue would be much appreciated.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Welcome, and I'm sorry to hear about your Fluffer. It sounds like he lived a great, long life with you.
As for cats being bored during the time you are working...I think cats spend more time sleeping than missing their 'human' with intermittent periods of "rocket-butt" mode, racing wildly around the home, followed by a snack and another nap.
If you are concerned about a cat being 'lonely' during the time they are awake when you are gone?...adopt two siblings. We had a "Trio", 2 brothers and a sister. They were The Closest cats we've ever had! They did everything together; sleep, eat, play, snuggle. Our other cats got along very well and would play/interact with each other...but not to the close/comfortable degree the Trio did.
Heidi =^..^=


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

I'm so sorry about your loss of Fluffer. Those of us who have lost cats know exactly how hard it is.

Murphy is home alone for about the same hours as yours will be. It does bother me a little that he's home alone so much (and don't get me started for when we go on vacation), but on the other hand, we chose him as a "must be an only" cat and to some extent, the decision was out of our hands. I sure haven't seen any signs that he's unhappy. He's actually one very content little boy, purring at the mere sight of us from across the room.

I do think that if you're thinking about getting 2 rather than 1, that you get the two right off the bat. It's so much harder to add a second cat later on. In my case, I thought about it hard, decided I really wanted one again, and we chose a kitty who already fit the profile.


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## weebeasties (Jul 19, 2008)

Ditto Heidi and October. Our Othello and Desdemona are also home alone for about the same hours you're gone, and I think they spend most of that time either sleeping, or looking out the window at those nice tasty birdies in the bushes. They are both right at the door to greet me when I get home, but I think most of that is, "Great, you're here, feed us _now_." :lol: 

I wouldn't have too much concern about two cats in a small space - our house is pretty small, and Othello and Desi do just fine. And my brother has two cats in a teeny-little apartment. It helps to add some "vertical" space with a good cat tree. I definitely agree that if you want two, it's best to get littermates or a pair of otherwise-acquainted cats. Othello and Desi were unacquainted until we brought them home from the shelter, and it was a bumpy ride at first (we didn't do introductions very well), though they are much better now.

Best of luck helping your new feline overlord(s) find you!


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I'm gone at least 10 hours a day. I have FOUR cats and I feel guilty sometimes. But I shouldn't. Most nights when I get home, the twins are in their cat tree sleeping, they wake up, look outside, and see me pull up. Cinderella is almost always asleep in her favorite condo in the living room and who knows where Cleo hangs out. 8O 

Even with four cats, they SLEEP most of the day!  

You could get an adult cat who needs to be an only cat, like Murphy. Two bonded adults cats have an even harder time being adopted together, that's another option. 

I'm so sorry about Fluffer. Whatever cat(s) you do adopt will be very lucky to have you as their staff.


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

I agree that, if you can handle it (vet bills, food, litter box, fur) I would get two cats. 
I don't think the size of the apartment is all that important to them, I'd just make sure they have nice spots at the window to look out and sun themselves. There is nothing more fun than two kitties that get along.
On the other hand, one cat can be fine on it's own too. Especially if you adopt and older kitty or one that prefers to be an only cat. There are so many of them at the pound! I would not get a kitten or young cat as they need tons of attention.
Good luck and make sure you come back and show us pictures when you get your new kitty(s)!!


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## melysion (Mar 12, 2007)

I work long hours ... I can be out the house for up to 12 hours. Toby (my one and only very spoiled kitty) is always at the front room window sat on his cat tree waiting for me (no doubt because his tummy is telling him its empty :lol and he is quite active in the evening. But I've observed that he just tends to sleep during the day, whether I'm there or not. So, I can only assume he is snoozing for most of the day when I'm not around.

I've read somewhere that cats naturally sleep 85% of the time. I can well believe that with my Tobe! :lol:


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## love.my.cats (Jan 29, 2009)

Sorry about your loss of Fluffer. It's always hard losing a beloved pet, and I can't even imagine the pain of losing one that's been around as long as your Fluffer was  

If I were you, I'd get two kittens at the same time - I'd use any excuse to have two cats though. Hehe.. When I got my second kitty, I was living at home with my parents and just had one (pretty big) bedroom that the 3 of us shared. The kitties had lots of toys, a floor to roof cat tree and sleeping spots (which included my double bed AND a futon near the window in the sun).. They were more than happy with the space they had (as far as I can tell). 

I probably wouldn't want to keep them in a _small_ room long term, so it just depends how much space they actually have in the apartmen AND if you're more concerned about them being bored alone while you're out, or not having lots of space..

For me, I chose to have two kitties to keep each other company in not a huge space but others may disagree with this decision?

Truth be told though, I was off work for two weeks and both cats spent almost the whole time I was there during the day ASLEEP. Yes they were snuggled up together 90% of the time but they were still sleeping!


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## hishighness (Apr 16, 2009)

Yeah, I miss having a cat. When I moved out I left Fluffer with my brother. It was a tough decision but he was used to being an outdoor cat and to someone always being around, and those were things I couldn't offer him where I live now, so I decided that it was best for him to stay at home. Of course I still saw him all the time when I visited.

Even though what was best for me would have been to bring him with me I wanted to do what was best for him. I always try to make decisions regarding cats based on that model. It's a big responsibility dealing with them because they can't make these choices for themselves. In that case there was no "good" decision so I just picked what I thought was the least bad decision. Also we had had a fire in 2006 and I didn't want to uproot him yet again.

I've got a lot of stress in my life right now and I wish I had a furry feline to help me through, somehow I always feel more relaxed with a cat in my lap or on my chest. They're by far my favorite animals. But, I gotta wait until I get done saving for a car before I can commit to getting a cat. Just wanted to do the research now.

Here are some pictures of Fluffer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/ ... ffer/1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/ ... ffer/2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/ ... ffer/7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/ ... ffer/b.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/ ... ffer/c.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/ ... ffer/e.jpg

Wasn't he beautiful?


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

Wow, what a beauty! Fluffer reminds me of Leazie's Miss Molly, who I've always thought was such a gorgeous cat.


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## Bethany (Jul 19, 2006)

That's one of the main reasons I went for a pair of littermates, myself: I work a lot and travel a lot and I wanted them to have each other company when I was gone.

How small a bachelor pad are we talking about, here? I kept two cats in a one-bedroom with no problems. I think two cats who like each other can co-exist in a fairly small apartment. For two cats who don't like each other, even a 4-bedroom house is barely sufficient. Make your life easier, get two who are already bonded.

I'm also sorry about Fluffer. What a beautiful cat!


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