# Going away for one month, leaving my cat with family for the first time ever.



## yo0123yo (Apr 2, 2013)

On Saturday I am leaving to go on vacation for one month. The thing is that my cat is 10 years old and he is VERY VERY close to me and my mother as well. The other two family members are my father and my brother. He is so close to me that no matter what I do around the house, he is ALWAYS following me around where ever I go and even sleeps with me. Every once in a while he will follow my mother around and sleep by her. So the cat is extremely close to both my mother and I. Since I am going to be leaving for one month, I am worried for my cat since this is the first time EVER leaving him for this long in the 10 years that we have owned him. My main concern is that I have read some stories that some cat owners go on vacation and their cats get EXTREMELY depressed to the point they stop eating and stop being active and eventually die. Is there anything I can do or anything I can leave in the house while I am on vacation to prevent such depression from hitting my cat? Also my mother will be at the house with him while I am on the vacation so I would assume that this would make him feel at ease being around my mother while I am gone. Any tips are GREATLY appreciated. Also if there is anything I can tell my mother to do to make my cat not fall in this depression I hear about would be great. Thanks so much again.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Your cat will be absolutely fine. :grin:

I don't know where you read such extreme stories, yikes! If I was leaving my girls at home with a family member, I wouldn't worry at all.


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## yo0123yo (Apr 2, 2013)

marie73 said:


> Your cat will be absolutely fine. :grin:
> 
> I don't know where you read such extreme stories, yikes! If I was leaving my girls at home with a family member, I wouldn't worry at all.


awesome thank you so much for the quick reply. The main reason that got me to worry was because about one year ago I went on a vacation to Vegas for one week and my mom told me when I came back that our cat would look for me throughout the day and go into my room, meow, and basically go on a search for me in our house. I was just worried that a month away from him would be too much. Also since I will be away from him for a month, is there any chance that when I get back he will be nervous to approach me or worse even forget me? Thanks again


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Cats don't really have any concept of time. I can feed my girls, leave for 10 minutes, come back in, and they think it's time to be fed again. I'm sure your kitty will look around for you, but he'll be fine. Leave a couple items of unwashed clothes on your bed so he can curl up with your scent at night.


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## yo0123yo (Apr 2, 2013)

Thank you so much Marie, very much appreciated, my cat is very much like a sibling of mine and like a son to my mother!!


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

The thing most people with pets regret on their vacation is that they spent so much time worrying for nothing.

Have a great time on your vacation - have your Mom text you pics of your little guy.


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## mumof7kitties (Jan 27, 2013)

Lol this thread is awesome. I agree with Marie, critters don't know what time is. I don't know if you have a dog but I can be gone all day and get the same exuberant greeting that I get if I am gone for 10 minutes to the corner store. Same thing for kitties. 

Your baby will be fine. No he won't not want to have anything to do with you when you get back. He will be glad to see you and all will be fine again. Just have fun & don't worry! Sounds like he will be in capable and loving hands!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Yep, he will miss you, and you will get all sorts of love and attention when you get back, but he'll be ok. He will still have your mom so he will be just fine. I went away for 2 weeks once and was worried about my cats and they did fine....and I had never even been away from them over night before. They still ate and slept and carried on. My dog actually missed me more than the cats, she smiled at me when she saw me...she had never done that before, it was the funniest thing i'd ever seen


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## LCSP (Dec 31, 2012)

Although our cats are family cats, one cat has a very close bond with my son. My son has been away from home several years while going to college, but whenever he comes home that cat is his again. The cat rarely enters my son's bedroom while he's away, but as soon as he's home, the cat spends his time in the bedroom, sleeping with him at night. Clearly the bond continues!


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

When hubby and I were on active duty we got called out to different areas for 6 weeks at the same time (him for training in CA, me to sea). We had 3 indoor cats at the time. My neighbor came over twice a day to feed them. She stayed for hours just reading magazines and being part of the home. 6 weeks later it was like we never left. They were a bit unsure, but after a couple hours everything was fine again. We missed them more than they missed us apparently!! Have a great vacation and don't fret. Mom will take good care of him.


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## Jiskefet (Apr 8, 2011)

One of the main tasks of a pet sitter is to reassure the owners....
They can take perfect care of the cats, but the owners will still worry.
Whenever I petsit, I will ask the cellphone number of the owners, and if they have a smartphone, I will send daily updates and pictures.

Which I learned from my cleaning lady, who plays furry godmother to my cats when I am on holiday. She knows I worry (one of mine is a feral, and I installed a webcam for her to check if she came in, as the feral cat will not show herself to anyone but us), so she will keep me updated at all times.


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