My thanks to Karen D. for responding with a bit less emotionalism than
the other folks who entered this discussion about "leaving cats home
alone" while on vacation. I would like to hear from some other cat
people who have successfully done this without any problems --- to
balance out this discussion.

I plan on leaving 6 clean litter boxes in my basement on the day that I
leave for a week in Ireland! Figure that my 2 feline girls will have
plenty of choices there. Normally I clean their boxes every other day.
Knowing cats, they'll use all the different boxes and things won't get
too filthy.

The fresh water issue ... well they will have many bowls of water set
out so they won't go thirsty. Hey, I'd drink  it. The bottled water that
I drink all the time isn't what I would call "fresh" either. Did you
ever think of that? Perhaps cats would prefer aerated water but when you
are thirsty you will drink what you've got.

About stress - STRESS for my cats is traveling in the car, going to the
vet, STAYING at the vet clinic, strangers in the house. Stress from
boredom is the least of my concerns for them -- they might scratch up
the carpet when I am gone (oh yeah, that's happened when I'm at work!).
I intend to "cat-proof" my house before leaving = remove all house
plants, plastic bags (which one cat likes to chew), un-plug electrical
cords. Am leaving a couple of empty cardborad boxes and a paper bag or
two (for playground equiptment) in addition to all their cat toys.

My perception of this is that being left comfortably at home for one
week is much less stress than being boarded in a kennel or at a
veterinary clinic in a cage. If I return home and discover that somebody
pee-ed in the wrong place because she was bored --- well, I'll just
clean it up!

By the way, these feline girls have been home alone for 4 days at a time
previous to this without any problems at all. We were all just glad to
see each other when I returned - no hostile cat feelings involved (they
really aren't like people).

- Nancy

Thanks Karen for your rational comments about our pets.

It might surprise the hysterics who are sure that I am a torturer of
animals to know --- that I have had several healthy, happy feline
friends over the past 35 years who have lived contendedly as indoor cats
while I (a single womin) have worked full time.

Small towns like mine don't have professional pet sitters available to
hire - that seems to be more of a big city phenomenon. I would really be
worried if I left home without using the security alarm system - just so
some acquaintance could peak-in on my cats once or twice. I think that
both of my cats would probably hide if a stranger came inside the house
unexpectedly.

- Nancy

You've had many people give you several excellent reasons why it is not a
good idea to leave them alone for 7 days, but you choose not to listen to
anyone.  Only ONE person thought it would be okay and she said she left her
cats alone for several HOURS at times, not DAYS.  Then you come back on and
call us "hysterics"; pretty insulting to call people names who are taking
time out of thier day to help you with your question.  So why in the world do
you say you're still interested in hearing from people who have left their
cats alone for a week or more, obviously if you haven't had a positive reply
in 3 weeks since you originally posted, then not many people on here have
done it.  Unlike you, most of us would be worried to leave them alone for
that long.

My male cat's urethra became blocked with crystals unbeknownst to us.  He
couldn't urinate at all one day so we took him into the vet immediately.
The toxins build up in the blood stream and the cat can suffer irreparable
kidney damage and die within 24-48 hours.  If he had been left home alone for
days, he would have died.

Nancy Prentice Wrote:

HOW is simple. There was nobody around to notice a difference in tha
cat's normal functions and take it to the vet immediately.

Nancy, I think you're just looking for justification and the blessing
of others to do what you know in your heart is not in your cats' bes
interests. So you get defensive and start calling names ("emotional
irrational," etc.) when you aren't getting the response you want. S
just who is emotional, really??? It seems to me the only thing you ar
not emotional about is your cats' welfare. Where is your passion fo
that?

I pay a pet sitter $15 a trip to look after my two  cats when we ar
out of town. She and her family come over every afternoon, play wit
the cats, clean the litter boxes, feed and water them, pick up mail an
papers, water plants, makes sure the cats habits are normal (litter bo
leavings are normal) and that they are acting healthy, check and mak
sure there is no mechanical problem in the house, they even feed th
birds outside. She has all the info regarding the vet and emergenc
numbers. Then she leaves me a written report on how the visits went. M
shy cat, she reports, is still a "little shy" but the other cat "reall
enjoyed the attention." Just like normal for my cats. If you can affor
a trip overseas, then obviously you can afford $15 - $20 a day for a pe
sitter. Cats are happiest in their own home, but they are not happ
being left alone for days on end with no contact with "their" human
(or a good substitute). They will adapt very nicely to a good pe
sitter. As others said, contact your vet for recommendations
Oftentimes, their technicians and assistants will do this as a way t
earn a little extra money, and they really love working with animals
And your alarm system would not be a barrier to these folks.

The bottom line is, if you are not willing to do what is right for you
cats, maybe you should be asking why you have them in the first place
They are living creatures who in their way love you and show it b
giving you head bumps, nuzzling up to you when you're reading or on th
computer, snuggling up to you at night, mewing at you when you're fixin
a meal, rubbing up against your legs when you are sitting at the table
licking your hand or face, crawling into your lap or sitting next t
you or on the back of your chair/sofa when you're watching TV. Thes
are all cat ways of saying, "I love you." They wouldn't do any of thes
things if they didn't care about you. The question is, do you care a
much about them????

--
Dori