We leave our cats generally for about eleven days, though once it was
a full three weeks.  I do not mind so long as there are two or more
cats, and they seemed happy enough to see Liz.

I left my two cats for approximately two weeks last summer.  I had an
excellent pet-sitter and arranged for her to come twice a day.  She fed them
twice a day, made sure they had fresh water, scooped litter, and also spent
time playing with them and just being a companion.  At my suggestion, she
even watched some TV and would sit at the kitchen table watching the birds
while she had a cup of coffee.  She enjoyed it, and the cats were fine.  I
worried, of course, and called her several times; but it worked out well for
all of us.  My cats were eager to see me and followed me around like little
shadows for the first couple of days after I returned.  Other than that,
everything was normal.  I also plugged in a couple of Feliway diffusers to
reduce the possibility of stress.  I would suggest that you arrange for the
pet-sitter to "meet" your cats a couple of days before you leave if they are
not already familiar with him/her.  The sitter should write down all special
instructions, such as amount of food and time of feedings.  Also, leave a
list of emergency phone numbers, and make arrangements with your vet for
their care if the pet-sitter would need to take them for medical care (in
the event of emergencies).

Have a nice vacation!

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly:      >'o'<
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

Not all that long ago, I left Matilda at the kennel for 20 days and all went
well. I know many people prefer pet sitters, but the kennel has always
worked for us.

At the kennel she gets plenty of attention from the staff and she's allowed
out of her "suite" for a couple of hours each day to mingle with the other
cats, if she's interested.

She's always recognizes me when I pick her up and falls right back into the
ole routine once she's home. If she suffered during my absence, she didn't
tell me about it.

When I first started leaving Matilda behind, I was concerned about how long
I could comfortably leave her as well. First it was for a weekend, then a
longer weekend, then 10 days, and then the big one 20 days. At this point in
time I'm sure I could go away for a month and be comfortable.

I love my cat dearly and did miss her while I was away, but I have to admit
that I didn't miss the 5:30am daily wake up calls. My husband didn't miss
them either and suggested that we just leave Matilda at the kennel and go
for visits. ha ha It was so nice to sleep in!

Best wishes.

Judy & Matilda

junk@sluggy.net  (Kate) writes

   

If the cats are cared for - in the home - it's not too much of an absence
(where they'd forget you). Just a heads up....PLEASE...make very sure you trust
the person who is going to be trusted with the lives' of your cats. The
professional catsitter should be bonded, should have excellent references (and
you should be able to check them), should have background/experience in dealing
with interacting with your cats/knowing if something is wrong, etc.  Having a
neighbor/neighbors' kid, friend who's doing you a favor is a very big gamble.
Good luck.

We left our cat in good care for three weeks on several occasions.
It certainly didn't forget us but completely ignored us for about a week,
sulking.

Carola

We left our cats in similar conditions some time ago and you really
don't have to worry that they forget you. They gonna miss you, but
when you come back home after your vacation they will stand in line to
welcome you.

We have left ours under similar situation for almost three weeks.  Tiny was
super glad to see us when we got back.  Marco acted like he didn't notice
we were gone!  We had an excellent cat sitter.

The first time we left them alone was not so hot.  There were just kittens
and we went away for four days and my friend was coming over to feed an pet
them.  He lost the key after two days, couldn't get in, and couldn't get
ahold of us.  Fortunately they had plenty of water in the water resevoir.  
So my budy got a long mailing tube and worked it through the mailbox slot
and poured the (dry) cat food down the tube and they got plenty to eat.

Ever since then, they go running to the door whenever they hear the mailman
put something in the mailbox.

junk@sluggy.net (Kate) wrote in news:1edb9404.0312041555.1514b6b7
@posting.google.com: