Leaving cat alone for 10 days

[Anonymous]

I am going on a trip and leaving my cat alone for ten days starting Saturday. I am freaking out. She has been alone for ten days before but I just get so much anxiety leaving her behind. A cat sitter will come be with her every day, she's in good health...tell me she'll be okay.

[Anonymous]

Will be okay, do you send your cat a post card when you travel

[Anonymous]

She will be fine. I'm glad you hired a sitter to keep an eye on her.

[Anonymous]

So she won't be alone, OP. Do you get that?

My daughter is on daily cat duty for a friend while she's away. She feeds them, scoops out the litter, cleans up any mess and throws away the debris come trash day.

That's not the same thing as leaving an automatic feeder and waterer on for 10 days.
Which some people do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So she won't be alone, OP. Do you get that?

My daughter is on daily cat duty for a friend while she's away. She feeds them, scoops out the litter, cleans up any mess and throws away the debris come trash day.

That's not the same thing as leaving an automatic feeder and waterer on for 10 days.
Which some people do.

This is what I thought the thread was going to be about.

You're not leaving your cat alone for 10 days. Also, super weird attachment to your cat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So she won't be alone, OP. Do you get that?

My daughter is on daily cat duty for a friend while she's away. She feeds them, scoops out the litter, cleans up any mess and throws away the debris come trash day.

That's not the same thing as leaving an automatic feeder and waterer on for 10 days.
Which some people do.

OP here. I only meant she will not have someone around 24/7. Someone is almost always here otherwise.

Jesus, I can't imagine just leaving her alone with an automatic feeder and water for 10 days. That seems like psychological torture. Sick of people saying cats are anti-social. Maybe theirs are but we are nice to ours so she bonded with us :p

[Anonymous]

She'll be fine! I leave my cat alone with an auto feeder, multiple gravity water bowls, and self-cleaning litterbox. I have the neighbor kids come in to play with him every day. So I'm doubly covered-- if the kids space and don't show up, they're ok (this has never happened.) And there's backup if one of the machines fails, and he gets some human contact and treats.

And no, cats are not antisocial. Their social structure is the colony-- caring for each others' kittens, bringing each other (and their useless humans) prey, mutual grooming, group play/ hunting practice. We are their colony. Less co-dependent than dogs, but def not solitary.

[Anonymous]

Call your echo show daily and check on the cat if you are worried

[Anonymous]

The cat will be fine.

I cat sat for a neighbor before. The whole week I went to feed the cat I never saw it. It ran and hid as soon as I opened the door. When my neighbor came back I went to visit to see if they had enjoyed their trip. The cat was there, curled up quite happily on the sofa.

It seems that it's the cat owners that are more stressed than the actual cat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cat will be fine.

I cat sat for a neighbor before. The whole week I went to feed the cat I never saw it. It ran and hid as soon as I opened the door. When my neighbor came back I went to visit to see if they had enjoyed their trip. The cat was there, curled up quite happily on the sofa.

It seems that it's the cat owners that are more stressed than the actual cat.

OP here. Thank you. This made me smile.

We have a wonderful cat sitter who has been taking care of my cat for four or five years now and they're comfortable together.

[Anonymous]

WTF? We used to leave our indoor cats for days with en ought food and water and someone coming in every couple days. Chill.

And we used to leave our outdoor cats for a full week and just have s neighbor come by and fill the food and water bowl every night.

What do you think is going to happen to your cat?

[Anonymous]

OP, I hate to break it to you, but your cat does not care about you as much as you think

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hate to break it to you, but your cat does not care about you as much as you think

I disagree. It depends on the cat. Ours are clearly distressed when we travel and we have a cat sitter come twice a day. 10 days is a long time. If your cat is upset by it, just try not to do it often. We try to cap trips at 5 days when we can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hate to break it to you, but your cat does not care about you as much as you think

I disagree. It depends on the cat. Ours are clearly distressed when we travel and we have a cat sitter come twice a day. 10 days is a long time. If your cat is upset by it, just try not to do it often. We try to cap trips at 5 days when we can.

Some are distressed only by the prep work they see you do, because they know it means you're leaving. My friend's cat does this every time she sees the suitcases coming out - starts getting into the plants, pooping outside the litterbox, scratching everyone, etc. And then I go and feed her daily and she's fine. Not cuddly like with her owner, but doesn't look miserable at all. Active, etc.

It's the transitions that are difficult, and often that's all the owner sees, so of course they think their animal is miserable without them. But it might not be entirely true. Some dogs do this too, BTW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTF? We used to leave our indoor cats for days with en ought food and water and someone coming in every couple days. Chill.

And we used to leave our outdoor cats for a full week and just have s neighbor come by and fill the food and water bowl every night.

What do you think is going to happen to your cat?

Uh, maybe she just loves it and actually takes care of it as opposed to just dumping food for it and having someone come by "every few days."