Cat care when you are out of town...

[malkin]

Thanks for the input!

There's a local place that has kennels (which they call condos) and an open room with catty stuff.

I'm going to visit up there next week to check it out. Since he came from a place called "Colony 6" at animal control, we think it might be just the thing for Txukka. He is so naughty and such a troublemaker that I'd be nervous the whole time that he had done some mischief or other.

[colby]

We have boarded ours in the past when we were gone more than about 5-7 days. Since then, we started sharing our home with family, so we have built-in responsibility sharing. We had one negative experience with a boarding facility who clipped our cats nails too short on a 2 week vacation, after that he was a total brat about us touching his toes. Otherwise they have always came home with a little stress but well cared for.

Now, with 1 of our kitties in Austin and just the two of us there, when both of us are gone we have to go back to thinking about what to do. So far, we've only taken about 5 days away for long weekends (Ironman Florida and Thanksgiving) and she's done well on her own. I was a little worried the first time we left, she was definitely having anxiety issues from moving about 2 weeks earlier (there was a couple times when she peed on the bed/pillows), but it actually went well. This time, she's a little more adjusted, so we're not expecting problems.

More than 5-7 days and I'm concerned about the litter box first, and her need to socialize a close second. That's a long time to be lonely for a kitty used to living with 2-4 humans, other kitties, and a dog. I'd probably go pet sitter if we could swing it in our condo, but it'd come down to trust and cost. I know the vet/boarding facility is qualified. We have a lot of neighbors with pets, they might be able to refer someone.

Also, we have picked up a few tootsie rolls outside the target area ourselves. I imagine she's standing IN the box when she does it, just bad aim. http://www.theonion.com/articles/fre...-the-box,8945/

[pumpkinpony]

Out of curiosity, those of you that use them, how much are you paying for petsitters? I used to have an awesome neighbor who would baby my cats, but now I've moved and am going to be using a co-workers teenager as a pet sitter. I was thinking $15/day to feed and scoop litter. It's likely he will not even see the cats, so it's not like he's going to spend 30 minutes playing with them. Do you think that is reasonable to offer?

[Brandi]

We have great neighbors too. I have such a network now of people I can rely on. And I travel weeks on end sometimes. I feel awful about it but gotta make money. But I have 3 cats who take care of each other. Having one cat I could see it would be hard to leave him. You need another cat! That's my advice.

[malkin]

Taking a 2 pronged approach:

Prong 1: On Brandi's advice, we got another kitty. Okay, I wanted another one anyway, and couldn't resist once I saw the pic of a sad small ginger cat.

Prong 2: Hired a local professional cat sitter. Met her today and she's great.