How long would you leave a cat home alone for?

gunsandbanjos

She'll be fine, I very occasionally leave mine overnight, give them an extra bowl of dry food and they're always fine.

As long as they are safe, have food and water they'll be fine.

Mrs_pbradley936

Plus even if you decided to board them for a couple of days - how often do you think a cattery will be feeding them and changing the cat litter? Will they be picking them up or grooming them if they are only there a day or so?

noelphobic

Mrs_pbradley936 wrote: »

Plus even if you decided to board them for a couple of days - how often do you think a cattery will be feeding them and changing the cat litter? Will they be picking them up or grooming them if they are only there a day or so?

Good point.

I think sending her to a cattery would be cruel, given how timid she is, and much more traumatic than leaving her home alone.

I may not even stay away overnight but will leave sufficient supplies in case I do.

fairy_lights

GwylimT wrote: »

Everytime she uses it, you wouldn't flush a toilet once a day, so why should an animal be given a dirty toilet.

Do you do a full tray change after every wee?

tea_lover

My cat only uses the tray once (twice at most) a day. I often get home from work after 10+ hours out of the house and he hasn't been. I'm amazed that some cats use the tray 4-5 times a day!

GwylimT

fairy_lights wrote: »

Do you do a full tray change after every wee?

No, all soiled litter is removed, so depending on where she urinates sometimes the whole tray is emptied, others just scooped.

MallyGirl

noelphobic wrote: »

Good point.

I think sending her to a cattery would be cruel, given how timid she is, and much more traumatic than leaving her home alone.

I may not even stay away overnight but will leave sufficient supplies in case I do.

My very timid cat hated the cattery we used when we moved house so now she stays at home when we go on holiday and someone she knows comes in each day to check on her, top up food and empty the litter tray if needed. She has a cat flap so rarely uses the tray anyway. She only eats dry food and won't overeat so a huge bowl gets put down and she has a gravity fed water dispenser. I leave the heated floor in the bathroom on for her.
She loves it as the dogs go to kennels and she gets the freedom of the house for a while.

Feral_Moon

It depends on the cat. My older girls were quite happy to be left home alone over the weekend (Fri-Sun) as long as they had clean litter trays (3 for 2 cats) and plenty of dried food and water bowls around the house. They mostly slept in our absence.

However, a young male cat I had couldn't be trusted in the house alone for more than a few hours without getting up to some kind of mischief. I'd have worried about him injuring himself or getting stuck somewhere he shouldn't be :rotfl:

Dogs are completely different and shouldn't be left unsupervised for long periods. My dog has to be left alone 4-6 hours on the odd occasion but I previously set up a video cam to observe his behaviour whilst I'm out and ensure he wasn't becoming distressed.

Apart from an initial minute or two of barking/howling his disapproval at being left behind, he then tends to settle on his bed within eyesight of the front door, keeping guard until I return home.

Mrs_Z

We have to leave ours regularly for nearly 10hrs a day (work + commute). Luckily OH has been working a lot from home lately, which makes me feel better but not sure what the cat thinks! She's an elderly girl and does not do much apart from sleeping and going out for her business very briefly. She prefers us to let her in/out in the morning even though she has a cat flap and is perfectly capable of using it. She has food available all day and water.
On occasions we have left her over night but if it's going to be more than 24hrs, then we get a pet sitter or a neighbour to pop in - usually twice a day. She did once get locked in an office for a whole weekend without food or water or a litter tray :eek: She was fine really but obviously it wasn't very nice for her.

SensibleSarah

I've left my older cats for up to 48 hours a couple of times over the years (they have access to outdoors & plenty of food left down - don't use litter trays though there is always one just in case) with no issues but any longer & I get someone in to feed & check on them. Now I have a younger cat again too then I'm not happy leaving for more than 24 hours as she's a bit more dependent on me than the others currently - although has been surprisingly sensible whilst growing up & seems fine with being left if necessary. They're all used to me being out for up to 12 hours straight on some weekdays so it's not that much more of a stretch.