apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

we're bringing our cat "home" with us from NYC to pennsylvania. It will be his first time on the train so that should be exciting for all of us :P

um, i chose "They're animals...they do fine with plenty of water and an automatic feeder" but that's not how i feel! i do leave the cats alone for a MAX of 4 days/3 nights, but i don't feel good about it!

i don't trust my neighbors, i have no friends, and i can't afford boarding. so...they have free run of the house and i worry incessantly about them whilst away. my apartment gets overrun with bowls/pans/tupperware full of food and water (plus lil piles of hidden catnip!)

it's torture, though.

My parents board our cat when they're away more than 4 days. I hate that though, because she always looks so miserable and lonely when it's time to pick her up.

suziegoombs, i have the BEST childhood memories of transporting our cat with us on our twice-yearly, month-long visits to the grandparents.

usually it was by car, but one year, when i was 10 or so, i had to fly with her...by myself....from nyc to florida...AND BACK....everyone thought i had a raccoon in the carrier. poor thing yowled through most of the flight ahaha. the nice japanese man next to me was actually quite horrified that this was acceptable airline practice :)

I learned NEVER leave my cat alone for more than 3 days when I came home to find he had begun to use my bed for his litter.....HE PISSED ON MY FEATHERBED!!

If I leave him....I usually have a friend he knows come over at least once to see him....that seems to be OK.

Boarding is too expensive....and you never know exactly what goes on there....and my cat is a stuck-up bully so he wouldn't do too well at one of those places.

My little (7lb) dog won't go outside in the winter (uses puppy pee pads that are by the kitty litter box) and I have a giant cat that really doesn't appear to like people. If it's 3 days or more my Dad comes over, walks the dog (or plays with him in the winter) and tries to coax the cat out to play. They are far happier in their own home then they would EVER be in a kennel. They actually love being together so to seperate them would be far worse in my mind.

I have a friend who's happy to come and house sit, that way the dogs don't have to leave their space. We load the fridge with delicious prepared foods so my friend feels like he's on vacation but not so removed that he has to adjust his own routine, unless he wants to. I thank God for friends like these!

I answered that I have a neighbor/friend care for and check on my pet because a hired in home pet sitter wasn't listed on the survey. As someone who travels frequently and on trips very far from home (usually SE Asia) it has given me so much peace of mind to know that they are cared in my home by someone who has made it their profession. My sitter is licensed and bonded and provides the best possible care while not stressing out my cat. I learned this the hard way while in Bejing. I received a cryptic message at my hotel from my next door neighbor to call home. It turned out my cat had stopped eating and was diagnosed with cancer and I had to make the painful decision to have him euthanized from halfway around the world. I realize the same thing could still happen to me now, but I feel better knowing a professional will be handling the situation. I pay $25 per hour (usually one hour a day) plus tip and the same person comes every day to care for my cat. I don't doubt that some people think this is extreme, but if you love your pet it is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

I hired a 'professional' and she totally screwed us. Her name is Helen.

The dogs go to the kennel and the cats get the run of the place since we're rarely gone more than a few days at a time.

The kennel is great - they have a huge outdoor play area with agility equipment and a pool in the summer. If it's too hot or too cold, they use a huge indoor play area. The people are great and our dogs love them. It's so nice to have a safe place that we trust.

We tend to take longer trips when we actually do leave our furry little friends (two 50 pound mutts). We prefer having our dog loving neighbor watch them. We live in California and we have a wood fence between our homes - my neighbor loosened one of the boards so it now functions as a doggie door between our yards. They have the run of their own home during the day and can visit next door at night through the "doogie door fence" and have dinner and have a slumber party with her dogs and my wonderful, I mean LIFE SAVING, neighbor.

Reminds me, I need to get her an extra special Holiday gift to thank her. Don't know WHAT we would do without her.

My dog isn't happy about it, but I have to board him when I go out of town. He's so protective of the house, he won't let anyone in except immediate family and a few family members or friends who live a few hours away. I live in a small town in a rural area and there are services in big cities that just aren't available here. At least boarding him at the vet's office only costs $10 per day and I know if there are any health issues, he'll be taken care of immediately.

His favorite blanket goes with him, along with his regular food and treats. At the vets, they know him and make sure he gets attention. I don't worry so much about him. The best part is the big reunion when I come to get him, other than his reaction of being so happy that he pees on me.

The Missus and I took a ten-day trip this year and had to hire a cat sitter to visit/feed/tend the cats for the first time.

It worked great, but for any short trips, we'll still trust the little ones to play nice together.

I checked the first box. When I can, I get a friend to actually stay in my place and take care of the cat. Since I live in a great area, it works out for someone who might be living in a roommate situation to have their own place while I'm gone and I benefit because my cat is cared for and has company. If I can't get a friend to stay or to come over everyday and take care of kitty, I hire a petsitter, who's a friend of a friend. She's out of town this time, so I'm paying a petsitter friend of hers.

My furry little canine boy goes to a kennel when I have to leave town and I pay extra for 1-on-1 playtime. Dogs are social pack animals, it's bad enough that his pack leaves him...I would feel terrible if I left him alone in the house. Even if someone came by to feed him and walk him that would still be so depressing. At least at the kennel he gets to play with other dogs.

if we're only going to be gone a few days (i.e., a weekend) we put down a little extra food and water and leave the cats on their own for a little cat party.

however, in the event that we'll be gone for a longer amount of time, we just hire a cat sitter, who comes over every other day to feed, water, scoop-poop and pet the kitties as needed.

works pretty well for us either way...though i could do without the gigantor tumbleweeds of cat hair tumbling around the apartment that one needs to tend to upon return home, but that's another story altogether.

we usually rely on friends to come and check on the cats. But, while we were away last time, I called my friend to check on him checking on the cats, and he said he forgot!!

So, now I won't be using that friend to check on them. I know they are cats, but when you say you are going to check in on them, you should. These are my "children".

I just took my older cat to be boarded today, and it felt horrible. Normally I hire a cat-sitter, but it wasn't possible this year.

I have had such a range of experiences with people coming to watch/feed/play with my cats that I almost feel more secure leaving them to their own devices with a lot of food, water, and litter options.

One 19 year old (former student, well-loved, "mature" kid) was supposed to come over once a day to check on them and my plants but felt a series of parties was more interesting. My little kitty was so traumatized that she hids from almost everyone now, and my big kitty peed all over my closet.

If I were rich, I'd consider boarding.

I answered boarded because they are not actually staying at our home. We take them to my in-laws (who love our cats more than their own) and they catsit for us in the comfort of their own home. It is a win-win for us. We know our cats will get plenty of attention and it is free!

We left our Russian Blue for 3 days and he destroyed a leather sofa. We put him to board he had to be given a 'room' on his own as his howling disturbed the other cats. After that we took him with us. We went away for a month to the sea side and from the first day he went out and came back as if he had always lived there. I think he was just attached to us not the place he was living in.

i send my dog to "Puppy Camp" at my friends house-- they have 3 dogs and a huge yard..she never misses me!

if anyone in the LA area (preferably east side) ever needs a great petsitter / housesitter, i'm your girl! i've got loads of references-- i do it all the time :)

I got my kitty kids, Cashmere and Macchiato, from North Shore Animal League on Long Island on Memorial Day Weekend in 1997 when I didn't have a car, so the kittens road the train with me back to Manhattan. They went back out on the train to get shots and fixed.

One of my friends asked me to spend the weekend at their house near Newtown, PA, so when I told her, "I can't come, I just got two kittens", SHE SAID "Bring the cats!" so I got a Sherpa dog bag for airline and took them. They took the New Jersy Transit, and we got picked up in the car and spent the weekend with her kids (we stayed in the guest BR, which had its own bath).

When I went to visit my parents over 7/4th weekend a few weeks later, they came with me on the plane from JFK, under the seat in front of me. My dad picked us up from LAX and we went up the coast past Malibu. They came home with me at Xmas that same year. When I had to go out of town for business to England and France in Feb, I had a neighbor (who is really a dog person) take care of them. The kitties didn't get cleaned up after enough and they pooped in the tub, the sink, etc.

Then I had to go to Spain in Sept. and had a cat lover take care of them. Cashmere was stuck in the bathroom (she had played behind the door, but it was too heavy for her to get the door back open). As a result, she pooped in the tub and the sink.

EVER SINCE, I have taken my kids with me. They have been to Cape Cod, VT, Montreal, Boston, Westwood (UCLA).

Now they stay with my Gran'ma and Gran'paw, who are 30 min east of us when I have to go more than overnight. Mom totally spoils them with tuna juice and drippy water for Cashmere, chives and plain yogurt (especially Total from Greece) for Macchiato.

There wasn't a vote for take'm with you, so I was compelled to write about my traveling kids.

Should have mentioned the Trains, Planes and Automobiles at the top of the previous post.

Less than 4 days I leave my cat alone with the water fountain and plenty of food. More than 4 days, I move him over to my friends' house.

10 days, at Christmas, right now ... I just drove from Virginia to Florida with him in the car. It was ... interesting.

One word: Acepromazine.

I left my cat alone for a three-day weekend and when I got home found that she had somehow (and I'll never figure out how) gotten her collar around her front leg so she was wearing it like a Miss America sash. It had to be uncomfortable, and I don't know if it happened on day one or day three.

Now I'm lucky enough to have a friend that stays with the cats. One of the cats had a urinary blockage once, and if it had happened over a period where nobody was looking in on him, he could have died.

Yes cats are easy, and most of the time they'd be fine alone - but it's best if someone at least checks on them every day or two. You can't expect the unexpected, but it happens.

Yes, lad 1818, it definitely happens. I chose option three, but that's now going to change...

My husband & I have had our two long-haired Persian mixes for fourteen years. For long trips, we have family members look in on the kitties. For short trips four days or less, we leave them with a clean litter box and plenty of food and water. It's never been a problem until now.

Last week, we returned from a four day/three night trip to discover that our aptly named Scooty had a poop-covered backside and had been scooting across anything she could to get it off. As a result, most available surfaces in all open rooms in our home were covered with skid marks. The carpeted stairs each had at least six huge skid marks. We're thankful the downstairs has hardwoods so they could be mopped!

Instead of being able to decompress from the long drive and get to bed early, we first cleaned the poor poop-covered kitty, then rented a Rug Doctor at 9:30pm, finishing up about midnight. I've never seen such a horiffic scene!

Needless to say, we will have family members dropping by daily to check on the girls for any trip more than two days in length.

After my brother decided he no longer would take care of our kitty when we travel, we looked into boarding. Now we take our kitty to the Best Little Cat House in Pasadena (they have one in LA on 3rd Street too). They have a nice private kitty condo he stays in and he gets to romp around by himself in a secure, private room with toys, a cat tree and a big window for at least 1 to 2 hours a day.

I gotta say, I never worry about him while he is there. They are always checking in on him and I can watch him on their online pet cam. I don't think it's the happiest thing for him to be separated from us or out of his comfy home environment, but I know he is safe and well taken care of there. We went away for 17 days this past November and were out of the country. They sent me updates every few days via email and could see him when I checked the pet cam. They have been a real life saver for us. The cost is 35/day, but that is for private accommodations (our kitty is on prescription food so he can't be out with other cats and share food), there is another area where the cats get to hang out with each other, relax on a sun porch and roam freely much of the day and these are cheaper per day.

If you ask me, it's a small price to pay to make sure our baby is safe and healthy.

That Best Little Cat House sounds like a GREAT solution in case I need to travel with my parents and have to leave the grand kids behind. I think I'd miss them too much, but they might not like Alaska....That is brilliant--I should have started that business!

We used to leave the cat alone for a night or two with food for short stays and longer trips my parents happily would board her. Unfortunately she has been diagnosed recently with asthma and needs her meds every morning and night.

It looks like in the future we'll probably need a cat sitter for short trips and board her for longer ones. Right now there are no trips planned until we find people we can trust her with, but I think a summer focused on home isn't necessarily a bad thing.