ISO Advice for new cat owner

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

jabbur

Master Chef
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Messages
5,638
Location
Newport News, VA
Next weekend we'll be traveling for my nephew's wedding. Normally when we go away, either my oldest son or our friends in the neighborhood take care of the cat and dog. This time our son is coming too and our friends will be gone the same weekend. We're trying to decide what to do. We can take the animals to my dad's but the last time the cat was there, she hid under the bed the whole time. I'm concerned about her staying there for 5 days. We can board them both at the vets but would like to keep expenses down since the hotel is so expensive. Any advice on how to best take care of the cat? She's 8 months old.
 
Dogs need daily care, cats, not so much. Is there someone else in your neighborhood who can look in on kitty every couple of days or so? I think it's more traumatic to relocate a cat than a dog. If you leave out enough dry food and water, she should be OK. The litter box may be a big surprise when you get back,may want to set out an extra.
 
Last edited:
Any teens you trust to come look after the furries? Its summer job time, they might be excited to help out.
 
Can your dad come in and check on/feed the cat for you in your house, and keep the dog at his house? Kitty might be happier.

Five days is kind of a long time to leave a young cat all on its own--if I was doing it, I would confine the kitty in a bathroom or other safe spot--no electric wires to chew, no curtains to shred--with a couple of litter boxes, and plenty of food and water.
 
Last edited:
Not a cat person, but I harbored a cat (~12 mo) for a couple of weeks at the house in the City. She was confined to an empty room (which I had because I hadn't moved stuff in yet) with 2 litter boxes, a feeder, and a waterer. I went and checked on her every 2-3 days. She liked to use one litter box for peeing, the other for poo. I probably should have left 3 or 4 litter boxes. Also leave some safe toys to give the cat some environmental enrichment activities and have s/one check on the cat every couple of days.
 
My son's friend whose parents live in the neighborhood has offered to do it for us. He's a responsible 24 yr old young man who has spent time here before and is familiar with the animals. I feel so much better. I wasn't wanting to board them not just for the expense but for the comfort level of the animals. They are very pampered! The dog has the run of the back yard with the doggie door and kitty certainly has adjustment issues when she's not at home. Even trips to the vet are traumatic for her and she becomes more aggressive with hissing. Thanks for the advice though. I'll not feel bad if we have to leave her for a day or two in the future.
 
Even better, Jabbur! So both dog and cat will stay home? Perfect!
 
Not a cat person, but I harbored a cat (~12 mo) for a couple of weeks at the house in the City. She was confined to an empty room (which I had because I hadn't moved stuff in yet) with 2 litter boxes, a feeder, and a waterer. I went and checked on her every 2-3 days. She liked to use one litter box for peeing, the other for poo. I probably should have left 3 or 4 litter boxes. Also leave some safe toys to give the cat some environmental enrichment activities and have s/one check on the cat every couple of days.

i don't know why i found some of your post funny, but wouldn't 2 litter boxes be enough? what could they use another one for? i guess if you left little trucks and backhoes in one, they could use it for a play sand box, and if you put the other one in a sunny spot with a little beach chair, some towels, and a good book...
:cool:

and you harboured a cat? did it have a little ship and white bell bottom pants?

lol sorry, it just seemed funny to me.
 
Last edited:
buckytom said:
i don't know why i found some of your post funny, but wouldn't 2 litter boxes be enough? what could they use another one for? i guess if you left little trucks and backhoes in one, they could use it for a play sand box, and if you put the other one in a sunny spot with a little beach chair, some towels, and a good book...
:cool:

and you harboured a cat? did it have a little ship and white bell bottom pants?

lol sorry, it just seemed funny to me.

Oh no. Gotta do it. Hear me sing:

"Bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue, he can climb the rigging like his daddy used to do.". Etc.
 
Last edited:
i don't know why i found some of your post funny, but wouldn't 2 litter boxes be enough? what could they use another one for? i guess if you left little trucks and backhoes in one, they could use it for a play sand box, and if you put the other one in a sunny spot with a little beach chair, some towels, and a good book...
:cool:

and you harboured a cat? did it have a little ship and white bell bottom pants?

lol sorry, it just seemed funny to me.

If a litter box is filled up too much, a cat's perspective not yours, they will go other places. The most inappropriate place you would want them to go, that is what they will use. Best to have plenty of litter boxes if you are going to be gone several days.
 
lol, yeah, i understood. but it just seemed funny.

we have very fussy cats and use scoopable litter, so we don't have much of a choice but to have whomever watches our pets ( 2 cats, 2 parrots, 4 large goldfish, a turtle, and a betta fish. why is it beta? i've yet to figure it out...) to scoop the poop at least every other day.

or they crap in your favourite shoes.

it would be like forcing humans to use an overflowing latrine.
 
Last edited:
If a litter box is filled up too much, a cat's perspective not yours, they will go other places. The most inappropriate place you would want them to go, that is what they will use. Best to have plenty of litter boxes if you are going to be gone several days.
I have a friend who convinces her cats to use the bath tub if the box is too full. I don't know how she does it.
 
So far in the 7 months we've had Salem, she thankfully hasn't gone anywhere but the litter box once she found it. We used the Kitty Attract litter and she only had one "accident" the first day. We cleaned it up really good and used Odo-ban on it and she never went back there.

We never expected to have a cat since DH was allergic and so was my oldest son. She was born to a stray mama in our backyard and was abandoned. Mama took the other kitties but left her. We brought her in and fell in love. We didn't expect to keep her because of the allergy issues. For some reason, DH doesn't have a problem with Salem. The son takes a Benadryl before coming over and that controls his sneezing.
 
The funny thing about pet allergies--one can be allergic to some dogs, but not all dogs, ditto for cats. I am allergic to some cats (particularly if the cat has any Siamese in it), but not all cats. I'm allergic to German Shepherds and Dalmatians, but those are the only two breeds that bother me. A friend's husband is allergic to Saint Bernards, but not Newfoundlands and not cats.
 
One of our friends had 2 cats and 2 dogs. He would actually get wheezy at their house! We had a cat when I was dating him (back in the late 70's) and he had problems then too. I'm glad that he doesn't have a reaction because I would have been sad to take her to the animal shelter! She's not a cuddle cat but she certainly won us over anyway!
 
The son takes a Benadryl before coming over and that controls his sneezing.

LOL! I have visions of my nephew sitting with the cat on his lap and a bottle of Benadryl in his hand. He would not leave the cats alone, no matter how bad his breathing got.
 
Oh no. Gotta do it. Hear me sing:

"Bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue, he can climb the rigging like his daddy used to do.". Etc.


Oh, we are way too much alike. How many others out there can recognize, much less sing, that song!

I'm a person who vividly dreams, and now I'm going to dream of cats in sailor suits cleaning litter boxes.
 
Back
Top Bottom