I need advice!
I’m a first time cat mom (to a now 4 month old kitty) 
My husband and I are planning on going on vacation for a week in September (so he’ll be 6 months at the time). I’m already stressing about what to do with. Do we leave him at home and have somebody come in twice a day to feed him? Do we send him to a cat hotel? To the vets?
He’s a very social cat, and has never been alone for more than 12 hours.
What have you all done?
twice a day? Are you in an apt or house? How far would someone have to travel to care for the cat? Is the selected person a ‘cat’ person? I would probably send some one only once a day, but that is just me. Leave out dry, and check on water, clean the litter box and maybe sit down for a bit of a snuggle if the cat is willing. I would NOT send the cat to a friend even if they offer. Cats are clever, and it might get lost.
I live in a house in the city.
I do not know anybody in the area (recently moved here), especially any ‘cat’ person.
I guess I’m just worrying for nothing. I don’t want him to think we’ve abandoned him and ends up stressed while we’re gone.
I have left my cat alone for up to 3 full days on his own with a large bowl of dry and a filled up clean litter box.
I recently adopted a second cat and switched them both to canned food only, and when I when away I had someone come once a day when it was convenient for her. She also cleaned the box.
Once a day is totally fine for a cat. Clean water, top off the food, clean the litterbox and give a bit of loving.
Don’t take him away from home (vet, pet hotel, etc.) unless you have no other choice. Those situations are extremely stressful, especially for cats. New place, new people, noisy, smelly, etc.
Depending on how long you are gone, you might not need anyone. A cat will be fine for a long weekend (say 3 nights) with a clean litter box, several bowls of water and some dry food. If it’s longer, you should be able to find a pet sitter who will come to the house to clean the box, refill food and water and pet (if kitty is amenable) and check on kitty. We’ve been fine with having a sitter come in every other day even, for an adult cat. If you don’t know anyone, call pet sitting services in your area and ask for refences from cat owners.
Cats really don’t like to be moved out of their home to be boarded and they’ll also be exposed to parasites, etc…in a kennel type situation. Having them stay with a friend runs too high a risk of cat getting out and becoming lost. I really think they are happiest in their own home with someone looking in on them. If it’s a shy cat, the sitter may never see the cat. Ours didn’t like strangers, so they only way a sitter knew the cat was there was disappearing food and poop in the box.
My dogs would rather be with me than anywhere else…they’d stay with me in a cardboard box on the side of the road. The cats…not so much, they’d rather be comfy and secure ;).
I would get someone to house sit if it is social. Even if someone just hung out every other evening for company.
Check with your vet. They usually have a list of good pet sitters in the area. Your cat will be fine at home. As long as you can free feed, I agree that once a day is enough. If your cat eats himself sick (I have one that does that, I absolutely cannot leave food out) then you will probably have to have the sitter come in twice a day to feed.
I agree with the do not board sentiment. It’s much too stressful for cats.
Mine stay home and I’m fortunate that I have two friends who also understand cats who each come once a day - one AM and one late afternoon - to dole out food, check and clean the litter box, and offer some play time.
Having someone come in once a day will work just fine, too.
I don’t leave my cat without arrangement for someone to come in unless I’m only going to be gone for a long weekend - say leaving Friday later in the day and getting back home on Sunday. Even then, if I can have someone check in, I will do that.
Since he’s young and social, try to find a pet sitter who will also take some time to play with him and cuddle a bit.
One week isn’t too long to leave a kitty with sitters coming in. I will say that when I went to the Atlanta Olympics I was gone two weeks, leaving an older kitty home alone with the twice daily visits. By the time I got home she was getting a little weird!
Definitely have the cat stay at home. Mine have done well with daily food-litter-nose count checks. When I went away to WEG, I did leave a few sweaters and such (soft, smelled like me) around, and I found a good bit of cat hair there, so I think they were curling up in them. Just some reassurance. Maybe the sitter could spend a few minutes with a DaBird or something for a young and social kitten? That might help keep him engaged.
The only problem with my WEG trip, 10 days, turned out to be the barn cats. They got totally confused at the different schedule and provider and wandered off. The caretaker was worried about this, but there wasn’t much I could do long distance, and efforts at looking for them, calling, and such had already been made. I said they were quite capable of getting fast food and hopefully would return once I did. They definitely did, with the lead barn cat, Emily Dickinson, hitting the screen door within 30 minutes of my return home to chew me out for my absence. The other barn cats drifted back quickly; I’m too good a meal ticket to give up on in just 10 days. But the horses (on round bales) and the indoor cats did perfectly fine with the check-in system. I think it only failed with the barn cats because they are used to hunting anyway.
My cats did well at an all-cat boarding facility run by a cat-only vet practice. Cats were let out of their cages and wander all over the place. It’s a great facility in Manhattan( “The Cat Practice”), so boarding can be stress free (the techs there really know cats).
But without that available I’d pay someone to come in and feed/water/clean and do a head count. I’m sure he will be fine 
I agree with the suggestion of checking with your vet. Sometimes your own vet clinic will have a tech that does petsitting on the side, and that an be a really good option.
ETA: With dogs, I think boarding is more secure and I go that route unless a family member can take care of the dogs. With cats, I think I would do in home petsitting given the choice. Cats are much more comfortable in their own environment. Just make sure that anyone that you hire is savvy enough to make sure that doors, windows, and other escape routes are shut off. If you can, have the petsitter come and go through a door that the cat can’t dart out of and reach the great outdoors.
I worked at a cat-only boarding facility, and I would say that 90% of cats were adjusted and happy within 24 hours of arriving. The 10% that were stressed by the experience were cats that were typically shy, non-social type cats.
If I had a house cat, I wouldn’t hesitate to board them while I was away on vacation!
I have two cats who do fine for 3-4 days with a large bowl of dry food, an extra litter box, and plenty of water.
For longer absences a friend comes in a couple times to refill the food and water dish and clean the box.
They have each other to hang out with and I think enjoy free rein of the house without the dogs laying claim to the living room and upstairs.
I faced this issue last winter. Here’s what I did: Call local vets in the area and ask for recommendations for cat sitters. I found a local vet tech who cat sits and did a fantastic job taking care of my cat (once per day) while I was gone for 9 days. Kitty was totally fine upon my return (just extra cuddly!) and I will be using her services again in August!
Sending cats outside of their comfort zone for such a short period of time is too stressful!!
My cats are strictly meal fed so I’m paying a sitter to come twice a day to feed and water them. It I left food out they’d eat themselves sick. So when planning visits keep that in mind.
I personally feel that the majority of cats are better off staying at home w/ someone checking in twice a day than going to a boarding facility or clinic. Unless they require some higher end treatment and monitoring–such as an older kitty with meds, diabetes, etc–it’s just easier on them to stay home.
In most larger cities, these services are readily available. Even with a high need kitty. In smaller towns, it might be harder to find. But if you have an otherwise healthy cat, just having a regular joe neighbor stop by, confirm that the kitty is alive and well, eating, and defecating/urinating and then cleaning the box daily is sufficient.
At the clinics I’ve worked at, the majority of cats look like they’d rather be at home. I do NOT believe in just leaving a pile of food and some water though. Someone should be checking in.
Once a day visiting is fine for a cat. I would never board a cat unless there was some dire emergency. It is so stressful for them.
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