Vacation Care for Cats

Dogs and cats are very different when it comes to daycare/vacation care. Cats prefer to stay in their familiar surroundings rather than being whisked off to some facility or a friend’s house. Unusual places, smell, people can turn the nicest, purring cat into a “curtain climber”, “couch scratcher”, refusing food, and even neglect the litter box, using carpet and furniture instead. I talk from my own experience, as my mellow, loving cat turned into a hissing maniac, literally destroying the house of a friend within a week.

If you go on vacation and have the option to have a friend look after your kitty, please do so. A daily visit with a little playtime, maybe one room with the light on, will make your cat happy. If you don’t have anybody reliable to feed the animal and change the litter box, look for a pet sitting service that does house calls. The pet sitter does not necessarily have to live in your home; a daily visit is enough.

That works for one animal as well as for two.

Dogs are different, please see our article about vacation care for dogs.