Please help this not happen to me.
November 10, 2014 6:06 AM Subscribe
My dad passed away recently. He was not yet 70, not in great health but nothing severe that we knew of. As far as we can tell, he was probably gone for about a week before his landlord noticed his rent was late. This is literally keeping me up at night--I also live alone, and I'm pretty sure it's going to stay that way for the foreseeable future, so how do I make sure that if something like this happens to me, I'm at least discovered promptly?
In particular, unlike my dad, I have cats, so I want to make sure they're cared for if something happens. I've started leaving out extra food/water for them, at least until my anxiety settles down a bit, but ideally I would like some way that someone could be notified to check up on me within 24 hours or so.
I'm having trouble coming up with some idea that is going to trigger fairly promptly, but isn't going to lead to someone barging into my apartment if my internet goes down for 24 hours or something, or if I'm just sick or busy. I'm not planning on doing anything dangerous or anything--just if I have an accident or a sudden medical crisis, I know I might not have a way of calling for help and I'm pretty okay with that, but I want to make sure I get found within a few days so that my cats are taken care of.
I have friends and family, but I don't have anybody I really consider reliable enough to check up on me with that kind of regularity, certainly not for an extended period of time. What I really want is some kind of plan that's going to last long-term, if not forever.
Sorry that this is on the morbid side, I'm trying to find practical ways of dealing with the reality of this.
In particular, unlike my dad, I have cats, so I want to make sure they're cared for if something happens. I've started leaving out extra food/water for them, at least until my anxiety settles down a bit, but ideally I would like some way that someone could be notified to check up on me within 24 hours or so.
I'm having trouble coming up with some idea that is going to trigger fairly promptly, but isn't going to lead to someone barging into my apartment if my internet goes down for 24 hours or something, or if I'm just sick or busy. I'm not planning on doing anything dangerous or anything--just if I have an accident or a sudden medical crisis, I know I might not have a way of calling for help and I'm pretty okay with that, but I want to make sure I get found within a few days so that my cats are taken care of.
I have friends and family, but I don't have anybody I really consider reliable enough to check up on me with that kind of regularity, certainly not for an extended period of time. What I really want is some kind of plan that's going to last long-term, if not forever.
Sorry that this is on the morbid side, I'm trying to find practical ways of dealing with the reality of this.
My mother wasn't found for days so I can totally relate to your question. Do you have a friend you can exchange a short email with every morning? It wouldn't have to say anything, just maybe good morning or whatever. If the friend does not hear from you by email she or he would then call you. If still unable to reach you then some neighbor is called. I have neighbors I trust with keys to my place, do you?
Or you could just go the medical alert system route.
I'm so sorry you're going through this, it's hard enough losing a parent without having to go through this added stuff.
posted by mareli at 6:20 AM on November 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
Or you could just go the medical alert system route.
I'm so sorry you're going through this, it's hard enough losing a parent without having to go through this added stuff.
posted by mareli at 6:20 AM on November 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
Do you have a M-F job? If I didn't show up for work for more than a day in a row without notice, calls would be made.
posted by these are my travel socks at 6:21 AM on November 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by these are my travel socks at 6:21 AM on November 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
You could auto-queue an email to someone you trust to go out at a certain time every day, saying "if you have received this message then something is wrong, please come check on me." Then, cancel the send every day. If anything happens to you, then you won't cancel, and it'll send. Obviously tell them you're planning to do this so they don't assume it's a prank or something.
You'd have to be pretty damn diligent about cancelling it EVERY day, of course, or you'll get into a Boy Who Cried Wolf situation.
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:29 AM on November 10, 2014 [4 favorites]
You'd have to be pretty damn diligent about cancelling it EVERY day, of course, or you'll get into a Boy Who Cried Wolf situation.
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:29 AM on November 10, 2014 [4 favorites]
I totally sympathize - when I lived alone, the only people I was *guaranteed* to check in with on a regular basis were my coworkers. If not for the job, I could easily have gone a week or two without anyone noticing I wasn't around. I'm not a daily-phone-call kind of person. I'm not a "regular" anywhere. I'm not very good at returning phone calls. So, the absolute simplest thing to do would be to live with someone. But that's not for everyone.
I agree that having a job or, if not a job, a couple of weekly activities that you participate in religiously (um, maybe even a church/religious community?) is probably the next simplest. If it's a weekly activity you would have to be vigilant about letting people know when you'll be absent, so that they notice when you don't let them know. If you carpool with someone to the activity, they'll notice if you don't go. Carpool to choir practice on Tuesday and synagogue on Friday night... that's only like four days max! Your cats would be fine.
You could also try to get friendly with the neighbors, if applicable.
posted by mskyle at 6:30 AM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
I agree that having a job or, if not a job, a couple of weekly activities that you participate in religiously (um, maybe even a church/religious community?) is probably the next simplest. If it's a weekly activity you would have to be vigilant about letting people know when you'll be absent, so that they notice when you don't let them know. If you carpool with someone to the activity, they'll notice if you don't go. Carpool to choir practice on Tuesday and synagogue on Friday night... that's only like four days max! Your cats would be fine.
You could also try to get friendly with the neighbors, if applicable.
posted by mskyle at 6:30 AM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
Well, you say you're going to be living alone for the foreseeable future, but is that true? Do you want to live alone? There are plenty of living arrangements that are comfortable and good for people who aren't in a romantic relationship. Lots of people thrive with roommates and housemates, well into adulthood. There are plenty of other benefits to this apart from the whole "will take care of cats in case of death" thing. Living expenses, non-invasive company, someone to blame for the ugly curtains... It works for me and my anxiety, anyway.
Having that kind of living situation is different from the revolving roommate thing that lots of people experience as young adults. It's more committed and requires more input because after all, it is a relationship. But it's a flexible one, and in the long run it seems better for a lot of people to live together rather than in separate little boxes next to each other, even when those people aren't related by blood or in a sexual relationship. Once you reach a certain age there's a contingent of divorced people who are happy being unmarried but are great at living with another adult. You've got options.
posted by Mizu at 6:37 AM on November 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
Having that kind of living situation is different from the revolving roommate thing that lots of people experience as young adults. It's more committed and requires more input because after all, it is a relationship. But it's a flexible one, and in the long run it seems better for a lot of people to live together rather than in separate little boxes next to each other, even when those people aren't related by blood or in a sexual relationship. Once you reach a certain age there's a contingent of divorced people who are happy being unmarried but are great at living with another adult. You've got options.
posted by Mizu at 6:37 AM on November 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
Googling "Dead Man's Switch" led me to an article about google's Inactive Account Manager which seems to have a lot of flexibility in terms of setting a timeout period, giving you a heads up that it's going to trigger, alerting people of your inactivity or even deleting your accounts. Never used it myself, but it seems like it could be something useful for you.
There also seems to be two websites that might provide a similar service but I haven't used them either. www.deadmansswitch.net and www.deadman.io
posted by cali59 at 6:46 AM on November 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
There also seems to be two websites that might provide a similar service but I haven't used them either. www.deadmansswitch.net and www.deadman.io
posted by cali59 at 6:46 AM on November 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
I'm sorry for your loss. We had a neighbor that this recently happened to (we were the ones who noticed a problem and got her found), and my mom's response has been similar to yours. You say there's no one in your life reliable to check in on you daily, but are you reliable to check in with someone else daily? My mom has been texting me more regularly just to say hi, and I know that it's coming from that place. For my part, I've noticed this and have started to write to her to check in when it's been more than a day or so since I've heard from her.
I would try to find some kind of social net that lets you do this. Post something on Facebook every day, text a friend or family member daily, try to think if there's someone else in your life that also lives alone that might want a check-in buddy. It may not end up being exactly 24 hours, but the more regular habits you keep, the more likely people are to notice if your schedule changes. I have another friend whose brother passed away suddenly, and they found him less than 3 days later because there was a diner he went to daily, and the waitress noticed his seat was empty and mentioned it to a mutual acquaintance. So it doesn't have to be family per se.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:00 AM on November 10, 2014
I would try to find some kind of social net that lets you do this. Post something on Facebook every day, text a friend or family member daily, try to think if there's someone else in your life that also lives alone that might want a check-in buddy. It may not end up being exactly 24 hours, but the more regular habits you keep, the more likely people are to notice if your schedule changes. I have another friend whose brother passed away suddenly, and they found him less than 3 days later because there was a diner he went to daily, and the waitress noticed his seat was empty and mentioned it to a mutual acquaintance. So it doesn't have to be family per se.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:00 AM on November 10, 2014
Response by poster: I don't at this point have a M-F kind of job. I might by sometime next year, but it'll be awhile yet anyway. I'm not at this stage worried about not being found for months, but a week isn't at all outside the realm of possibility and I'd rather it was closer to 24-48 hours.
For various reasons, platonic roommates aren't happening anytime soon. Again, maybe someday, but not anytime soon. But a bunch of good ideas here to think about either for short term or long term, thank you guys so much.
posted by Sequence at 7:03 AM on November 10, 2014
For various reasons, platonic roommates aren't happening anytime soon. Again, maybe someday, but not anytime soon. But a bunch of good ideas here to think about either for short term or long term, thank you guys so much.
posted by Sequence at 7:03 AM on November 10, 2014
As a slight modification of showbiz_liz's suggestion, you could rig up a computer to function as the alarm clock you use to wake up in the morning, plus have it set so that if you neither snooze nor shut off the alarm then an hour later an email is sent out saying, "Sequence did not snooze or shut off their morning alarm clock today."
If you want something you can easily set on a bedside table an old, unused smartphone (or a currently-used one, for that matter) might be rigged up the same way, or you could have a USB gamepad connected to a nearby desktop computer with the gamepad's buttons set up to snooze or shut off the alarm.
But honestly, the suggestion to have a busy social schedule, whether close friends or something like involvement in a church/temple/mosque/other community organizations, seems like the best one to me if feasible since this will have a variety of health benefits if you'd usually be at home otherwise.
posted by XMLicious at 7:32 AM on November 10, 2014 [4 favorites]
If you want something you can easily set on a bedside table an old, unused smartphone (or a currently-used one, for that matter) might be rigged up the same way, or you could have a USB gamepad connected to a nearby desktop computer with the gamepad's buttons set up to snooze or shut off the alarm.
But honestly, the suggestion to have a busy social schedule, whether close friends or something like involvement in a church/temple/mosque/other community organizations, seems like the best one to me if feasible since this will have a variety of health benefits if you'd usually be at home otherwise.
posted by XMLicious at 7:32 AM on November 10, 2014 [4 favorites]
My mom is approaching 70 and sends me a text message every night at the same time. It's at night specifically so that if she falls outside during the day, she doesn't spend all night outside. If I don't get the text, I check into it.
Cats aren't shy about consuming their deceased owners, so as long as they can get to you, it's Nom Time. Your cats would likely be fine. It would be good to have someone follow up with you in case you're injured or really sick or the victim of a home invasion, etc.
posted by jingzuo at 7:42 AM on November 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
Cats aren't shy about consuming their deceased owners, so as long as they can get to you, it's Nom Time. Your cats would likely be fine. It would be good to have someone follow up with you in case you're injured or really sick or the victim of a home invasion, etc.
posted by jingzuo at 7:42 AM on November 10, 2014 [8 favorites]
When my dad died at home (and was found by his housekeeper) I went into an anxiety swivet about things exactly like this, so I think I know a little how you are feeling. I am sorry for your loss. I live alone and come from a family of people who all live alone. So what you can do to put your mind at ease varies somewhat.
First, you should do what you need to do to get your anxiety under control. Grief works in strange ways and I was fixated on a bunch of niggling stuff like this. Your cats will be fine for quite a while without you there (jingzuo said what I was not-saying) so as much as it's nice for you to be concerned about them, try to balance that with reasonable expectations.
Second, you probably have community options for some of this. My mother, in the small town where she lives, has the cops call her in the morning and do a "wellness check" for just this sort of thing. If she doesn't answer, they call my sister who lives up the road who stops in. Of course my mother is still a pretty active 70-ish year old lady so she's more likely to space this phone call and get us all flipped out for no reason ("Oh I was in the yard doing blabitybla") but it gives her peace of mind and that's important. So you could see if there is an option like this that isn't just for seniors.
You could also work a routine into your life where you leave the house, like a post office box or something that requires your regular attention, or get the newspaper delivered and have someone who goes by your house (could just be a neighbor with their own routine) keeping an eye out for newspapers that pile up. Think about daily routine stuff that you already do. Is there a way to make any of that more visible? My dad had a housekeeper, a plant-watering lady and a laundry service who came to the house every week so there was rarely three days in a row where someone wouldn't notice if something was off.
Or yes, as people have been saying, some sort of incidental contact with people on a regular basis. This is a good idea for a lot of other reasons as well as just "make sure you're not dead" Realistically for the health of your cats, weekly would be okay. Bi-weekly would be fine. So two friends who you checked in with once a week (even a text) would make this work out for you.
While you're working on this, make sure you have your other end-of-life stuff set up for your cats (what happens to them long-term if something does happen to you?) which will give you a bit more "I'm taking care of business" peace of mind.
posted by jessamyn at 7:48 AM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
First, you should do what you need to do to get your anxiety under control. Grief works in strange ways and I was fixated on a bunch of niggling stuff like this. Your cats will be fine for quite a while without you there (jingzuo said what I was not-saying) so as much as it's nice for you to be concerned about them, try to balance that with reasonable expectations.
Second, you probably have community options for some of this. My mother, in the small town where she lives, has the cops call her in the morning and do a "wellness check" for just this sort of thing. If she doesn't answer, they call my sister who lives up the road who stops in. Of course my mother is still a pretty active 70-ish year old lady so she's more likely to space this phone call and get us all flipped out for no reason ("Oh I was in the yard doing blabitybla") but it gives her peace of mind and that's important. So you could see if there is an option like this that isn't just for seniors.
You could also work a routine into your life where you leave the house, like a post office box or something that requires your regular attention, or get the newspaper delivered and have someone who goes by your house (could just be a neighbor with their own routine) keeping an eye out for newspapers that pile up. Think about daily routine stuff that you already do. Is there a way to make any of that more visible? My dad had a housekeeper, a plant-watering lady and a laundry service who came to the house every week so there was rarely three days in a row where someone wouldn't notice if something was off.
Or yes, as people have been saying, some sort of incidental contact with people on a regular basis. This is a good idea for a lot of other reasons as well as just "make sure you're not dead" Realistically for the health of your cats, weekly would be okay. Bi-weekly would be fine. So two friends who you checked in with once a week (even a text) would make this work out for you.
While you're working on this, make sure you have your other end-of-life stuff set up for your cats (what happens to them long-term if something does happen to you?) which will give you a bit more "I'm taking care of business" peace of mind.
posted by jessamyn at 7:48 AM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
The usual answers to this are a) use a computer to check on you, or b) find a social network of some kind to use. Neither is guaranteed; the computer, even if reliable, doesn't have all the benefits of a social network (i.e., someone actually caring), and there are fewer and fewer natural social networks in the world; older people in particular may not have one available.
If you want a *real* solution, *make* a social network. It will take time, but the benefits are huge. Cat sitting. Improving depression. Helping others, which will make you feel wonderful.
This is not an easy solution. There are real risks, of course. I don't really know how to do it myself. I think about it a lot.
posted by amtho at 8:18 AM on November 10, 2014
If you want a *real* solution, *make* a social network. It will take time, but the benefits are huge. Cat sitting. Improving depression. Helping others, which will make you feel wonderful.
This is not an easy solution. There are real risks, of course. I don't really know how to do it myself. I think about it a lot.
posted by amtho at 8:18 AM on November 10, 2014
Get to know your neighbors. They're more likely to notice something is wrong if you have a good relationship with them and talk to them often.
posted by Librarypt at 8:37 AM on November 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Librarypt at 8:37 AM on November 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Look, I have no idea how many of you were raised by wolves or whatever, but under the circumstances, Jesus Christ have some decency about what you're suggesting constitutes appropriate care for my cats once I'm gone, it's one thing to imply it but for God's sake I don't know what good you think you're doing with that kind of response, but you aren't.
posted by Sequence at 8:39 AM on November 10, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 8:39 AM on November 10, 2014 [5 favorites]
It's definitely macabre and I don't think that anyone's suggesting that be your plan, just ... a strange method of reassurance.
But - my suggestion for your peace of mind, regarding the cats, is a very large automatic feeder - this is just the first one I saw on Amazon, I'm sure there are many others. 45 cups of food should feed them for a pretty long time.
posted by desjardins at 8:44 AM on November 10, 2014 [5 favorites]
But - my suggestion for your peace of mind, regarding the cats, is a very large automatic feeder - this is just the first one I saw on Amazon, I'm sure there are many others. 45 cups of food should feed them for a pretty long time.
posted by desjardins at 8:44 AM on November 10, 2014 [5 favorites]
I was going to second Google's Inactive Account Manager mentioned above by cali59. But it appears that the minimum inactive period it permits is three months. One month before that point, Google would email you and send texts to your mobile phone so that no unnecessary messages go out, and then at the designated point it will notify up to 10 of your friends of your inactivity. Deadmansswitch.net also seems to have long inactive periods.
Various paid services, like LifeAlert, have this problem solved, but charge a monthly fee for the convenience.
posted by beagle at 8:49 AM on November 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
Various paid services, like LifeAlert, have this problem solved, but charge a monthly fee for the convenience.
posted by beagle at 8:49 AM on November 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
Look, even in the absence of anything macabre, it's very true that (healthy, unmedicated) cats can survive for a lot longer, if needed, than we would generally consider "good practice" in caring for them. I would never intentionally leave my cat untended for 48 hours, but it happened once as a result of a bunch of bad luck, and she was fine. It's reassuring to know that, even though of course I have all kinds of backup plans in place now.
So if for whatever reason you cannot implement a definite 24-hour check in, and if your cats are in pretty decent health, you can rest assured that a longer check-in (48, 72 hours) will probably still do what you want it to do, namely, secure the safety of your cats. Especially with an automatic feeder and water source--it pains me to say it in a massive drought season but, maybe leave a faucet dripping?
So that resolves the potential Cat Emergency; from there, I promise as much as an internet stranger can promise, you will have time to work out what the best solution is for a check-in system. I'm so sorry for your loss; I hope you do at least have people IRL that you can talk to as you process it.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 9:57 AM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
So if for whatever reason you cannot implement a definite 24-hour check in, and if your cats are in pretty decent health, you can rest assured that a longer check-in (48, 72 hours) will probably still do what you want it to do, namely, secure the safety of your cats. Especially with an automatic feeder and water source--it pains me to say it in a massive drought season but, maybe leave a faucet dripping?
So that resolves the potential Cat Emergency; from there, I promise as much as an internet stranger can promise, you will have time to work out what the best solution is for a check-in system. I'm so sorry for your loss; I hope you do at least have people IRL that you can talk to as you process it.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 9:57 AM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
Especially with an automatic feeder and water source--it pains me to say it in a massive drought season but, maybe leave a faucet dripping?
This is also a solved problem. (Made to connect to an outdoor garden hose, but I'm sure someone has made an adapter for indoor faucets.)
posted by desjardins at 10:21 AM on November 10, 2014
This is also a solved problem. (Made to connect to an outdoor garden hose, but I'm sure someone has made an adapter for indoor faucets.)
posted by desjardins at 10:21 AM on November 10, 2014
I'm so sorry you're facing this. I'm not a phone person either, but I've started the every-day quick call/email to touch base with a family member after she had a bad fall last year. (Sometimes literally just "hey, just touching base.") I wonder if there's a family member or friend you could say "look, can I just lean on you a little for the next few months, and just check in with you every day or so?" I think anyone who knows what happened with your dad will understand, and even be glad to have a way to help you. You don't need to commit to a permanent solution now, but a temporary one might let you ride out these early days and give you time to figure out a more permanent one.
I also agree about getting to know your neighbors, at least on a friendly wave, know their names, basis. If something did happen, they are the ones who are closest to help you (like if you had a fall and needed a ride to the hospital or whatever). They would also notice if your cats were acting strangely (meowing more or less than normal), or if there were a smoke alarm going off in your place, or whatever. When my relative had her fall it was really apparent to me how important that kind of incidental neighborly acquaintance can be. And you'll be providing the same kind of backup for them, too - it's a two way street.
Another thought is, you may want to put a list of your essential contact phone numbers (family, work, etc) on the fridge or on the lock screen of your phone. If you were hurt and couldn't give them the numbers, the EMTs or the neighbors still need to know who to call, and who to get to look after the cats, etc.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:32 PM on November 10, 2014
I also agree about getting to know your neighbors, at least on a friendly wave, know their names, basis. If something did happen, they are the ones who are closest to help you (like if you had a fall and needed a ride to the hospital or whatever). They would also notice if your cats were acting strangely (meowing more or less than normal), or if there were a smoke alarm going off in your place, or whatever. When my relative had her fall it was really apparent to me how important that kind of incidental neighborly acquaintance can be. And you'll be providing the same kind of backup for them, too - it's a two way street.
Another thought is, you may want to put a list of your essential contact phone numbers (family, work, etc) on the fridge or on the lock screen of your phone. If you were hurt and couldn't give them the numbers, the EMTs or the neighbors still need to know who to call, and who to get to look after the cats, etc.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:32 PM on November 10, 2014
It seems like there must be a million different ways to do this with a fitbit. Or Apple's new gadget. Withings has a scale that's wifi connected in addition to an activity tracker and other health oriented sensing devices. There's also the Jawbone activity tracker. I think there are dozens of these things now.
The Fitbit, for example, can be used in conjunction with IFTTT*. I saw an IFTTT "recipe" that will send a message if you haven't hit a goal at a specific time. You could have a recipe send you a warning at noon and another that sends an alert to your emergency contact at 1. The Jawbone Up and the Withings ecosystem are also tied in to IFTTT. There are IFTTT alternatives. There must be some way of rigging one of these devices with one of these services so that you could send an alarm after two days of inactivity, if that's what you'd prefer.
I've never given any thought to this problem before, so there may be nuances to this solution that I haven't considered.
*If This Then That can monitor a wide range of events which can trigger a different set of actions. Eg, if I post a status to facebook, then copy it to twitter. Or, if I step on my Withings scale, then paste my weight into a column in Google Sheets.
posted by stuart_s at 2:25 PM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
The Fitbit, for example, can be used in conjunction with IFTTT*. I saw an IFTTT "recipe" that will send a message if you haven't hit a goal at a specific time. You could have a recipe send you a warning at noon and another that sends an alert to your emergency contact at 1. The Jawbone Up and the Withings ecosystem are also tied in to IFTTT. There are IFTTT alternatives. There must be some way of rigging one of these devices with one of these services so that you could send an alarm after two days of inactivity, if that's what you'd prefer.
I've never given any thought to this problem before, so there may be nuances to this solution that I haven't considered.
*If This Then That can monitor a wide range of events which can trigger a different set of actions. Eg, if I post a status to facebook, then copy it to twitter. Or, if I step on my Withings scale, then paste my weight into a column in Google Sheets.
posted by stuart_s at 2:25 PM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
There are services that call elderly people on a regular basis for this reason. There might be something similar for people who work from home. Or you could volunteer for one. If you're meant to check in on a couple of people everyday and don't, this may get flagged in their system. It's also a nice thing to do.
posted by kjs4 at 2:37 PM on November 10, 2014
posted by kjs4 at 2:37 PM on November 10, 2014
I was also going to mention If This Then That (IFTT). Something like "If my step count hasn't crossed 0 in two days then send a message to X"? (But you have to not lose your Fitbit or iPhone or whatever, and always carry it.)
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:57 PM on November 10, 2014
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:57 PM on November 10, 2014
I think one important component to all of this is making sure your cats have somewhere to go - if you know Bob is going to take care of them, it might be more reassuring? If nobody you know personally is up for taking on pets, perhaps you could make a deal with a no-kill shelter?
posted by zug at 4:10 PM on November 10, 2014
posted by zug at 4:10 PM on November 10, 2014
Make sure you leave your toilet seat up that way your cats will have access to water for probably at least a week, if not a few weeks. They may not be too happy not eating, but they should be able to make it quite some time without food if they have access to water.
posted by whoaali at 5:44 PM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by whoaali at 5:44 PM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
For $20 you can set up automatic check-in emails at custom intervals and if you don't click the link it emails your designated recipients.
posted by Jacqueline at 6:39 PM on November 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Jacqueline at 6:39 PM on November 10, 2014 [1 favorite]
How close are your neighbors? If you had a loud obnoxious alarm clock, set to buzz daily until you shut it off, would someone hear it?
posted by hey you over in the corner at 5:37 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by hey you over in the corner at 5:37 PM on November 11, 2014
Response by poster: I've got a water thing that'll keep them for probably 3-4 days; I'm more concerned about preventing it from being a week or two. I'm having a look at various of the other solutions but I think the alarm clock thing will at least work as long as I'm in this particular apartment and we'll see about other stuff. I sort of like the FitBit idea for the long-term, especially because then I could just phrase it as, "There's been no activity, please contact me and check up on me, and if I'm fine then remind me that I'm supposed to be using the freaking FitBit." Two birds, one stone? We'll see, they're still a little pricey but it's tempting, maybe next week's question will be about fitness bands.
posted by Sequence at 12:12 PM on November 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Sequence at 12:12 PM on November 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
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24 hours is really not a lot of time. Your cats will survive.
posted by AndrewInDC at 6:20 AM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]