Cat sitting okay for older cats accustomed to boarding?

February 27, 2024 10:41 AM

We have two 14-year-old cats who have almost always been boarded when we were away, owing to a rural location unsuited to pet sitting. We have recently moved into town, and between the ease of finding a sitter and the rocketing prices for boarding in our area, we think a cat sitter would make sense. Will this freak out cats who have rarely been left on their own for an extended time?

If we hire a cat sitter, it would be to come by once a day to feed/water/change litter box and spend some time socializing with the one cat who enjoys strangers. The other cat is very shy of strangers and would most likely hide under something during the visit.

They've done fine with boarding, apart from hating the car ride (and of of the two gets badly carsick every time). The only real concern with a once-a-day cat sitter is whether it could be more traumatizing to have owners gone for a week+ than spend the time at a cat kennel they're familiar with. I realize that cat psychology is more an art than a science, but any input from experience would be welcome.

posted by Creosote to Pets & Animals (12 answers total)

Best answer: My cats, similar ages to your own, are left alone for extended periods on a regular(ish) basis when we travel, with 1x or sometimes 2x daily sitter visits. They've always been perfectly fine, and definitely better for the socialization. Based on our observation with cameras, they act differently when we're away - sleeping more and in different parts of the house. But none of that is worrying or shocking; for example it makes sense they don't hang out in our offices because we're not working from home, and they don't sleep on our bed as much because we're not in it. It's still familiar territory, and for cats - highly territorial animals - that counts for a lot. Your concerns are totally understandable - but from this internet stranger and obsessive Cat Dad, this is a totally viable option that will be good for your critters.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:48 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]

They'll be fine - if anything, boarding is more stressful.
posted by coffeecat at 10:53 AM on February 27 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: I should have added that our cats are accustomed to being fed twice a day, morning and evening. We could have a sitter come twice a day, but at twice the cost of course.
posted by Creosote at 10:55 AM on February 27

I think they sound like they'd be fine with a sitter. Also, if they don't need to be supervised whilst eating, I've been very very satisfied with a carousel-style electric cat feeder. Ours even has space for an ice pack if they get wet food. You could trial such a thing before you need it–we use ours daily because now the cat impatiently harasses the feeder instead of us.
posted by teremala at 11:07 AM on February 27 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I agree that staying in their familiar environment and having a sitter come once a day for food and pets should be fine. We've been gone for 2-3 days here and there but just recently had our first extended absence (12 days). Our 2 cats did fine, although one of the cats decided to poop under my desk for a week rather than use any of the 4 (!) scrupulously maintained litterboxes available to him. He's prone to expressing his feelings via unforced litterbox errors anyway though so who knows.

If you want to maintain a twice-a-day feeding schedule, you could get an automatic feeder for the second meal. Otherwise I think they will probably cope just fine.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 11:10 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]

Sounds fine to me, a cat owner. I definitely agree that staying home is way less stress than going to a kennel.

One other option is to try to book a sitter who'll stay at your place and sleep over. In my circle, this is something you can ask the young adults -- college age or just beyond. Like, the folks who could use the money + maybe are living with roommates or at home and would love to have some private time.
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:46 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]

Best answer: The cats are most familiar with their home so for the cats I know, getting to stay at home is way better than going through the stress of a car ride and all the new smells and sounds of the kennel, even if they have been to the place before. Cats are super place oriented and less people oriented so most cats would prefer to stay in their spot, given the choice. It's less disruptive. I'd go with the auto feeder for one meal a day and the sitter for the other, if that is possible.
posted by *s at 1:37 PM on February 27

I feed my cats twice a day, using vet techs from my vet. The morning person they love and will carry on when he comes over. The evening person cuts their nails at the vet, so my older cat stares at her with deep distain, while the younger one hunkers down and hisses. They get fed and their boxes scooped, so it’s all good.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:43 PM on February 27 [2 favorites]

I should add that they are younger than your cats, but had a weird upbringing (rescues from a cat hoarder), so are kind of weird and picky? I think boarding them would be much worse than 2/day visits.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:17 PM on February 27

Best answer: I recommend getting your cats used to the sitter and an automated feeder before you go away for an extended period of time.

I asked my catsitter to come in and check on my cat a few evenings I knew I'd be out late, so my cat already knew her and liked her before I went away for a long time. I recently went away for 2 weeks and my cat was fine with 2x daily visits from the sitter, whom by that point she knew well and would go to for fusses and attention. She is a very social cat and I wouldn't leave her on her own with only 1x daily visits.
posted by unicorn chaser at 2:51 AM on February 28 [1 favorite]

Another vote for catsitter. Especially with two cats who can keep each other company! unicorn chaser's advice is great.

Changing the frequency of meals is not a disaster, imo. We normally feed the cats three meals (they get 1 small can each at 8am, and then split a can at 5pm and again at 9pm, all times approximate) but when we have a catsitter, they eat twice a day, but the total amount of food is the same. Our cats are not good free-feeders.

And even the super shy cat warmed up to the sitter by day three and was asking for belly rubs.
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:54 AM on February 28

Best answer: Oh! And this might not be a possibility, but you might have a nearby friend who would be willing to hang out/feed them a meal once a day or come hang out every two or three days for an afternoon. We did this for our friend's cat, they went on a week-long trip a few weeks after adoption and even then it was clear that this cat loooooved company. So we would go over every two or three days and just give lots of pets and kisses and play with the cat. A different person was the actual catsitter.
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:57 AM on February 28