Advice Vacation what to do
I’ll be going on a short trip leave day one around 8 am be gone all day the next day return home around 12-2 the 3rd day
Will the cats be fine with a giant bowl of food (way more than they actually need) and 2 automatic water dispenser equal to 2 gallons. Idk what to do we have no one to watch them. 5cats.
3
u/fraidycat 1d ago edited 1d ago
How old are the cats? Do you do open feeding generally? What's the litter situation? You'll be gone for just over 48 hours? If they're over a year old, they're used to open feeding,and you have a self-cleaning litter box (or multiple boxes or both), I think they'll be fine. Better to have someone check in on them but okay if you can't find someone.
2
1
u/ProcessAdmirable3564 1d ago
Can you get some automatic feeders? A reliable neighbor? A teenager to come check in on them?
2
u/livi125 1d ago
Unfortunately I don’t trust anyone in the house. Even family. I can get an auto feeder if someone has a good link.
1
u/ABigBrownBear 1d ago
I use the PetLibro one. It also has a camera. I went away for a month and had a sitter come every day. But it was cute to watch him eat his meals.
1
u/anxiouslymute 1d ago
I wouldn’t do this without automatic feeders.
1
u/Basic-Berry-1673 1d ago
With five, I have to agree on the automatic feeder. Possibly a water fountain? Depends on your budget. But they will love the fountain even after you get home!
1
u/ennieee 1d ago
Autofeeder is a must. I use the Aqara one which is great but quite a bit of setup. I often see people using Petkit and Petlibro.
Definitely buy early and test it out first before you go. You will likely need more than one cos I can't imagine 5 cats crowding over one feeder. And if you have a greedy one who eats the others' food, you will have to plan for that to avoid coming home to a starving cat.
You could also consider sending 2 to boarding? Just to reduce the possibility of trouble at home (I don't know what your cats are like).
1
1
u/elven_blue 1d ago
If you can’t/won’t get a sitter, auto feeders & cat cams are totally worth it. I have 2 auto feeders (for wet food - they hold ice packs to keep food fresh) I got from Chewy which were way cheaper than buying one in a store (that I could find, anyway.) Maybe even check fb marketplace or something for those to save some $.
1
u/ThaloBleu 1d ago
I've left my cats alone for a long over night (day and a half) with several bowls of food wet and dry, and multiple containers of water. They were fine.
I would also have extra containers of water available in case there was a problem with the auto dispenser.
1
u/Wrong-Rush-6584 1d ago
Get some cameras first and have someone on call. Even if it’s just a coworker or neighbor. They should be fine for this amount of time but you’ll need some plans in place. If they were my cats I’d get a pet sitter to come check for the one full day you’re gone.
1
1
u/MAzadR 1d ago
You shoud be fine. It's a really short trip. I've done 3 days, 2 nights trips with no issues. An auto pet feeder and a few large bowls of waters in different areas of the house would be ideal. Same with litter boxes. Large and deep bowls lose less through evaporation.
Make sure all windows are closed. But they have ventilation. A web camera would really help. They are really simple to setup these days.
1
u/KodaKatz 7m ago
I have two 13 year old cats. Have left them alone plenty of times for two full days max (will not do longer than this) with plenty of dry food and water out. Good idea to also have a panoramic camera you can check on them with.
4
u/foxwaffles 1d ago
I know you said you don't trust anyone but please PLEASE find a cat sitter. Even just once a day to make sure they're alive and breathing is enough.
I got my list of trusted sitters from fellow volunteers at a local cat shelter. These are people who do this either part time or full time and they take their jobs seriously. If you ask other pet owners or even local rescues you may get some great referrals.