I can't get over the mentality of people who think it's acceptable to leave cats on their own for days on end while they go away ! For example, today on Yahoo Answers someone asked how to go about finding a reliable pet sitter for his 2 cats as he was going away for 3 days. This person and rightly so, wanted to make sure his cats were OK, more so because one of them is a sensitive cresture and when she gets stressed, she is sick.
So, what did quite a few 'advise' ? Only to leave the cats at home alone !!! One mentioned leaving plenty food and water, one mentioned they might need an extra litter tray, but all agreed they'd be fine for 3 days on their own.
Thankfully a few sensible people had been on too, one especially sensible suggestion was that he asked his vet to recommend someone trustworthy to cat sit. I could only add to that to suggest the sitter came to meet the cats before he went away, so he could see what he/she was like and if they interacted with the cats well.
Cats can get ill very quickly, have an accident, someone could break into the house and hurt the cats or they could get out of a broken window, maybe cutting themselves as they do.
Apart from that, if none of those things happen, the water left for the cats could be spilled, the food go off,the litter trays overflowing.
Cats deserve better than being left alone for more than a day !
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Too true Katt, well said! I always remember reading about a cat who was left alone for a number of days, but it seems that probably not long after she was left she had become tangled up in a fringed shawl thrown over the couch and had strangled herself and her body had hung there for days. People seem to think that cats are second class citizen that require no care and attention, no one would consider leaving a dog alone for days while they went on holiday so why cats? No use leaving extra food, they'll eat as much as they want and then the rest will go stale, dust falls onto dried food, water gets dusty and stale and possibly dead flies in it, litter boxes get smelly and often the cat gets depressed. Meanwhile the owner is enjoying their holiday. It beats me how they can justify this at all.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! Cats need supervision as far as I am concerned, even for a period of 24 hours left alone. Anything can happen to a cat. They can get caught in something around the house, get trapped in a closet (one of my cats opens doors and it would be easy for my other cat to accidently shut the door on him), and to make sure that the cats are healthy and eating. Washing out food dishes and changing water is essential. After all do we want to eat from dirty dishes or drink from filthy glasses? I am totally against leave cats alone. I think it is totally irresponsible and a very poor motivation to save money. Grrrrr.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your excellent post.
Jo
Kattaddora we love you! It's not just on Yahoo that the questions that have you rolling your eyes to the sky show up, we see similar on Ask Metafilter too. The language these people use to describe their cats is language I'd be unsure about using to describe enemies, let alone adored feline companions.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work!
Whicky Wuudler & his ape.
I;m loving the names on here! You are all correct though, I have never heard such nonsense as leaving cats for 1 day let alone 3 or more. We don't eat from dirty dishes or drink stale water or use an unflushed toilet do we? Someone said today that they have "seen the future" and it scares the hell out of them, well when we see some of the complete rubbish tossed out in Yahoo and other sites, I must admit, the future does not look a good place to be going. Stoggy
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