I just got back from a two-week trip. I know a lot of people here are looking into boarding/catteries for vacations, but I went the other route and hired a pet sitter to come in for an hour each day while I was gone. I wanted the cats to be able to stay together and in their familiar surroundings, but I didn't really want to impose on friends and neighbors especially since my oldest has a tendency to develop health issues, so I hired a trained professional that was recommended to me. You pay per home visit, not per cat, so with four cats it was definitely the less costly option. I have to say I'm very pleased how things turned out, so I would certainly recommend checking into this option if you have to leave for a trip.

I did my best to Bengal-proof the house before I left and warned the sitter that at least two of the cats would probably demand quite a bit of her attention while the other two are a bit shy. In the end she said she really had fun with them and even spent some extra time watching Animal Planet and playing with them. She said on other assignments the cats she was taking care of were hiding from her all the time so all she could do was clean their litter boxes and leave food out for them, but mine actually came out to interact. (I would've been really surprised if they had passed up a chance at playtime... ) Anyway, everyone seems to have gotten along just fine and even the shy ones came out to play eventually.

The cats seemed happy to see me back, though my former feral was not quite sure at first whether he knew me or not and kept his distance. The others on the other hand kept following me around as if afraid I could leave again if they took their eyes off me. After a couple of hours though everyone acted as if I had never left and this morning I found all four of them happily sleeping on top of me again.

Glad to hear it worked out nicely! Every time we take a trip I have a friend come over and take care of Sammie. I figure it is better to leave her at home with her stuff than make it harder on her and put her in boarding. Sammie hates my friend with a passion, but I think she hates other cats and the vet (who would be doing the boarding) even more, so it works out My friend cleans the fountain, puts out more food, takes care of the litter, avoids being eaten by Sammie, and checks the mail and we throw her a decent amount of money for her troubles.

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Sammie & Ari


http://www.spoiledbengal.com

We usually get a pet sitter to come to the house and deal with the cats if we're away for extended periods. They feed them, change the litter, play with them, bring in the mail and take out the rubbish. The cats are always much happier than if they go to a cattery.

For weekenders and such we usually get our neighbours to drop in and make sure they're all good. It's a reciprocal arrangement as they also have a cat We're very lucky!