If you didn’t already know, we recently got a new little one who took some time to get used to our home. Luckily, I work from home, so it’s fairly easy to keep an eye out for her, but it’s a great question to ask yourself is… How long can cats be left alone?
Not all of us are lucky enough to work from home and trust me the hubby and I like some time away from the adorable furballs to go out for dinner or theatre, but there’s always that little worry that our cats aren’t okay when we’re not there, especially when Beau was at his peak of separation anxiety & pica.
So… is there a set amount of time that you’re able to leave your cats alone without having to worry about them?
Short Answer
Like most things, it highly depends on the cat, but your adult cat should be fine to be left alone for 24-48 hours as long as they have a proper amount of food, water and litter. However, if you have a kitten younger than 4 months you should not leave them alone for more than 4 hours. At 6 months they can handle an 8-hour leave.
Litter Boxes
Make sure your house is filled with litter boxes, the recommended being an extra litter box per cat that you have. For example, we have two cats and have 3 litter boxes out. When Beau was alone with us we had 2 litter boxes. This makes sure that if you don’t get to the litter box fast enough there should still be an extra one that is empty (or empty enough) for your kitty to comfortably go. When we lived in our old apartment (which was much bigger), we actually had 4 litter boxes out for Beau alone. While yes, it made guessing which litter box was dirty a lot tougher, Beau was happy that he had a box to go in while we were in any room (he likes pooping in the room we’re in… what an oddling!)
Toys & Stimulation
It’s really important to make sure your cat/cats aren’t left bored at home alone. This can also lead to some other forms of destruction. This is where Beau lies on the spectrum. Because he’s a little basket case, we can’t leave him alone at home for too long without there being plenty of toys, and we always have music playing in the background so he doesn’t feel so alone. This can still be true of multi-cat households since one cat may not want to play, while the other is darting around the house. In the case of Beau and Kalista, Beau often wants to play with her, but she’s a lone ranger who wants to play on her own… so sometimes it ends with a hissing battle or a chase around the apartment.
Passive Toys We Love
- SPOT Springs
- Corks from Wine Bottles (make sure to wash them)
- Sponge Balls
- Tower Tracks
- Crinkle Balls
- SPOT Big Mouse Bertha
- Corknip Compressed Catnip Teeter Egg
- KONG Wrangler Scratch Mouse
Slow Feeders
You may also want to invest in some slow feeders for your cats to keep them occupied. We used to leave Beau with food in his feeders when we’d leave the house so he would be distracted long enough for us to slip out. You can check out some of our favourites here, however, our current top 3 are:
Cat Trees & Places to Climb
It’s no surprise that when you’re gone your cat is going to want a place to sit or climb. Although they can be pricy, cat trees or cat shelves are a great way to keep your cat comfortable while you’re away. Some of the ones that have been catching my eye are:
- Furhaven Tiger Tough Cat
- SONGMICS 67″ Cat Tree Condo with Scratching Post Pad Cat Tower Furniture House
- Armarkat Cat tree Furniture Condo
- Armarkat B7801 Cat Tree
- Cat Hammock & Climbing Activity Center
- SmartCat Cat Climber (Attaches to a door!)
Travelling
If you’re away I definitely recommend getting an in-home cat sitter. Although independent, cats are still social and like interaction. While boarding may be the “easier option” cats don’t necessarily get all the attention they need or the room that they need. Remember, your little one will be left alone overnight and both of our little ones love curling up with us at night. Luckily, we have an amazing friend who comes over whenever we’re in need of a pet sitter, but asking a neighbour or a family member may also be an option for you!
Concerns about leaving your cat alone
Remember, while your cat can fend for themselves for a while, you may want to take some extra precautions.
Water Bowls Spilling
You will want to leave out lots of water bowls, just in case, your cat spills their regular water bowl all over the floor. You may want to think about investing in a fountain to make sure that the water is always filtered and that there is less of a chance that your kitty will knock it over. We’ve also noticed that our kitties actually do drink more when fountains are around, so if your kitty is prone to UTIs, this is a great investment for you.
Overheating
If you’re leaving your cat alone for more than 8-hours you really have to think about heat and cold. Make sure you leave a window open if your apartment gets hot during the day, or if you have AC think about turning that up.
Over Eating
If your cat is anything like Beau, you’ll know that he eats himself until he throws up. Beau is on a very strict diet because of this and gets fed 4-times a day to keep his Pica under control. If your cat is an overeater, think about investing in an automatic feeder.
Accidents
This one I hope I don’t need to bring up because it should be an obvious one. Accidents happen. We have two very accident prone cats in our home. Kalista being a 6-month old kitten who runs around knocking everything over, and Beau being a cat who gets sick frequently. For example, Beau started peeing blood last week and if we weren’t home, we wouldn’t have been able to rush him to the vet to get the medication he needs. I personally, would never leave my cats unattended for more than 8-hours, knowing the trouble cases they can be, however again, this highly depends on your cats’ personalities and health tracks.
We used to travel quite a bit when the kids were small…to see the grandparents. So our furry ones would be home alone for a few days at a time…lots of food and water and litter. There was always plenty of food left and water, too…and no troubles regarding the litter. Once when I went away alone with the boys, hubby was there with the kitties, (no dog back then), and he phoned me to tell me that one of them had passed away in his sleep…out of the blue. (We think he had a heart attack or a heartworm, we did not know he had those, ) that was over twenty years ago,…imagine what it would have been like if we all had gone away…OMC:(
I’m so, so, so sorry to hear that. That is a really difficult thing to have happen. That’s actually one of my biggest fears about being gone for so long. I don’t think I would be able to handle it if one of my cats passed when I was gone. I’d want to be there for them.
Just be sure you have a reliable person checking on the cats if you are going away. We went away for a week and paid someone from church to come over and check the food And water and clean the litter boxes. Fortunately I cleaned the toilets and left the lids up as well as the bag of cat food on the floor by their food dishes. The person never came over. Fortunately the next door neighbor noticed no one had come. I’d given her a key for emergencies. She came over every day after not seeing anyone naround and made sure they had water. They had been drinking from the toilets. They clawed the cat food bag open and were able to eat. The liter boxes had smelled up the house and the smartass kitties had used the tub. Of course, I went and asked for the money back and why she hadn’t come over and she claims she didn’t have the money for gas, despite the money I’d specifically given her for gas.
Patches ignored me for a week, except to get under the covers to sleep behind my knees.
That is so ridiculous! I would have flipped out if I had paid a person and they had never showed up. What a nuisance! I’m glad you had a good neighbour!
The mom would never leave us alone for more than 24 hours. Even that would be pushing it, she says.
Haha that’s 100% fair. Yeah. I make sure if we’re gone for 24h that there is a pet sitter. Especially because our kitties aren’t open fed and get food 4 times a day!
This was an excellent post with lots of good info. We usually don’t leave our crew alone more than overnight; though, we do have auto feeders and fountains. Another suggestion if you are going to be away is a PetCube, You can see what your cats are doing as well as talk to them. And the new ones even dispense. treats. XOCK, angel Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy and Sawyer
I’ve heard a bit about the petcube! I’ve actually never read any reviews yet, but I’d be interested to see what pet owners think of it!
OOPS!! Thought I saw a Google+ Share button guess I was wrong. I guess it’s the thought that counts.
I think I used to have a Google plus button to share, but it was rarely used so I swapped it out! Thank you for the thought! I can also readd it if you’d like 🙂
My family and don’t travel much. When we go on vacation this what we do when we leave Daisy Mae alone. We make sure she has enough food for 3 to 4 days in cool whip tubs, We leave enough water for our cat in cool whip tubs, We have 2 litter boxes she can use. Daisy Mae is 11 1/2 now so we are able to leave her for 3 or 4 day no longer. We go home to check on her and etc… and then go back. Daisy Mae doesn’t play much so but has one toy and it’s a catnip fish I won. She sleeps on her catnip mat she and I won. Good post. Shared On Google +.
I’m glad you know how well she does and how long you can be out without things going crazy! Is she one of those kitties who gets super excited when you get back home?
my work schedule is never the same and while tuna is older and not into much as far as mischief goes
I still get antsy if he’s home alone more than say 10 – 12 hours. he’s a cord chewer but that situation was resolved loooooooong ago, my main concern now is more on the “medical” side. he’s ok health wise but still ~~~~~ 🙂 ♥♥
Yeah I feel you. That’s my biggest worry with Beau especially. You never know where his health may go, even though we take great care of him.
The Hubby is home, being retired, but he does go off grocery shopping for a few hours at a time. This weekend, he and I traveled about for about three hours. When we have a family gathering, we are gone for six hours, but I start getting antsy to be home to see the furkids. We have three litter boxes for Angel upstairs, and three boxes for Da Boyz downstairs, which I scoop every morning. Yes, we can leave them for longer, but we just don’t wanna! 😉
I 100% feel you! Especially because Beau is such a needy kitty. I haattteee leaving him for more than a few hours.. sometimes I’m nervous to leave him with the Hubby because I’m such a mama bear.