Instead of the cattery could you leave him with someone within your family who you know would be there for him therefore making you feel better as he is with someone who cares for him?

you don't know someone you can trust to house sit for you do you? A student perhaps( who does not go partying all the time )

I'm a student who doesn't party all the time... but i'm scared of cats!

If you don't have anyone who could or would look after him for the duration of the holiday, is there someone who would be willing to visit the cattery whilst he stays there? Just to check he is okay? And I'm sure being at the cattery he will be very well looked after.

As you say, you will lose a lot of money if you don't go in any eventuality so why not leave it until closer to your leaving date and see how he seems at the time?

I am so sorry about your cat. I love my cat to bits and would be exactly the same as you in the same situation. Do you leave your cat at the same cattery everytime you go away? If you do maybe you could explain the situation to them and ask them to give him/her extra love and attention while you are away I am sure they will be understanding, you could also leave your vets details with them and explain any wishes to the vet before you go so in an emergancy everyone will know your wishes.

Sally

Thanks for all your advice unfortunately there is nobody I can leave him with in my family I only have one uncle and he is in his nineties so I couldnt ask him.

Having someone pop in maybe a possibilty.

I always use the same cattery and they are lovely people family run and I have already explained the situation and they were more than willing to take him and administer his medication and keep and extra eye on him. But even knowing that I still dont know if I could leave him.

We have thought about house sitters but would be worried he might get out of the house as he is now not allowed out.

I guess the main worry is if anything happens to him and we are not there. I guess I will just leave it a few more weeks and see how he is and try to make a decsion.

Many thanks for your kind words and advice

Don't know if they have a similar thing at your vets, but two of the veterinary nurses at our practice started a pet visiting service. We are looking at using them when we go away as our cat is 19 years old and gets stressed very easily.

They provide upto date police checks on themselves and are fully insured (not looked into the insurance side of it yet), they basically come round for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. Change cat litter, feed, water and make a general fuss of the pet. (Of course there is no way to prove they are there for the full hour).

We have spoken to a few people who have used it and they have all been very pleased with the service. It means our cat can stay at home, were she feels safe and relaxed, but she will get a bit of company and watered and fed. Given the salaries of most veterinary nurses, I cant imagine they do the job of a veterinary nurse for the money :D, so they must love animals.

They charge £10 per day for the service, which I think is very reasonable, we are only going away for 5 days this year, but we would spend nearly treble that on vets fees if we put Jess in a cattery.

I would suggest trying your vets. I know alot of staff in practices do the work because they love animals, if they can't help you themselves they may know someone who can.

Don't know if this will help but worth a try.

Do you have pet insurance? We do for our nearly 16 year old cat and in the T&C's should you need to cancel a holiday or return home early you can make a claim.

I also love my cat dearly and fortunately she is in perfect health but I know too that because the cattery she goes to is so good she would be very well cared for should she not be in such good health.

I would consider pet sitters - they are extremely well qualified and I am sure they would make sure you cat did not get out.

Pippa

my 16 year old cat had liver cancer about 18 mths ago and i had the same problem re a holiday booked but i was getting married on holiday so i had no choice but to go ahead with the holiday as all guests were booked to come to turkey with us. in the end we got 1 of my husbands friends to come and house/cat sit for us. it worked out ok but the cat was ill whilst we were away but im sure she was happier in her own home , sadly 3 weeks after we returned and the day before our uk wedding celebrations we had to have her put down as she got so bad, so im sure if your cat isnt so ill as mine was it will be fine. if you could get someone to house/cat sit that would be the kindest and least distressing thing for the cat although mine wasnt used to a cattery if yours is then that might be ok too. good luck with what ever you decide to do and im sure you will make the right decision all round

I'm sorry to hear this, we have a cat and love her lots.....and were devastated when our previous one got run over, so I know what it's like to lose a pet.

However I think this is mainly a problem to you and not the cat. The cat will not be aware of its own mortality, and won't blame you for being away.

It sounds as if the cat is familiar with the cattery. When cats are ill they often seek solitude and don't want to be petted anyway.

The worst thing that could happen is that the cat could die while you are are away.........but you really shouldn't feel guilty if this happens...just sad

Hope you work something out.

Dougie/Jan I think it probably would be less distressing for him to stay at home but if sitters only come in a couple of times a day that would mean he was on his own for the rest of the time whereas if he was in the cattery they have said they would make regular checks, just in case

Pippa unfortunately we do not have pet insurance as when we were first looking at insurance it seemed that it stopped when a cat reaches 7 so we thought there was no point as most cats get ill when they are older. Pippa I didnt realise you could insure your cat when they were 16? Who do you use if you dont mind me asking, as we have another cat who is also uninsured.

Ellie Meg I am sorry to hear about your loss it must of been traumatic for you, my cat has been diagnosed with an enlarged heart which caused him to have a blood clot in his hind legs he was in so much pain when it happend, we rushed him to the vets which is when they discovered the problem with his heart otherwise we probably would not of know about it as he was so healthy but the vets have told us that he could have another blood clot at any time which is the reason why I am so reluctant to leave him.

Acorncup you are probably right it is me feeling guilty about what could happen and my cat probably doesnt realise now that he is back home that there is anything wrong.

He is due to have an ultrasound this Monday to see how bad it actually is and make sure the original diagnosis is right I am praying they have got it wrong but I doubt it just have to see what happens.

You are all very kind

Kind Regards Dawn

Is he on blood thinning tablets?

Dawn,

We use Argos pet insurance - we originally had it with another company which seemed to always increase the premium by a lot each year. 2 years ago I looked around thinking that I would never be able to take out a new policy for such an elderly cat - found Argos which seem to have no upper age limit. The policy was renewed in February and the amount for the following year is £9.66 per month - only a few pence more than last year. She is only a 'moggie' which means that the premium is less than if she was a particular breed!

http://www.bdmlconnect.co.uk/HBArgosPet/schemes/pb/Argos.asp

Pippa

Chivas69 Yes he is on asprin one tablet every three days.

Thanks for the link Pippa I will have a look it sounds quite reasonable only wish I had know about it for my poorly cat its costing a fortune but he is worth it.

Hi Dawnlee,
So sorry to hear of your news, we have 2 cats and when I had to have our previous cats put to sleep we were all deveastated -even hubby cried.
I think everyone has said what I was going to say but check with your vet and see if they can pop into the cattery on a regular basis and as you have said the cattery people will look after him. Let him have his little holiday and when you get back you can spend the remaining time together. I am sure you will have given him the best that a cat can have in his life.
Irene

Sorry to hear this.
Do you have a cat's protection league nearbye. Contact them to see if they run a scheme which my sister in law is part of. They get in touch with her if they have an overflow at the cattery, or if a cat need convalessing before being rehomed or if someone wants their cat looked after whilst away and can't afford the extortionate prices cattery's charge.

Good luck.

I would feel exactly the same if that was Rustie (my dog) but i'm sure the cattery people would keep extra special care of him.

I would also contact the vets for some advice, like other people have said above.

By the Mexico is my favourite place in the world!!

I am definitely going to have a word with the vet about this when my cat has his heart scan on Monday, I think when we know exactly how bad or good he is and with the vets advice we need to sit down and make a decision.

Irene I am sorry for your loss and thank you for your kind words.

Cazzmickntom I think if we do leave him the cattery will be the best place he is used to it there and they are nice people and have said they will keep and extra special eye on him and give him all his meds.

Stacylc Mexico does look amazing which is also what is making this decision so hard this was a once in a life time holiday for us that we had been saving for for ages, and with the amount of money we will lose if we cancel it will be a long time before we could think about going in the future. Sounds like you have been lots which part did you go to?