Personally I would book the cattery.

How would you feel if she got injured whilst you were away? Mine was out 1 hr and ended up with £800 vet bills.

Would any other cat be able to access the food? Whenever I put his food out you can guarantee that some other opportunist cat will try and nick it.

I don't think it's worth the risk.

Patka

The cat feeder stays in your home, so she just comes and goes as she pleases (same as if we where at home). Her cat flap is magnetic so no other cats can get in. Just wondered if anyone had used a auto feeder or could recommend one.

Thanks

Sally

Hope she doesn't lose her collar.......

I would have to agree with patka I think you should book the cattery

You say your cat was distressed before - was this just as you were leaving her there or did the cattery say she was more restless than usual??

Obviously as she is older, there is more chance of things going wrong and the problem with animals is that they can have problems but cope/hide it well until it is obvious that there is something not right and things like kidney and liver disease can come on quite quickly. At least at the cattery there would be someone checking her everyday and would notice if she was doing anything unusual and get her to the vets.

....Or see if there is a local pet company/person who would come into your home and feed her/check on her???

I would have to agree. I know cats are happiest in their own environment but without some checking on her you can't know what might happen, something that would be worse then her being a bit distressed at being in a cattery. At least you know she will be well looked after there. And as she's been there before she might be better this time - knowing that last time you came back.

Do you have a neighbour who might pop in daily for you if not? You never know until you ask.

We've got an automatic feeder which we use if we are staying at my parents overnight and most we have used it for is 2 nights. Only problem with the feeders is that becos' it's dry food you need a lot of water down and our puddy cat who doesn't normally drink a lot of water can go thru' a bowl of water in a day. Just something for you to consider as you'd need a bloody big bowl of water down for a week.

We've booked ours into a cattery and if I'm honest I'm not 100% happy with it - we were well and truly spoilt with our old cattery - a real labour of love for the owners as it was beautiful but have yet to find anything locally that comes anywhere near the old one.

The feeder we have is from SNUG (or something like that) and we bought it reduced in Netto for a fiver. It's got a large feed container and it's easy enough to set but have to say I'd be wary of relying on it and leaving my cat alone for a week.

How about a cat sitter that comes to the home?

If nothing else, I'd go with tisonlymoi, and make sure you've got a load (a few bowls) of water down if you're leaving your pet for a whole week - especially if you use a dry feed. My sister uses one of these with no problem for a couple of days with dry food, but finds the cat drinks a lot of water. If anything goes wrong with the feeder (or the cat) in a week, how would anyone know? It seems a long time to leave an animal unattended to me. Alternatively, I'd do some research and find a better cattery or pay someone to come in an check on the cat, as micky suggests.

i agree i wouldnt leave a cat a week alone , we left our old cat for a weeks holiday a few years ago, but had a friend move in for the week and when we returned it had been ill , was being sick all week etc, this came on very quickly and turned out to be liver cancer, but looking back now im so glad we did have someone staying at the house . im sure if you ask around you will find someone even if its not to stay overnight but to come in every day and check the cat. ive got the same problem now with my dog but i will do my best to find someone to dog sit rather than to put her in a kennels which will stress her out as shes extremely nervous as it is . good luck

I wouldn't leave a pet for that length of time either. Bad enough leaving the goldfish with a feeding block, I'm always frightened to look in the tank when I come back incase they have passed on. I know that cats are quite self sufficient and can if need be catch their own food but how would you feel if the automatic feeder went faulty and didn't dispense any food? Or you left loads of bowls of water and the cat drank/tipped/spoiled the water at the beginning of the week and by some miracle we didn't get any rain (I know this is very very unlikely) and the cat couldn't get drinking water? For your own peace of mind it would be better to have someone come round and feed the cat or find a different cattery. I know it's not easy thinking about putting the cat into a strange place but at least it will still be there when you get back (hopefully). This is coming from a woman who is going to have to put her daughter's guinea pigs into a small animal hotel for her hols and is absolutely bereft at the thought but it has to be done.

I know I've already responded to this but something for you to consider - about 9 years ago I answered an advert in our local shop for a someone to look after 6 cats - someone had let the owner down a few days before they were going away. I rang and went down to see them and I got the 'job' and went down on a morning and early evening to feed them. I wrote a little 'diary' to say what the cats had been up to which was hugely appreciated when they got home.

We were in a village at the time and altho' not everyone knew everyone else perhaps they felt safe with me. I guess at the end of the day I could have been anyone but I'm sure they took sensible precautions before giving me the key and allowing me access to their home. With a proper sitting service I'm sure you'd get someone who had been thoroughly vetted.

Only other thing I can think of is to contact your local vets and see if any of their nurses would be interested in pet-sitting? Worth a try!

Tis

A neighbour I had years ago left her dog at home alone for 2 weeks. ! I went in twice a day to let it out and feed it. Cats I can understand...but dogs

OMG Micky that's dreadful! Our dog goes to my parents but as Mum doesn't 'do' cats it's the cattery for ours.

Our neighbour is great and will always pop in and check on ours if we're away a day or two but I wouldn't have the cheek to ask her to do 2 weeks for me even tho' I'd far rather give her the £100 than the cattery.