Cats are one of the most popular pets in the world, ranking right up there with dogs in numbers. Unlike dogs though, cats seem to get the short end of the stick as far as care goes. Many cats don’t get regular vet care like dogs do and many cat owners feel like cats do not need a cat sitter to come check on them while they are away. They just leave enough food and water out for the time they will be gone and they go. They assume cats do not care one way or the other. They assume the cat can take care of itself. They assume problems with cats are few and far between. Let me tell you, none of those things are true! So what are some reasons cats need cat sitters? I’m glad you asked!!!
1) Cats DO care about human companionship.
Even cats who don’t like strangers care much more than you think about human companionship. They often like knowing that somebody is there once or twice a day. I have lost count of the number of owners that have told me I’ll never see their cat only to find out that isn’t the case at all. I often delight in sending them a photo of the elusive cat sitting in my lap demanding attention (Like the Photo of the siamese cat above actually!). Other cats meet me at the door when I come in because they know I’m the food lady or the toy lady. Believe me, as independent as cats are, they definitely care about companionship more than you realize.
2) Cats need fresh food and water every day
This one shouldn’t need an explanation really but it surprises me how many people don’t understand that cats do in fact need fresh food and water daily. Cat food that has been sitting out for days on end goes stale or even rancid and loses nutritional value and I would imagine it’s taste as well. (I’ve never eaten cat food so I’m making some assumptions here!). Leave a glass of water on your night stand for a few days and then taste it. Yuck! Some cats won’t drink unless they have clean water which could cause a lot of health problems. Drinking dirty water can also cause health issues so no matter how you look at it cats need fresh water every day. Another thing to consider is that cats can and do sometimes spill their water or food or might eat and drink faster than you thought they would leaving empty bowls long before you are due to return. If that happens they are then left without and you will return home and might not even realize how long your cat was thirsty or hungry. A cat who isn’t eating and drinking is a cat at severe risk for health issues. Nobody wants to come home to a sick pet!!
3) Cats that get ill tend to go downhill very quickly
Sometimes a cat will get sick. They may have an underlying medical issue you didn’t know about or they may develop a problem or get injured while you are away. If that happens they tend to go down quickly and if you don’t have somebody looking in on them you will likely come home to a very very big problem. The longer it takes to get an evaluation and any
needed treatment the bigger the problem becomes and harder it is to fix. A cat can ingest a toy that causes a blockage, develop a cold, eat a plant, or have a flare up of a medical problem. All these things would require quick action and if you don’t have somebody coming in to check the signs and symptoms will be missed. By the time you come home from vacation or your business trip it may be too late.
4) Cats can get themselves into unexpected types of trouble.
Now I’m going to tell you a story. A long long long time ago my family and I went on a long weekend get away. Our dogs were boarded and we decided to leave our cats home alone while we were gone. Cats are fine on their own right? (wrong!) I shut the door to our infant son’s room to keep the cats out of that area and off we went. We thought everything was fine. It wasn’t. When we returned home I saw one of our cats sitting in the window of my son’s nursery. Then it hit me, I had closed that door. She must have slipped in behind me unnoticed and had been locked in that bedroom for 4 days!!! I FREAKED out. A vet visit and some TLC assured that she was just fine but we got lucky. She could just have easily been really sick. She was understandably very very upset and meowed loudly for hours after we returned. I have never repeated that mistake again. I have come into homes to find cats stuck in garages, closets, and kitchen cabinets. I once found a cat who had tried to jump through the opening in a baby gate and gotten stuck. She was just hanging there as foot or so off the ground. Her owner said the cat must have tried to follow them out and not quite made it through the gate. Imagine if nobody was coming in that evening to check on the kitty!! Cats get themselves into some interesting places and not all of them are safe! For this reason alone it is a good idea to have a pet sitter coming in to check on your cat daily.
5) Let’s talk Litter Boxes!
Litter boxes are one of those things some people think they can put off cleaning, especially if they are out of town for a little while. Nope! Many cats will refuse to use dirty litter boxes, and who can blame them?? You may just come home to a cat who has turned your entire home into a litter box. Aside from the discomfort of the cat, a dirty litter box is a health risk as well. Lots of pet waste means lots of bacteria and ammonia both of which can cause problems for the cat AND for YOU. Your cat’s litter box should be scooped daily, several times a day if you have multiple cats. Nobody wants to come home to a house that smells like cat pee or get sick from inhaling all that nastiness.
So there are numerous reasons your cat would benefit from having a cat sitter while you are away and numerous reasons that you benefit and these are just a few of them. Like dogs, cats do notice when their humans are suddenly gone and can become distressed. They can have medical issues or get themselves into potentially dangerous situations. They need their basic food, water, and sanitation needs met. I could go on and on with stories of situations that have arisen during cat sits that make the owners say, “Gosh! Glad you were there!”. Pet Sitters love cats and lots of cats love their pet sitters!! Let your cat be one of the lucky ones!
