Being Prepared. What Does it Mean to You and Your Cat(s)?
Mia, you come home right now young lady...
There’s no denying it, the weather has been quite temperamental lately. Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, fires, and tornados have all made an appearance somewhere across the states in the past few months. The other night I was watching TV and the local news station interrupted broadcasting to let me know there was a tornado warning in effect from 9:15 pm until 10:45 pm. They interrupted again to let me know the warning was extended to 6:00 am… talk about going to bed with a strong sense of foreboding and dread.
Luckily I woke up to find the house was safe and secure, but it got me to thinking about preparing for these events. Some of them we are given warning and we can plan, others, like an earthquake, often come out of nowhere… This got me thinking about my cats, and I realized that on the very rare occasion when Dan and I travel for an overnight event together and we require a cat-sitter, we (I) prepare for the occasion as if a natural disaster is about to occur.
I don’t know how it is in your house, but in mine, I am a raving lunatic before I leave. I don’t’ like to travel as it is – I really feel off balance without my kitties and I worry in epic proportions about them. Never mind that they typically nap 16 hours a day – in my mind, when I am gone, they are awake the entire time and seconds away from harm’s way (apparently they all become characters in a Indiana Jones movie). Normally it is my Mom who comes by to cat sit – obviously I trust her implicitly, but that does not stop me from preparing a list of rules and do’s and don’ts that is voluminous in nature. I also “cat proof” the house to such a point of obsessiveness, that possibly (probably) I need counseling…
My routine goes something like this – I will unplug anything that can get knocked over – fans, lamps, appliances, etc. For lamps that are plugged in to an outlet that is hidden by furniture, I will remove the light bulbs. I will put heavy boxes in front of doors that I worry about getting shut (Zoey has a habit of shutting herself in a room) where litter boxes are kept and I will lock doors with a hook lock to keep them closed if I don’t want cats in them (Jazz can open doors if they don’t have a lock).
All plastic bags are stowed away somewhere that kitties can’t get to and I leave phone numbers for the vet in case there is an incident. The list for my Mom is ridiculous (she has had cats her whole life… I’m pretty sure she doesn’t need details on how to scoop litter, but I tell her anyhow). And even though my mother is very much aware of this rule (actually everyone that visits is – we have drilled this into people to the point of paranoia), I will tell her it again and again – no matter what kitty tells you, they ARE NOT allowed outside, even when they stand by the door and stare at you with all the confidence and conviction in the world that they are.
Yes, of course we are allowed outside. Why do you ask?
This next rule is my fault – I encourage the bad behavior, but my cats tend to have unique feeding habits that I cater to. Trying to relay all of these feeding instructions to someone is ludicrous, as I imagine when we are gone, it is just one massive feeding frenzy. I try my best to have my Mom stay overnight so the cats have company. If she can’t, I have her stop by twice a day to make sure they have human companionship, clean litter, and food.
Feeding Time... Organized Chaos...
I could go on and on, but I will be courteous and stop…. What are some of the habits and rules you have when you leave your kitties alone? I would love to hear that I am not the only nutcase out there!!
The Woman is laughing. Yes she blocks doors open as Ichiro always tries to go out. When she first traveled she left detailed instructions with the vet (before cell phones) and even had a list of what to do if she died while travelling–the vet laughed at her.
Oh my goodness Chey! That last one even tops our human’s obsessiveness!!
We have so much in common! I hate to travel, even though I have a cat sitter I trust who comes twice a day (and sometimes three times a day). I always laugh at myself when I look at my instructions to the cat sitter for two perfectly healthy young cats – and of course, these instructions are left AFTER I have talked to her on the phone for a long time! My cat sitter leaves me updates on my phone after each visit (did I mention I have to healthy, young cats?) I don’t think any of this is unusual – in fact, I’d venture to say that we’re perfectly normal cat parents.
Ingrid – I think you are right, in our world, we are perfectly normal cat parents…. to those outside of the circle, I’m not so sure!! Oh yes, did I mention all of my cats are healthy too…
Well at the moment I don’t go away. It is just too hard to find someone to take care of all these feral cats. The last time I went away, one of the cats disappeared the whole time I was gone and was very hungry when I got home. And when I do go, I write an entire book of instructions especially when I had horses too. What a bunch of worry warts we all are, for sure. Take care.
Oh my goodness Marg! Horses, oh boy, I can’t imagine the list of instuctions I would write on that one!! Yes, I do imagine that having feral cats would make it all but impossible to leave them. That is a lot of responsibilty to ask of someone. You truly are an angel Marg for all that you do…
Well, if you’re an obsessive nutter, then I’m an anal retentive control freak. – ok I know that is tautological! I haven’t left Austin in the 4 years he’s been here! It might have something to do with the fact I’ve not really been well enough to travel far, but could be more to do with that I couldn’t envisage returning to a cat who’s needing trauma counselling.. …. even though he would be fine either left with my mother …….. or senior nephew who would stay and probably wreck the house with his 3 day parties and dye Austin’s fur pink and give him a mohican!!!!
Going to lie down now 😉
BTW great post 🙂
The visuals you have painted Carolyn are a riot!! Nephews require an entirely different list of rules, then to mix in cat care…. oh boy, that does sound like trouble!! Glad you enjoyed the post – relax and take it easy, okay?
We aren’t left alone for very long at all and our humans hardly ever go away, we’re darn lucky that way. But we do have emergency plans for tornados and hurricanes and things like that. Y’all have a happy weekend!
You guys are lucky Brian! Our human’s don’t travel much either, but when they do, boy oh boy!
That’s good advice. I believe in keep detailed cat care instruction and emergency # lists even for someone familiar with the cats.
I just couldn’t leave in peace if I didn’t do all that Layla – it’s hard enough to leave them as it is….
I have found it’s a lot easier if I never leave, so I don’t 🙂
I agree Vicky, it’s a lot easier just not to leave, but sometimes you just don’t have a choice!
Our instructions for pet sitting are about 2 pages long. We have our pet sitter come over and get the scoop. We show her how we feed the cats (it always changes because of our cat food switch) and where we feed them. I show her where the litterbox is. We also leave a list of emergency numbers and our vets, neighbors who have keys. I feel okay leaving our cats, because we’ve had the same pet sitter for a long time.
I don’t have a job because I pet sit so much. In addition to doing in the neighborhood pet sitting, I also will do out of the neighborhood pet sitting.
One job I do in the neighborhood, they have a dog that has to be taken out about 5-6 times a day, and they had just adopted two adorable siamese kittens (from the rescue I volunteer at). They were VERY worried about leaving their pets behind. They gave me about 9 pages of instructions, and they had me come over on 3 different times to get all of the instructions!
Rachel – I would say that our instructions are also at least two pages long, and that is for my mother who knows my cats very well!! I just can’t help myself from writing them down! She is kind enough to text me updates while I am gone so that I don’t worry so much! I like it that you pet sit – that must be a lot of fun, but it is a lot of responsibility! It seems to be very normal to worry about our beloved pets!
Truer words were never written!!! As the referenced “mom” I can only tell you that I get down on my knees and thank God each time I accomplish the cat sitting chore and nothing bad has happened. (at least nothing so far that I can’t camoflage with the help of the cats… and that’s another story altogether!)
I distinctly remember a time when there were numerous dogs & cats to take care of. I was relaxing in Deb’s pool when their Golden Retriever decided to join me. Side by side we slid through the water until I got an uncontrolable fit of the giggles! I realized my life had been reduced to skinny dipping with a dog, all for the love of a daughter.
If you think for one minute Deb’s paranoia resides only on her pets, let me set the record straight. I believe the two weeks Deb was gone to California to play a part in a soap opera (The Young & the Restless was it?) I quite proudly agreed to take care of my Grandsons. If you could have seen the pages of instructions I got then, you would have to agree that The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey was NOT Deb’s first book!
Your current catsitters, Deenie, Phyllis & myself wish you would plan another trip real soon.
Much love and success to a wonderful daughter… xoxo mom
Hmmm…… thanks Mom. As if my need for phsycoatrict help wasn’t evident enough, this should really seal the deal!! 🙂 Now matter how old I get, some things just don’t change! I always appreciate your help with my beloved babies and can’t think of anyone else I could possibly trust more (and that includes Deenie and Phyllis) xoxo
Last night a friend posted that her upstairs neighbor started a kitchen fire and she had had to get the cats into carriers and get out of the building. It got me thinking about my plans and if they need updating. And here you are talking about it too. Somebody must be trying to tell me something.
That is a great point Rumpy – as prepared as I am, I need to make sure I have covered all bases. Thanks for sharing this.
I can completely relate!
When I used to leave Bobo I left pages upon pages of instructions, everything from as you said “unique feeding habits” to phrases that must be uttered for said feedings.
The funny thing? I doubt anyone reads our manuscripts!
So true Caren – my Mom admits they always fall to the wayside!!!!