who takes care of your cats while at WDW?

[mommiepoppins]

I am going away for 2 weeks . What do I do with my 2 cats? . If you have somone feed them and clean the cat box how much do you pay them. I do not think I could find somone to be consistant :confused3 . I do not know what to do! :cheer2:

[Shagley]

We have a couple of those large feeders that we fill with cat food, and another large one for water. That way we don't have to have someone come in every day. My Dad usually stops by every couple of days to make sure their food hasn't run out, to clean their litter box, and to make sure they are doing okay. Luckily for me, my Dad helps out for free, so I am not sure what to tell you about how much to pay. I would recommend getting some of the feeders, so you won't have to have someone come in EVERY day.

Also, maybe check in your phone book for a pet sitting service that will come to your home. They will probably be more reliable than just a neighbor kid.

[spiceycat]

first try a pet sitter - they will tell you what they charge some will come out more than once a day (extra charges) to other who will come out every other day (less charge)

friends - they do it for free - but I always find something nice at WDW to bring them....

Family - again free - but again I find them a nice gift or take them out to dinner when I return

neighbors - I had such wonderful neighbors at one time. the lady loves my cats. here husband didn't - but he became a believer.... She wouldn't take any money - and boy she cleaned up the place as well. (I am a horrible housekeeper). So I gave her a couple of things when I returned...

now I almost hired some other neighbors - but my friend decided she would rather do it.

some times I just leave them - but not for 2 weeks. I get those big auto feeders - for food & water. and an automatic litter box.

I have a problem child - he NEEDS human attention - he is not happy unless a person comes to visit him at least every other day....he can do 5 days - but 6 days and he has BIG problems. he starts to tear up the place.

[mommiepoppins]

first try a pet sitter - they will tell you what they charge some will come out more than once a day (extra charges) to other who will come out every other day (less charge)

friends - they do it for free - but I always find something nice at WDW to bring them....

Family - again free - but again I find them a nice gift or take them out to dinner when I return

neighbors - I had such wonderful neighbors at one time. the lady loves my cats. here husband didn't - but he became a believer.... She wouldn't take any money - and boy she cleaned up the place as well. (I am a horrible housekeeper). So I gave her a couple of things when I returned...

now I almost hired some other neighbors - but my friend decided she would rather do it.

some times I just leave them - but not for 2 weeks. I get those big auto feeders - for food & water. and an automatic litter box.

I have a problem child - he NEEDS human attention - he is not happy unless a person comes to visit him at least every other day....he can do 5 days - but 6 days and he has BIG problems. he starts to tear up the place.
what is an auutomated litter box? :teacher:

[Lesley]

I'm lucky enough to have a friend in the neighborhood who feeds the cats....they are primarily outdoor cats (long story, they came with the house and I'm allergic....) so litter isn't an issue. We can leave them for up to 3 days without getting help, but we can't really leave any more food outside than that or the raccoons and opossums just come and eat it, dump it and waste it.

If we did have indoor cats I think I'd definitely want an automatic litter box. I think the brand name is Litter Maid?

[jbdreamer]

I just catsat for a friend this last week. I went every couple days to check on them. Cats are pretty independant. She'll be catsitting for us when we go to WDW.

[jspahn]

I have 3 cats - all very used to human interaction, so I have someone come over everyday to clean the litter boxes, play with them, and put down some wet food (there is always dry food down).

I pay $23 a day, and she spend a minimum of a half hour there. I found this woman by calling my kitties vet and asking if they had any pet sitters they recommended. I LOVE this woman, and so do my cats. She is so reliable, calls to give me reports if I want her to, leaves me notes for when I get home about the cats behavior and eating habits (one of mine hardly eats when I'm gone).

It's so worth it for the peace of mind.

[Disney753]

we use the guy next door sister...she is 28 and still lives at home. She moves in the day we leave and moves out the morning of our return. We pay her about 100.00 a week and let her use what ever food she wants. If we are gone more than two weeks we give her 100.00 a week and a hundred for food.
We set up some basic rules and she also cleans her mess and takes care of the plants. :wave:

[Nancyg56]

My niece took care of them. I had never left them before, someone was always home, so I was worried. I did ask the neighbor as a backup in case of a storm, so they got plenty of attention. I gave my niece $100 for teh week, and my neighbor is free.

[keishashadow]

We used to switch off "pet sitting" with friends but, they moved out of the area.

My mom & older kids (who have "outgrown WDW") switch off. Dear Mom won't accept payment, DS are a whole 'nuther matter - even though they don't want to visit the world, I wind up paying. LOL.

[jillyjoey]

No cats - but I now have 3 dogs. I now kennel them because it seems that people that would come over to let them out would not really do what they said they would be doing. I know dogs are different than cats but I also feel better knowing I don't have to give out my house key, alarm code, etc. to someone else and have someone go through my house. Creeps me out. Now, this would be different if I had a family member that lived nearby -- in that case most definitely. I found a kennel that will let my 3 dogs share a room and he is giving me 2 discounts because of (1) multiple pets and (2) stay over 8 days. You may want to check into kennels -- last year I was going to pay my friend's son to come let the dogs out -- well it ended up costing me the same to kennel them with my vet and I knew they were getting good care. Peace of mind -- priceless.

[spiceycat]

what is an auutomated litter box? :teacher:


here you go - I got one from Walmart.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3635188

they are nice and kepts the smell down.

but I also have 3 other regular litter boxes - 2 of which are only used as a last resort....by the cats...

[maelstrom]

Chloe goes to "camp" at her vet while we are gone. They're so good with the animals (they call them kids). We are able to call and get updates on her. It's really for the best. She's a very curious kitty and we don't want her to get hurt at home when no one will be there.

[spiceycat]

on one of my first flying trips to WDW - I took Spicey to the Vet....

well I was gone 5 days and he didn't eat the entire time.

I brought them his cans and told them he refused to eat dry food.... well they (without my permission) decided to force him to eat dry food.

Spicey isn't called Spicey for nothing - he would rather starve than eat dry food....

anyway after agreeding with me that he won't eat dry food (which should have warned me ) - he meoxed the entire time going home and he ate liked he had been starved (which he was)....

I then weighted him (after he ate) - he lost around 3lbs - he weight 9 lbs when I left him....

so no more vet stays for him or his brother....

I don't like any Kennel vet or not - that thinks they know your animal better than you do....

you know they never gave me the cans that I left with them... :rolleyes1

[slbeaute]

We have left ours for a week before with the big feeders for water and food. I get a little nervous, so I set out a couple of large bowls of food plus more large bowls of water, left the sinks with some water just in case, and the toilet lids up just in case! They still had plenty of food and water when we got back... which just proved to DH that I was being a little too crazy! :crazy: Ours are inside cats and would not do well being boarded or with a stranger coming over. They really are safer and better off on their own with plenty of food and water. We changed the litter the morning we left and got an extra box for while we were gone.

[TerBear4]

We have a young college girl, who is home for the summer, but still lives with her parents actually come and "House Sit". This way she is able to take care of the two cats and the two dogs. We pay her $25 a day, but she is doing more than just watching the cats, so you could get by with less. This girl lives at our house while we are gone, but she is gone during the day working.

It gives us peace of mind to know someone is sleeping in our house AND watching our pets :goodvibes

*An alternative might also be having a younger child, neighbor, come and check on the cats every couple of days for alot less money. At the age of 10 my son went to our neighbors house a few times a day to play with their cats, feed them and change the litter. I think they paid him $5 a day and he was thrilled!!!

[punch57]

:ccat: Our cat (Smokey) was given to us by Sister so when we go on vacation he goes on vacation, too her house !!! :cat:

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

Hi! I would recommend looking in your phone book for a pet sitting service. We have three cats, so I know asking a neighbor to do the litter box thing isn't really fair, especially for a long time (unless it's a very friendly neighbor). I first looked into a true pet sitter for our last trip to Disney. Since then, I have started working for the company we use :) .

Anyway, my company charges around $18 per visit. You could get away with having someone come every other day with cats. Going with a good company, you know the cats will also get some good attention.

[sami66]

We've left our cats (now cat) a few times to visit WDW. We've been very lucky to have a family member come to cat sit for the durarion of our trip. It broke our hearts to leave them, but we knew they would get the best care. Their generosity was greatly rewarded with many gifts from WDW, and money left for food/groceries. We missed our cats terribly. but always came back with yummy cat treats, Mickey tags/jewelry for them.
There are always reliable teens/students that would love the opportunity to earn extra spending money. I would look into hiring one for the next time we go on vacation. I wouldn't board my cat.....I just can't do it. I wouldn't enjoy my vacation knowing he was in a cage for 1 or 2 weeks.

[luvmesometigger]

Luckily I have a neighbor who will come in and check on them while we are gone. I have a self feeder filled with food and then I set up 2 extra litter boxes in addition to the 3 they already have. I also have water bowls on every floor and we usually leave the faucet on a real slow drip in the tub. We will also leave the AC running for them..but set at around 74 or so. Yes they are spoiled!! :rotfl2:

We will bring some WDW stuff back as a thank you for my neighbor.

[mikelan6]

I also use a service, which costs $18.00 per day (plus tip), but having the Littermaid automated litterbox is a big help and is well worth it, even when I am home.

I've often wondered about taking Kitty with us on a trip, but I've been told she would probably freak out.

[brettgirl]

I live in the sticks where we all kind of help each other out. I have my daughters 13 year old friend come over to make sure the cats are ok. I have 3-scoop cat litter litter boxes, feeder for water and food. I pay her around $5 (which is a lot for a kid and more than her mom wants me to give her) a day and bring home Mom some disney fun stuff.

[sl_underwood]

We asked our vet about pet sitters and she reccommended one and it worked out well. We paid her $20 a day and she came morning and evening. She and her dd stayed and played with the kitites for 30 min or so, fed them and cleaned their litter boxes. They also cleaned up any messes (our kitties like to climb and they knock stuff over) which I was grateful for. Nothing worse than coming home to a mess.
Lora

[samano]

Okay, help me out here....
I started reading this post thinking people would say they boarded their cats while they are away. I was surprised not to see that. We've had our kitty for a little over a year now, and our WDW trip this summer will be our first trip away for more than a long weekend (when we just left out lots of food and water). We'll be gone 6 days this time, and I just figured he would have to be boarded. I could ask one of my neighbors to come in and feed him, but I would feel bad about the litter box.
Please share what I'm missing.....is there a reason I shouldn't board him???

[mamagoose]

Hi! We have two cats and we are having friends (I had two different friends volunteer, so we'll use them both!) come in twice a day to feed them and give them attention. They are used to being fed twice a day, and one of our cats is a big pig :goodvibes and would eat all the other cats food if we just fed them once a day or left them a bunch. We have extra litter boxes, so our friends don't need to worry about that. Our 14 year old cat is now on an antibiotic for a bad bladder infection, so whoever comes will also have to give him his pill for 4 of the days--although the doc told me they will crush easily to mix with canned food. We also have a Drinkwell system for them that recycles and filters water so they will have plenty of water available. We usually bring a little something back from our trip for whoever took care of our cats (and fish!)

I would NEVER board my cats because I think it would really upset them. They are much more comfortable at home laying in their favorite spots. But that's just me.

We have left them once before for 8 days and they did fine with a neighbors attention. I have to say, I am a little more nervous this time about leaving them just because the one cat is sick. (We at first thought he had kidney failure, but those tests turned out Ok. Whew!)

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We will be gone for 9 nights, and this is the first time we don't have family to look after our cats.

We are hiring a pet sitter that other friends of ours use. She will come by once every other day to make sure the cats have food, water, and clean litter. She will also bring in our mail and water the plants. She charges $20 per visit.

To kennel them it was going to be $12 per night, per cat, and they would be at the kennel for 10 nights. $240 for boarding is a little steep, not to mention we would come home to dead plants and have to go get our mail from the post office. Since we don't have anyone to take us to the airport we will be going on the shuttle, so all of the extra expenses were adding up. Much better to pay under $100 for the sitter than kennel the kitties. Besides, our one kitty is 15 years old and would prefer to stay home. Our young kitty likes to run around like her tail is on fire so staying home will give her the space to do that! :)

[mommiepoppins]

well my friend called me to take care of her cats for the weekend. all I need to do is feed them. So i think that between her and my mil I will have it coverd. I am just going to miss them . My mil is not a cat lover however she will clean the box. :cheer2:

[Mom2DS]

We have left ours for a week before with the big feeders for water and food. I get a little nervous, so I set out a couple of large bowls of food plus more large bowls of water, left the sinks with some water just in case, and the toilet lids up just in case! They still had plenty of food and water when we got back... which just proved to DH that I was being a little too crazy! :crazy: Ours are inside cats and would not do well being boarded or with a stranger coming over. They really are safer and better off on their own with plenty of food and water. We changed the litter the morning we left and got an extra box for while we were gone.

You sound just like me! I'm always afraid it's not going to be enough food and water and they ALWAYS have a TON of both left when we get back! :rotfl2: I also leave the toilet lids open -- my DH thinks I'm nuts! We've left our 2 kitties like this several times and they have always been fine when we returned -- although they really told us off when we got home! I give my neighbor a garage door opener and key so they can be checked on if necessary. This time I might have them checked on more often since we just added a new 7-week old baby to the crew yesterday! :love: