I'm Boarding My Kitten For a Week

[bitohoney]

and I'm having a really hard time with it.

I'm leaving for WDW Friday but I'm so sad. Minnie is 4 months old and will be boarded the week I'm gone. I have 2 older cats that I leave at home and my next door neighbor feeds them and checks on them daily but with Minnie being so young I can't leave her home. She'd tear things up and probably make a mess. I didn't realize I'd get so attached to this kitten.
I've never boarded any of my cats before so I know I'm going to cry like a baby when I drop her off.
Anyone else have to board their cat or dog when you go on vacation? Do you feel guilty? Do you cry like I know I will? How does the pet react when you return?
I'm feeling so guilty.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I board my 2 cats and dog every trip. The youngest I boarded was my kitten when she was 3 months old. I don't feel guilty at all.

The dog is all lovey dovey when I pick her up, the cats act mad but get over it quick.

They are well taken care of and I don't have to worry about a pet sitter forgetting to show up (happened once and if I hadn't called her to ask how the pets were doing, she would've forgotten to check on them the whole time according to her husband!) or them making a mess in the house and me getting stuck cleaning it up (happened all the time).

I much prefer to board my pets and won't be stopping it anytime soon.

 

[hopemax]

We just got back from WDW, and boarded our cat for 13 days. We are still relatively new to the neighborhood, and while we are friendly with our neighbor, we weren't sure if we were quite close enough yet to have them take care of the kitty. Turns out the PO screwed up our mail hold, and they noticed it and took in our mail, so in the future we would have no problems having them come over.

Anyway, we adopted our kitty in March; he had come from a good home but his owner had died. I know from past experience, that cats do have a memory, and I was worried that he would think that he had lost his home again. He looked at us so sad when we dropped him off. Major cat mama guilt. We had a picture on our iPad, that we kept looking at while on vacation. When I picked him up, he cried and cried, because he hates his carrier. I couldn't tell if he recognized me because he wasn't settling down. But the second he heard our garage door open, he shut up. It was instantaneous. He knew where he was, so it was okay.

He had to run around the house and make sure everything was where it was supposed to be, and then he needed lots of snuggles. But it's been 4 days since I picked him up, and he is totally fine. Back to his old habits, and treats us basically the same. Maybe a touch more affectionate at first, but backing off each day.

 

[Kath2003]

I hate boarding ours. I feel so guilty even though I know it's the best thing for them.

We got stuck in the US in April when the volcanic ash stopped us from travelling home for 10 days. It was a relief to know they were safe and cared for, and also to know that we weren't imposing on friends/family. Took a lot of weight off of our minds.

Oh plus, ours came back as angel cats. I don't know what they did to them at the cattery but they were perfect when they came home - no whinging for food, quiet at night etc. Brilliant! Need to do the same with our new kitten as he's currently going through the "defiant teenager" phase of kittenhood which basically means he ignores everything we say

 

[bitohoney]

It's good to know I'm not the only one who leaves a kitten. I feel a little bit better already. Kinda.
I felt bad when I took her to get her shots too.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Your thinking about it all wrong. Your not bording your kitten, shes going to summer camp. For some reason saying the cats are going to camp when I board them makes me feel better, seems to excite them and make it eaiser. The last time they were so excited they went right into thier carriers. They have so much fun at camp!