TLDR; I have to leave for 4 months and am strongly considering having my cat sitter watch my 2 cats (brothers) for 30 minutes per day while I'm gone. I wonder how they will do with such little human interaction for such an extended period.
----------------------
I'm in the Army National Guard and received notice 2 days ago that I am being called up for a mission on the Mexican border for 4 months. I own 2 cats whom I love dearly and have been trying to find a foster family for them, but am finding no luck so far. Friends for Life and similar organizations are full and have a waiting list. I'm due to leave within 2 weeks, and all of the no-kill shelters in my area are full. I wasn't expecting to be in this situation within the next 3 years because my unit assured me that they don't mobilize full-time students (which I am), but it turns out they're short on deployable Soldiers right now and are mobilizing me anyway.
The local SPCA could take them, but I refuse to put my kitties in a kill shelter. As a last resort, I plan to ask my usual cat-sitter to watch them for the entire 4 months that I'm gone. She's been an excellent sitter in the past, spending 30 minutes per visit playing with and petting them in addition to doing the usual feeding, watering, and cleaning the litter box, but that was only for one weekend per month plus two weeks during the summer.
If I opt to have my cat sitter drop in every day for 30 minutes, how will my cats fare with receiving so little attention for 4 months straight? Will this make them depressed or otherwise affect their mental health? Any advice you can provide would be appreciated.
BACKGROUND: I adopted them from the SPCA this March when they were 6 months old. They are brothers, Domestic Short-hair, and get along great. My only family member within 1000 miles cannot take them in due to their lease agreement. I'm new to this city and the only friends I have in the state are in my unit are deploying with me. I looked into boarding but I really can't afford their prices, which start at $38 per day for 2 cats, which is about $1,150 per month.
[link] [comments]
from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/cf2bzh/advice_needed_on_using_a_catsitter_longterm_4/
No comments:
Post a Comment