Conference misery::feline_v1

    I wouldn't worry too much.  They will probably be fine, as they have
    each other for company.  They may give you the deep freeze for awhile 
    when you come back :-)
    

    Yes, they should be fine.  I leave my 17 (I take the 18th with me to
    show), for 3 days and 2 night max.  I leave lots of dry and at least
    5 or 6 large bowls of water.  I leave lights on a timer and a radio
    on in one room on low volume.  They seem to do just fine.  I usually
    leave the heat on about 60 or 62 and they are fine.  Worry not!
    
    E.T.

    I too have left my three cats for 2 nights when I had cats who
    needed no daily medication and they did just fine with bunches of
    extra water and dry food. 

    Also, I had one cat pan for each cat filled with new kitty litter
    -- they would have been disgusted with only one pan.  You have
    probably thought of this, but I hope you don't mind my mentioning
    it.  Maybe your friend could scoop the litter for you? 

    How about a couple of new toys just before you leave? 

    Have a great Thanksgiving.

    			    -- Julie

    I don't worry too much about 40 lbs. of litter in a 3-foot round
    child's wading pool !!!  I needs a "bit" of scooping when I return,
    but, it does the trick !!
    
    E.T.

Thanks to everyone for your encouraging words.  I do have an extra litter
    box but had not thought of putting it out until it was mentioned
    in a reply.  My friend does not have any pets and so I won't be
    asking him to scoop while I'm away.  Leaving a radio on is another
    good idea.  As far as heating, here in Southern California it has
    not even been below 60 degrees at night lately  (just thought I'd
    add that for all the feliners enjoying winter already).
    
    Thanks again,
    
    Jill (Casino & Maui)

If not already said, leave more than one source of water....they can pig
out and be fine if they run out of food for a day or so, but water is
a real problem.  I would leave at least two containers in different 
places so one cat cannot decide to "own" the food/water center - yes,
they can get into power trips now and then when left alone - and keep
the other cat from drinking.  Have your friend check both water dishes
(I would use a wide-mouthed, heavey bottomed pot so it would be impossible
to turn over).

    Since water is so very important, if your cats go to any sink, perhaps
    you could leave one dripping slightly - that way they could always get
    fresh water.
    
    Linda

    I usually don't leave my cats alone ever.  I have a terrific cat
    sitter, and it is worth the $10.00 a day to have someone look in
    on them, put out fresh water, food, and scoop the box twice a day.
    Besides that, she plays with the cats too.  We call her in even
    if we will only be gone overnight.
    
    I have a little different situation than you do though.  I have
    a lot more cats, and often have kittens around.  The kittens must
    be socialized by being handled every day.  And Birmans are very
    social cats.  They need human attention or they get very depressed.
    
    I once left two of my household pets alone for two days and one
    night.  I put out a huge tupperware bowl full of food, and the two
    of them immediately went to town eating it up.  Just before we left,
    I checked the bowl, and it was empty!!  So, I filled it again and
    we left.  We we got back, our whole house was covered with diarrhea
    and vomit!  They had eaten until they had made themselves sick,
    and all their bowls were completely empty.  They probably ate all
    the food the first day.  Since then I never leave any of my cats
    at home alone.
    
    Jo

    I have no qualms about leaving my 3 for a weekend.  If I'm gone more
    than 2 night/3 days, then they get upset.  The food dishes are turned
    upside down, water is spilled, paper towels shredded, etc.  Sometimes
    they poop on the floor, but they do that anyway if they're mad at me so
    I'm not sure if that happens when I leave or after the 3rd day.  
    
    I just leave them plenty of water and food, with bowls of dry food
    spread around the house.  I leave them fresh water and (please - don't
    get offended) I leave the toilet lids up so they can drink from them. 
    When I get back, they're usually so happy to see me that they forget
    they're supposed to be mad.
    
    Have a great Thanksgiving holiday.
    Mary
    

    This is obviously another of these subjects with many opinions -
    and aren't we discussing it in a nice civilised way! I'm with Jo
    on this one - we don't leave our two alone overnight. We are lucky
    in that our next-door neighbours worship our two cats and are only
    too happy to feed them and shut them in. That's if it's a night
    or two, any longer than that and they they in the boarding cattery
    where the woman also worships them. Once the neighbours looked after
    them for a whole week; that's when we had not long been back from
    two months in Europe, and really didn't want to take the little
    guys to the cattery again after they'd just spent two months there.
    
    It depends on the cats, I think. Both Burmese and Abyssinians are
    VERY people-oriented, and as Jo said for her Birmans ours would
    be quite depressed if they were left alone. Kimi (the Abyssinian)
    is easily-upset anyway; once (long story) I DID leave them alone
    overnight and Kimi was in a state of genuine depression when we
    got home next day - NOT snotty with me, but genuiniely depressed.
    Never again. Only you know your own cats well enough to now how
    they would cope, and many noters' cats obviously do cope perfectly
    well.
    
    Shayne (New Zealand)

    Does anybody else get that "look" from their cats when you start
    to load up the food dishes?  My two kitties know immediately that
    we won't be home for a while when they see me put out all kinds
    of food and water dishes.
    
    Their typical reactions to the scene:  Pumpkin goes into SULK MODE
    (dilates her pupils as far as they'll go, and stares at you as if
    you were about to murder her).  Ninja goes into HEDONISM MODE (his
    eyes get all glassy, then he starts tap-dancing).
                                 
    
                                                                     
    

    OK, I've got it all planned out now before I leave on my trip early
    Friday morning.  I'll have two bowls of water and two of dry food
    in their regular feeding area.  Also in the kitchen sink I'll have
    two larger pans of water (they jump up there everyday to look out
    the window and sometimes drink from bowls left in the sink).  My
    friend will come by Saturday to look in on them, add more food if
    necessary, and pour fresh water into the bowls.  I'll leave the
    radio on upstairs in our bedroom.  There will be two litterboxes
    in the utility room filled with extra litter.
    
    Now I couldn't possibly be overlooking anything.  The Vet's card
    is on the refrigerator door in case my friend has to call in an
    emergency.  I believe cats are a lot smarter than most people give
    them credit for, so I'll talk to Maui & Casino and tell them I'm
    leaving for only a few days and will return Sunday night.  I'll
    tell them Bob is coming to visit Saturday.  He will let them sit
    on his lap while he reads our newspaper too.  
    
    I sure hope they don't have an accident on the carpet, or get sick.
    I've never heard of cat-sitters.  We took them to the pet boarding
    kennel when we left for 8 days this last summer, and they were fine
    but very glad to be home.
    
    Thanks, everyone, for all your replies.
    
    Jill (Casino & Maui)

    re: .11 - well, we don't go away very often so they dont give us
    looks for that, but Dundee does a great "FU" look from the ring
    cage when he's had enough of cat shows for one day.