How to handle cat care and travel during school breaks
Long school breaks force students to choose between stressful car trips, unfamiliar catteries that trigger hiding, and leaving pets behind. These options leave owners worrying about their cat's anxiety and feeling like they are abandoning them.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Hire a pet sitter
- 2Use trusted house sitting services
- 3Travel with the cat and keep essentials accessible in the car
- 4asking neighbors to drop in to feed and pet the cat
- 5using a professional cat hotel or cattery
- 6installing cameras to monitor the cat remotely
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“during long school breaks (generally 4+ days) I go home to be with my family which is about 2.5 hours away, and I’m worried that this would be too stressful of a trip for a cat.”source ↗
“However, I'm starting to have second thoughts about it. I'm wondering what is best for him. Is it better to bring him to a cattery?”source ↗
“I am worried that in a cattery he will feel like we abandon him – and also I have no idea how he would respond to other cats.”source ↗
“My baby was so stressed and kept hiding inside the cage. For the cat, nothing is better that being in his own home.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3How to handle a puppy while working and going to school alone
- 17How to handle a young puppy alone during sudden schedule changes
- 8How to move abroad or travel without leaving your pets behind
- 5How to balance college and a new puppy alone
- 2How to protect frogs and reptiles during pest control treatments
- 3Pet sitter neglected my animals while away