Top 5 Tips for Leaving Your Feline Friends Behind for the Weekend

Leaving your fur babies is hard. Enough said. But sometimes we have to sneak away for the weekend. We get it. Here are my five tips for leaving your feline friends behind. 

1. Hire a sitter! - This is my favorite thing that has become more popular is pet sitting! My favorite app is Rover. Whether you have a kitty cat or a doggie, Rover is a great resource for check ins on your pet. Personally, I have three cats, so having someone there to scoop their litter boxes, play with them, and feed them their wet food is awesome! I have had great luck with Rover for my cats and I'm sure the dog sitting is just as great. Just make sure to do a meet and greet with the sitter before the days of your trip to make sure you are a good fit and your pet likes them! Also it is a good way to give the sitter an idea of your house and what your expectations are for them while you are gone. 

2. Get a camera - There are so many pet camera options now. There are feeders with cameras, little treat launchers with cameras, and of course, just your usual house camera. Personally, I have both the camera feeder and a freestanding "Ring" brand camera. This helps me feel better about leaving my fur babies knowing that I can look at the camera events and see all 3 of them walking around, alive and well. 

3. Make their environment enriching - the best thing you can do for your pet while you are gone is to make their home FUN. Without you around, there is going to be a lot of silence so finding lots of self enrichment toys or moving their cat tree to the other side of the room or leaving some cat grass for them to munch on will give them something new to explore and check out while you are gone. 

4. Make sure to "pet proof" your home - Although you may want to close all of your bedroom doors or shut the bathroom while you are gone, keeping your furry friend's casa as "normal" as you can will really help them while you are gone. Now, with that being said, closing doors to the laundry room or closets isnt a bad idea. We don't want things falling on our furry friends or them ingesting something they shouldn't. Making sure things are clean and objects that could be knocked off or fall should be put away while you are gone. Don't leave windows open or cleaning chemicals out. 

5. Ensure your pet will have lots of food - keeping their feeding schedule as normal as possible will help them feel as normal as possible while you are gone. I have an automatic feeder for my 3 cats that helps them eat little portions throughout the day. This feeder can go off when I am at work or on vacation and I can adjust it from an app if needed. Thinking about their water intake as well, you dont want your pet to become dehydrated while you are gone so getting things out like extra water bowls or investing in a water fountain that can hold a lot of water while you are gone will be helpful as well. 

I hope that these tips can help you feel better about leaving your furry friend for the weekend. And remember, they have an amazing life with you already.