I have had cats for forty years. Usually, only one at a time. However, last year a friend had two kittens that she had gotten for her son to raise until they were old enough to come to their farm and be indoor/outdoor cats. But then found her husband really didn't want them inside and she would not leave them out 24/7, so was going to surrender them to a shelter. I had kept them during a couple of family weekend trips and really loved them. I didn't want more cats, but couldn't bear to see them caged in a shelter and possibly separated. I had rescued my older cat from the shelter 3 days before he was scheduled to be euthanized and learned he had been kept in his tiny cage 24 hours a day for nearly 7 weeks. No animal should be imprisoned like that. Anyway, he can't be left in cages now and goes into near meltdown, spinning and crying out, just being in a carrier for the 15 minute trip to the vet. I have only found one place that doesn't keep them in cages. There they have a 5x10 room with an outside window, a glass door facing the play area, a tower, a shelf with a little house and a rocking chair. They let the cats into the play area for an hour at a time all day, so lots of time outside the room. It is $40/day, which was great with one cat. However, with 3 cats there it is more expensive than my trips. If I put all three in one room, they still charge $40 for the 1st, $32 for the 2nd, and $28 for the 3rd. $100/day is just ridiculous since I provide all their food and, though I don't have to, I bring my own litter and an extra litter box, as theirs are too small for my older 20lb cat. So, now that I am trying to live on social security and only taking about $10-$12k/yr from retirement savings, trips are out of the question. I have no close family, or friends who would want to come often or live in. I have paid professional sitters in the past to come twice a day, but upon returning early once found that they had not been for days and just left a ton of food in the bowl. 2 litter boxes were full and that one cat would have taken at least 3 days to go that much. So, I won't trust strangers again. Plus, with 4 litter boxes for my three cats, I still clean them 3 times a day. My older cat mostly eats only canned food, so you can't leave enough out for days. Plus, they won't even eat it after a few hours, when it has gotten a little dry.
It is kind of a sacrifice to never go on any trips. I do have to go overnight, once a year, to put flowers on the family cemetery, but I do that in one day and will probably pay the $100 for them to be boarded, but other than that my friends will have to come visit me. I have plenty of room. My babies are worth staying home to care for. I'd do the same for a child who needed constant attention and they are my children. I continually look for a boarding facility that doesn't cage them (no matter how large the cage), and us more reasonable than the one I have been using.
