anybody just want to stay home?

[cj]

two weeks and still on topic!

Lots of great replies and viewpoints. Even with the storm raging outside I am glad to be home with my good book and cat on my lap. We might take a trip next year but so far still content - but the key is for each of us to just be happy whatever that means.

A good book and a cat in your lap. Nothing like it! (Well, maybe a knitting project...)

 

[Nords]

... a cat in your lap. ... a knitting project...

That sounds like a recipe for disaster...

 

[freebird5825]

Not tonight...I'm developing cabin fever.

 

[mountaintosea]

I took a year off from 92 to June of 93 and traveled around the world. I loved it. Then later I went to Central America and skiing in Canada. When I retired I had an old diabetic dog and old cat. The dog lasted another 2.5 years the cat lasted 6 months after that. They were both about 16 yrs. I moaned during that time that I had to stay home and take care of them. When they were gone I was LOST! I found a pit bull, then found it's owner. Again a void. (I've always had a pet or two). Resisted getting another pet. Then decided to try fostering a cat with the Humane Society. I couldn't let her go, so now I have a cat again. A friend who still works, County Counsel, asks me constantly when I'm going traveling. Last fall I went to Vegas, DC, and NYC. But I don't have a huge desire to hit the road. Yesterday a deer scampered across my property. Last summer a bear was in my front yard. After all that whining I did and how I was going to move to parts unknown, I'm starting to think staying put is the right choice. I'm still thinking that someday I might take 6 months in South America. But I look forward to coming home to be with my feisty little cat ( bites and scratches!). So for now I workout 3 days a week, pick up trash around our local lake a couple of days, and go to the movies, meet a few friends. It seems to be enough for now.

 

[Lsbcal]

Hi Mountaintosea, sounds like you have a very nice life with good balance plus cat, deer, bear -- you've got it all.

We'd like to have a cat but haven't figured out a good way to deal with kitty + vacations. It would be great if cats liked to stay at other homes but doesn't sound like it would work out even if we found a sitter willing to do the chore. Anybody else tried such a thing?

 

[kyounge1956]

Hi Mountaintosea, sounds like you have a very nice life with good balance plus cat, deer, bear -- you've got it all.

We'd like to have a cat but haven't figured out a good way to deal with kitty + vacations. It would be great if cats liked to stay at other homes but doesn't sound like it would work out even if we found a sitter willing to do the chore. Anybody else tried such a thing?

My parents board their cat at the vet's when they will be away for more than a few days. Kitty gets her checkup, a bath, claws clipped etc. It doesn't seem to bother her at all. I also have cats and usually just don't go away for more than three days at a time. On the rare occasions I go away for longer, I get someone to come in and make sure the kitties have food and water.

 

[Sue J]

It would be great if cats liked to stay at other homes but doesn't sound like it would work out even if we found a sitter willing to do the chore. Anybody else tried such a thing?

My sister travels a lot and I have her cat come to my house. We've done this for years. She tells me that the worst part of every trip is getting the cat into the carrier. She lives about 25 miles away so we meet halfway in a McDonalds parking lot at a freeway exit for the "cat exchange".

Once the cat is here it takes a few hours for her to accept that she's on vacation again and then we all get along fine. She and my cat, both 15 year old females, interact minimally, mostly avoiding each other except at feeding time when one cat eats from all the bowls and the other sits there and looks insulted and then slinks off to hide.

It was more of a cat circus when we both had two cats and the combination of all four resulted in three who interacted/chased/wrestled and the one who looked insulted and would slink off to hide.

My sister is leaving for Hawaii next week and we have a cat exchange planned for Tuesday. We have learned to plan a time and leave it very open ended because if her cat gets a hint of what's to come she hides in difficult places and my sister will have a delay in extracting her.

It's more traumatic for my sister than for the cat.

 

[Lsbcal]

Sue, thanks for mentioning your experiences. Now I know it is possible for a cat to temporarily relocate to another home.