4 ms·

You can leave cats alone for a weekend without an supervision, just a bowl of food and some water.

williadc 6y ago
Your cat isn't diabetic, I guess.
cgriswald 6y ago
My friend did that. His cat ate all the food in a single sitting and was both fat and almost dead from not eating for two days.
- XorNot 6y ago
  It doesn't work if you normally don't let your cat choose their meal times. But cats do develop food intelligence unlike dogs and will only eat what they need - the key is they have to have a reliable expectation that food is always available. An automatic feeder helps - since getting one there's always good in my cats bowl but she only eats a little at a time.
  - jacobush 6y ago
    Not unlike dogs. Dogs are the same.
  - hackerfromthefu 6y ago
    Ahem, my dog will not eat and save his food for later when he's had too much food lately - I think that's what you're referring to as food intelligence. He often does this by burying the chicken drumstick under dirt and leaves, which I think is not uncommon for dogs.
- watwut 6y ago
  Cat don't become fat from single large meal.
rconti 6y ago
We do up to about 6 or 7 days. I often joke I'm not responsible enough to own a dog, and if I was going to get a dog, I might as well just have kids. The idea of having to find a way to take care of the dog when you want to go out of town is definitely a little anxiety-producing.
- chillwaves 6y ago
  How do you deal with litter boxes?
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    Clean before the trip, clean after trip? It probably depends on the cat, but in case of ours, the litterbox can stay untouched for a week before it starts pooping outside of it. (However, we always arrange for someone to take an active care of the cat, including cleaning its litterbox, if we have to leave for more than 3 days.)
  - rconti 6y ago
    so- we have a large "concrete mixing tub" we use as a litterbox for the 2 cats. it's roughly 36" x 24". It's in a 2-level wooden enclosure my father-in-law built just outside our house, with a cat door connecting it to the interior of our house. No reason it couldn't be used inside, of course, but it would eventually smell more inside, versus a smaller box you scoop more frequently. (of course, you can scoop a large box frequently too, it just takes longer). I tell myself I scoop it twice a week, but to be honest, it often ends up being more like "weekly", on garbage day. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasgad-Black-Large-Concrete-Mixing-Tub-887102C/205451585 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasgad-Black-Large-Concrete-Mix...
    - chillwaves 6y ago
      Once during college, I lived with roommates (and girlfriend) who loved cats. Think we had 3-4 indoor cats at one point and some other strays outside they liked to feed. We had 3 litter boxes and they had to be scooped daily or they quickly became disgusting. My point was that cats still need upkeep and it's really not fair to leave them living in filth for a week at a time just because someone can set up an auto-feeder. Any pet is going to be an inconvenience if properly cared for. Doesn't mean a person can't travel, but as mentioned they will likely need to ask or pay someone to come and check on the pets. Giant litter box is helpful but still needs to be regularly scooped. If someone can invent a feasible self cleaning litter box (or a good way to toilet train a cat) I would love to have a cat pet, but right now the idea of them using dirty litter boxes and walking on every surface in the house is just too unappealing.

Your cat isn't diabetic, I guess.

My friend did that. His cat ate all the food in a single sitting and was both fat and almost dead from not eating for two days.

XorNot 6y ago
It doesn't work if you normally don't let your cat choose their meal times. But cats do develop food intelligence unlike dogs and will only eat what they need - the key is they have to have a reliable expectation that food is always available. An automatic feeder helps - since getting one there's always good in my cats bowl but she only eats a little at a time.
- jacobush 6y ago
  Not unlike dogs. Dogs are the same.
- hackerfromthefu 6y ago
  Ahem, my dog will not eat and save his food for later when he's had too much food lately - I think that's what you're referring to as food intelligence. He often does this by burying the chicken drumstick under dirt and leaves, which I think is not uncommon for dogs.
watwut 6y ago
Cat don't become fat from single large meal.

rconti 6y ago

We do up to about 6 or 7 days. I often joke I'm not responsible enough to own a dog, and if I was going to get a dog, I might as well just have kids. The idea of having to find a way to take care of the dog when you want to go out of town is definitely a little anxiety-producing.

chillwaves 6y ago
How do you deal with litter boxes?
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  Clean before the trip, clean after trip? It probably depends on the cat, but in case of ours, the litterbox can stay untouched for a week before it starts pooping outside of it. (However, we always arrange for someone to take an active care of the cat, including cleaning its litterbox, if we have to leave for more than 3 days.)
- rconti 6y ago
  so- we have a large "concrete mixing tub" we use as a litterbox for the 2 cats. it's roughly 36" x 24". It's in a 2-level wooden enclosure my father-in-law built just outside our house, with a cat door connecting it to the interior of our house. No reason it couldn't be used inside, of course, but it would eventually smell more inside, versus a smaller box you scoop more frequently. (of course, you can scoop a large box frequently too, it just takes longer). I tell myself I scoop it twice a week, but to be honest, it often ends up being more like "weekly", on garbage day. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasgad-Black-Large-Concrete-Mixing-Tub-887102C/205451585 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasgad-Black-Large-Concrete-Mix...
  - chillwaves 6y ago
    Once during college, I lived with roommates (and girlfriend) who loved cats. Think we had 3-4 indoor cats at one point and some other strays outside they liked to feed. We had 3 litter boxes and they had to be scooped daily or they quickly became disgusting. My point was that cats still need upkeep and it's really not fair to leave them living in filth for a week at a time just because someone can set up an auto-feeder. Any pet is going to be an inconvenience if properly cared for. Doesn't mean a person can't travel, but as mentioned they will likely need to ask or pay someone to come and check on the pets. Giant litter box is helpful but still needs to be regularly scooped. If someone can invent a feasible self cleaning litter box (or a good way to toilet train a cat) I would love to have a cat pet, but right now the idea of them using dirty litter boxes and walking on every surface in the house is just too unappealing.