Kitten at Christmas

[FlickWorth1]

I have a 5 month old kitten and am concerned about what to do with him over Christmas. He spends days alone while i am at work and hates it when i leave in the mornings- he makes this awfull crying noise but think he now knows that i come home every eve and is getting more used to it. However between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day i will be at my parents. They live about 15 mins away so would be easy for me to pop back at meal times to feed him. But am worried that he will still be on his own a lot of the time. He loves being around people and am worried he will be miserable if i just pop in at feeding time. The other possibility is that he could come to my parents house during this time but i wondered whether moving to a new house for a couple of days would be more distressing than being on his own. Any suggestions??

[snigsthecat]

Taking the kitten to your parents house will be fine for a couple of days...if he is an indoor cat you will have to be carefull he cant escape from the house. It would be a good idea to take him to your parents house on your next visit to them. If he settles in then you know all will be well-if he dosn't then you will have to leave him at home just make sure you leave on a radio for company (a quiet house is disturbing to animals) and you make longer visits to him while your away.....hope this helps and have a good christmas

[makemesmile]

Please take him with you - if only to make me happy : )

[divegirl]

Hi, do you really think it is fair to leave him for such a long time everyday? Why don't you buy him the best Christmas present ever....another kitten! Believe me...if you had come on here and asked the same question about a dog.....the abuse would have been phenomenal. So please please please consider getting him a friend!

Lisa x

[FlickWorth1]

Thank you for your answers. Think i will take him with me and see how it goes. Lisa, i feel guilty every day for leaving him and after what u've said i feel even worse! I would love to get another kitten but may be moving house soon so it's not very practical at the moment. Will definitely consider it after the move. What happens if they don't get along though? When i lived at home we had a cat and then got another kitten and the older cat was very aggresive towards the kitten and it was ages before we could leave them alone together.
Thanks again for the advice everyone.

[divegirl]

Awww....sorry didn't mean to make you feel guilty, but please think about a friend for him....I have 4 dogs and a kitten....with a new kitten coming next week.... they all get on....so it can be done!
For now follow the above advice and have a Merry Christmas.

Lisa x

[ganesh]

Sorry to disagree with you all but cats hate new places and hate travelling,well most of them anyway.
As you are so close I think it would be better to leave him on his own with a cat feeder and maybe pop back during the day to see him for a while.
Still,if you've already made up your mind,good luck and hope you both have a lovely Xmas.

[Athley]

I disagree. I have always taken my cat with me. When we lived in London we used to come home to Wales for the weekend about once every month and she always came with us - we were always very careful she couldn't get out of the house though.

Now we live in Wales if we go away for a weekend she goes over to my parents house for the weekend and loves it. She remembers the house every time. It may be an idea to take some of his fur over to your parents house before Christmas and just rub a little bit on their furniture legs and things (don't let them see you do this!!!) He will feel instantly comfortable as he will recognise the smell there.

Happy Christmas to you and your cat have fun!!! :o)

[ganesh]

I had a cat when I was young that we used to take to my grand-parent's house 100 miles away,and he was fine. In fact we used to let him out into the garden there and he'd come back for dinner . But I thought he was very unusual. My last 4 cats have always hated travelling and complained loudly every time I took them in the car,even to the vets 10minutes away.
I assumed that this was more the norm.

[Rusks]

My uncle used to bring his cat to my grandparents for Christmas and it didn't seem to do her any harm! Mind you, she used to send me letters... If you make sure she isn't let out then she should be fine.

[Moomin Mama]

Before I had my baby, I used to spend 3 days with my parents at christmas & always took my 3 cats. They loved being able to have a nose around somewhere new & as long as theres someone there for cuddles he should be fine. The car journey might not be great though. Billy used to cry for the whole 1 1/2 hour journey.

Good luck & Merry Christmas