Live-in pet sitter, family or friends.

Key is finding someone who also has pets so you can do the same for them. Then confirm availability before confirming reservations.

My first choice is someone who can live in, but that isn't always feasible. A couple of close friends did kitty visits when DH was in the hospital and I needed to be there.

I sent you a message with contact info for someone I trust to do visits if you are in the east metro. If you are in the west metro, City Cat Clinic has a boarding "condos." I've never used them, but that might be an option.

My mother has watched our five cats for a number of years now. They are all seniors and a couple required daily meds and two don’t get along so we have a rotating schedule of who can be where in the house.....so it’s just been easier to have my mom who is used to handling this stuff for us. But she is getting older, not to mention we are looking at an extended family vacation next year where she would be with us. So we will need to find someone else trustworthy and willing to stay in our home and manage our circus.

We have two cats who manage to keep each other company while we're gone. A neighbor up the street does cat sitting and she's very good with animals. She's a contemporary and most responsible so I have no trouble putting her in charge. I could never trust our pets to a "neighbor kid". I've heard too many horror stories that ended in things like burned out water pumps and such. She comes once a day to feed them and clean the boxes. One cat immediately comes to her and follows her around the house. The other cat, she never sees unless she looks under the bed to find her.

We have 2 cats and have a sitter come by twice a day. I have gone through many sitters because I am picky about certain things, but around a year ago I found one who seems to be a keeper. I still stress about them, though.

When I was single, my friend and I just swapped with each other. Here, we swap with MIL. I think there was only one time we traveled together, and I think this was even before she had cats. I had one of my coworkers come. Sadly, with Grandma now gone, there is no real reason for us to go together visit their hometown. MIL goes on her own to visit with her sisters.

Otherwise, I'd think I'd go through our vets, or there are other well-known pet sitters on our Nextdoor. I really would not want my students to come here. Maybe I'd ask my retired coworker.

Thanks all - interesting to hear what you do. It would be ideal if I knew a cat savvy person who could stay at our house when we’re gone but I don’t. At least I have an excellent professional cat sitter and so far we don’t really enjoy being gone for more than a week.

We do have neighbors at our lake place who have done a lot of pet sitting (including sleep over) who would be able to spend much more time with our cats than the pet sitter.. If we decide someday that we want to take a longer trip I would bring them to the lake and have the neighbors look after them. I need to get on record with the local vet there before that which I should do anyway in case of some other emergency.

My nextdoor neighbors are cat people and we are happy to do the honors for one another when we're away. I trust them implicitly. I have two cats that are siblings and they do provide comfort and companionship for one another.

Two years ago I was out of town when my city, Santa Rosa, was on fire. My street decided to evacuate at 3 in the morning. In the middle of the night my neighbors came over to my house (no electricity, no lights), found the cat carriers in the garage and went room by room to locate my freaked out kitties. They were put in carriers and taken with my neighbors to an evacuation center and later to work with them. Their own kitties? Too freaked out to catch; they had to leave them at home. Fortunately, the fires did not reach our neighborhood. I returned home the next day full of gratitude.

Wow Bunny - that is an amazing story! Glad all the kitties were okay.

I'm the official cat watcher in my family, dogs too. I love animals so I go twice a day, groom them, play with them, feed them and cuddle them. I love it. It's so sweet to put the key in the door and they always come running towards me. The longest I've done it is a three week stint every spring when my daughter and spouse head to Europe.

We’ve always engaged neighborhood kids, once or twice a day. In a pinch, we moms will trade off ourselves. Most tell us the only evidence we have cats is empty bowls and full litter Box! The cats usually disappear when we have company, so no surprise there. In fact, we we come home after a trip, we may not see them for an hour or two. But now all the kids we know are off at college or moved out, so I’ve had some dilemmas! We have a sweet new neighborhood girl lined up for an upcoming trip (She came around with the most adorable flyers. She was also walking a friend’s dog, and the friend recommended her highly). We may also start using techs from our vet’s office (Since one cat now needs meds).

It's funny, but our gang seems to bond so well with MIL when we're away that they sometimes act a little bit miffed at us for having the gall to come home and interrupt their newly established routine with that nice lady who brings them treats every day. Cats are silly creatures. ;)

Haha IdaClaire, kind of like children lol

My old cat was rather stand offish. I’d just have a neighborhood kid feed and water her. The cat didn’t care although she always yelled at me when I got home.

Cats are funny. My neighbor tells me that when I'm away my cats are oh so friendly, purring, rubbing legs, full of compliments. When I'm home and the neighbor comes over, my cats act like who are you and what are you doing in my house?

Same with mine, Bunny!