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I'm sure that I'm not alone in this. My wife and I take 2 vacations a year. 7 nights in December (somewhere warm). That's the main one.
And now, 4 nights in Miami (leaving today). I really don't care if I go. George will be taken care of, my nephew stays at the house. But I know that he's down/sad that we're gone. Nobody takes care of our cat's the way we do (playing, feeding, petting). The time we spend with them.
He's my world. I hate leaving.
Yep. It's called love... straight from the heart. We love them like kids because in reality they are exactly that. And as with human children, they need all of the physical & emotional affection that we can give them. We might abandon our kids for a vacation once they are of a certain age, but our cats never reach that "certain age". So we tend to stick around home more for them, and I suspect, ourselves too.
It's never been an issue with me. I was never one take vacations, and I got all desire to travel out of my system by age 25. But not too far back I had to spend 2 days in the hospital, and I was far more worried about my lonesome cats at home, than I was for myself. They were fine (and well care for by a family member), but I still felt terrible for not being there with them.
I can honestly say that my love for my cats, and the desire to not leave them behind, was a huge incentive for me to work very hard to improve my health and take better care of myself. Needless to say, I owe them big time.
I know the feeling. I go out of state a couple times a year. If I'm gone more than a night, I take Maya to my parents (wish they would come up to my place and take care of her. Always such a hassle with the carrier and whatnot, lol). She actually doesn't mind being at my parents place. They say she lounges around and hangs out mostly in their living room and upstairs in my mom's room (I'm assuming because its kinda familiar to my home in a way). But when I show up to pick her up, she runs up to me, meows and begins playing. My mom always says that's the first she speaks and the most active she gets, when I show up. But me and Maya are very bonded too. Just ask my girlfriend. Maya just sits on the floor and stares at her in jealousy
I've never really taken vacations, but I used to do a LOT of traveling for work, sometimes for weeks at a time at remote locations. I had a great pet sitter who was a technician at the vet hospital I also used. I trusted her 100% and she always did a great job with all 5 cats. But I had to get a new sitter when the first one started working for the mobile vet, who works longer hours. Fortunately I'm retired now and really don't care to or even like traveling any more, but I have to have a pet sitter on call in case of another medical emergency like my heart attack last year. I just signed up with one the other day at my new location, and hopefully won't need them, but I feel much better knowing they're available if I do. Gotta care for the kids!
DH and I went to Gatlinburg (from Florida) last spring for a week. We took the old cat with us. She's 18 and gets fed several times a day which my sitter couldn't handle...well, she could, but it was more cost-effective just to take the cat along. She rode fine, no screaming after about 10 minutes, and our stay in the condo was uneventful. She was loose when we were there and in a large wire kennel with her blanket and litter box when we weren't. Condo owner was cool with us bringing her even though it was supposed to be no pets. I just hope the people that came in the next week weren't allergic to cats!
We left the other six cats for the sitter as they're easy-peasy. They have a cat door in the window from a bedroom onto the screened porch so they can come and go safely. Sitter came in twice a day and fed them, cleaned their boxes, and checked to make sure everybody was healthy. I touched base with her once a day. I will admit I missed their furry selves, though.
My old orange cat and current tabby used to travel with me. The orange cat had to have diabetes shots and I couldn't find a boarding facility or pet sitter who would give the shots. Plus, his eating would be off when I was gone and that messed up the insulin does. Since he'd moved several times with me and was used to riding in the car, I decided to take him with me on all trips that I could drive to. The tabby was a kitten when I got her and already used to travel (she flew from San Antonio to me in Albuquerque). They were quite the pair in the car and would be on the beds chilling out within an hour or two of checking into the hotel.
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