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Pay a pet sitter (aka neighborhood teenager) to check on them daily and leave them home. Cat's don't do well when removed from their normal habitat and would likely be traumatized by the experience.
Plus I'd do anything possible to keep my pets out of kennel environments for the same reasons I hate having my kids visit the doctors office unless absolutely necessary.
A good sitter will spend time with the cats and give them attention on each visit. You pay by the visit, so you could get three 20-30 min visits a day, which will still cost you less than boarding three cats. My cat is very stressed by other cats, so I've never boarded her. In any case, I'm not familiar with any boarding facilities where they give any more attention than a pet sitter.
I had good luck with petaupair.com . Everyone I dealt with there seemed to genuinely care about my pets.
You also could look among local university students for a house sitter.
I've been a professional cat sitter for 10 years. During the year I lived in Raleigh, I was a member of the Triangle Area Pet Sitters Association. To join, you must be insured and bonded, and adhere to certain professional standards.
Although we all vary a bit in our routines, I spend 30 - 45 minutes on visits, giving the cats lots of love, attention and interaction (in addition to the food, litter, etc.). I know it's a leap of faith to have someone come into your home, but you'd be surprised how many excellent, dedicated and professional sitters are in the area.
I would DEFINTIELY have a petsitter come by rather than boarding. I have a petsitter come to care for my three cats and the cats are much happier being in their own environment. If you're worried about interaction, believe me they will get more with a petsitter than sitting in a cage at a boarding facility.
Definitely go with a PROFESSIONAL cat-sitter. The cats will probably come back much less stressed than if they were in a kennel, and with less potential for illness. Generally speaking, the catsitters are much less pricey than boarding them anyway. We have 2 cats that we occassionally have a cat-sitter look after. It's been a great experience. She is very professional, is a true cat lover, and keeps us posted via e-mails as to how they are doing. Her name is Lucy Moore and she works through http://www.fetchpetcare.com. Highly recommended.
If you're worried about the cats detroying everything, you could always confine them all to one room that you remove all the 'valuables' from. Give them lots of stratching toys; it helps.
They're cats! I assure you they'll be fine regardless of how "attention deprived" they make you think they are when nobody's around. A little off-topic but it does pertain to the topic I noticed you said these were your first cats. I recommend one litter box per cat or you may have one who will begin refusing to share the litter box and start urinating elsewhere and urine smell is a nightmare to get rid of! With that being said, since it's just 3-4 days, clean the litter boxes before you go, put out a big bowl of water and food, and be gone on your merry way. Again, I assure you they'll be fine.
I board our cats often at Creature Comforts Inn in Durham, they are great there. They have several room choices and also the cats have a floor that no dogs are on.
I second that! Get a professional petsitter, for sure! We tried that once, and the result was an absolute nightmare.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suncat
I'd caution against the neighborhood teenager. I've gotten many clients because people decided to go that route first.
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