How long can a cat safely be left alone?

The 24 hour mark

For a healthy adult cat who is used to its own company, a single night away is generally fine. You go out, you stay over somewhere, you are back the next day. The cat has eaten, slept, used the tray and probably noticed nothing beyond the fact that dinner was late.

That is the usual advice and I agree with it, with a caveat. Twenty-four hours is a limit, not a target. It assumes the house was set up properly and that nothing went wrong in between. Most of the time nothing does. When something does, there is nobody there for a full day to notice.

Two nights and beyond

Forty-eight hours is where I stop calling it fine. Not because every cat will come to harm — most will not — but because the margin has gone. Water bowls get knocked over on the first evening, not the last. Dry food put down for two days is often eaten in one sitting. A tray that was clean on Friday is not one a cat wants to use on Sunday, and a cat that will not use its tray uses something else.

If you are going to be away for two nights, arrange a visit. By a visit I mean somebody who goes in and looks at the cat, not somebody who looks through the window and reports that the lights are on.

Why food and water down is not the whole picture

“There is food and water down” covers the one thing that is easy to plan for and none of the things that are not.

Water

A bowl gets tipped, drunk dry, or has something floating in it by the second day. Cats are fussy drinkers, and a cat that has gone off its water is one you want someone looking at. Water in more than one room, in more than one bowl, buys you a margin. Not two days’ worth, but a margin.

Food

Some cats ration themselves. Plenty do not. A timed feeder helps, but it can jam, and a cat that has eaten everything on the first evening is hungry until you get back. Hungry cats get into cupboards, bins and things they should not.

The tray

One tray, two days, no cleaning. Most cats will put up with it for a while and then stop, and where they go instead is usually somewhere soft. A second tray does not make the problem go away. It moves the deadline.

Doors, windows and the cat flap

A door swings shut in a draught and the cat is on the wrong side of it — away from the food, the water and the tray, until you get home. It takes one gust. Wedge doors open before you leave, and decide about windows while you are still there. What I do about the cat flap when I am the one visiting is answered on the cattery comparison page.

Illness

This is the one that matters most. A cat that stops eating, cannot pass urine, or is suddenly quiet and hiding needs a vet, and some of those problems get serious faster than most owners expect. I am not a vet and I will not put a number of hours on it; speak to your vet about what applies to your cat. The point is simpler. Over a single night, you are back before a problem has had long to develop. Over two or three, nobody is there to see it start. Whoever has your key should have your vet’s number too.

Company

Cats are independent. They are not indifferent. Some genuinely do not care whether you are there, and some who look as though they do not care spend two days waiting by the door. You know which yours is.

Cats I would not leave overnight

Some cats should not be left for 24 hours, never mind two days. Kittens, who eat little and often and find trouble anywhere there is trouble to find. Older cats, whose routines matter more and whose health can change quickly. Any cat on medication, because a missed dose is not something to catch up on later. Cats who are anxious alone, cats recovering from anything, and cats who have only just moved in with you. For all of these, somebody in every day is the minimum. How often after that is a different question, and I have answered it on the cat sitting page.

Where I come into it

If you are going to be away for more than a night, the honest options are a friend who will genuinely go in every day, a cattery, or someone like me. I visit cats at home across Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton and St Helens, and have done for over sixteen years. If you are weighing a cattery against a sitter, I have written an honest comparison, including the cases where the cattery wins. The consultation is free either way.

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