weekends away with out kitty

[lucy locket]

hi im new to the forum and a new kitten owner so am seeking advice and opinions i have a 6month old kitten called lucy locket i live in a rural area {so no main rounds} but lots of fields for lucy to prowl she eats dried kitten food has had her jabs and is very loving but she does love being out side we have a cat flap and a huge out building to the side of our house so if we wanted to go away for a weekend could we leave her at home she eats dried food so could we put out bowls of food and water around the house and inside the out building for her or would it be better to put her into a cattery as this is an option i have a cattery five mins down the lane but im not sure if keeping her here in her own enviroment would be better for her her dad was a ferrel cat she loves being out side she hates being locked up would she be resticted in a cattery because shes not yet been spayed and can i have some advice on flea's as she is always coming home with fleas i treat her but it just dosn't seem to be working very well.

[Chessmind]

Hi and welcome to Auspet. For the fleas, Advantage and Frontline are both good products. You can only get it at the vet office. You put the drops behind their neck and it lasts for one month. They work great. Any over the counter medications (such as Hartz) can be dangerous. There has been too many reports of cats getting very ill with those OTC products for fleas.

As for food, she would benefit greatly if you also fed her soft food. I leave dry food out for our cats and then give them soft food in the morning and at night. When looking for quality dry and soft food, look at the ingredients. The first ingredients should be some kind of meat. Not meat by products. It should also not be full of fillers like corn.

Regarding her being alone on the weekends do you mean every single weekend? If so, personally if she was my cat I would just take her with me on the weekends. If that is not an option the second best would be to have someone else watch her. If that is not an option than you can leave her alone at the house with a bunch of food, but if anything goes wrong, you won't be there. Most cats don't like being at some cattery for any period of time and although she will most likely be safer there, she will most likely be very stressed out each weekend and that is not healthy. This is assuming you mean every single weekend.

Also have you had her spayed yet? If she's an indoor outdoor kitty she could get pregnant.

[sunset05]

Hi lucy locket. Welcome.

I have two cats. When my hubby and I go away for a weekend, we leave plenty of dry food and water out for our kitties and they do just fine. If it's any longer than two or three days, I have someone come in to feed and pet them.

They have never been out when we're away.

I guess it's a judgement call on whether it's okay to leave you kitty go in and out while you are gone. Food wise, she'd probably be fine. Do you think she would tolerate being inside for just a few days? If it was me, I'd feel safer keeping her in.

[eman]

just wanted to tell you that few days ago i put some cat food out for a stray cat outside and i watched inside to see if the cat would come and eat it. few mins later, 3 birds (black billed magpies) came and started eating the food. they ate it so fast it was gone in 5 mins. So i wouldnt trust any food to last outdoors for few days. it is not just the birds. i would worry about other cats or animals.

[Chezza]

Hi lucy, welcome aboard to the forum, another thing i would worry about too, is that being 6 months of age, she can come into season anytime aswell, so I would get her spayed as soon as you can, being left outside you never know what might happen if theres a Tom cat around..
Just a thought thats all.