cat freaks out when i leave home for a few days

[Linas]

I adopted a cat maybe half a year ago, and hes great, no issues whatsoever. But a few weeks ago I went on vacation for a week and left him with my roommates. They said that the whole time i was gone, he was hiding, barely eating, pissed and sh*t outside his litterbox, and was generally upset; all behavior very uncharacteristic of him. In general, he is okay with my roommates. I am going out of town this weekend, and want to know if there is anything i can do to make my cat keep his cool while i am gone. any advice would be appreciated.

[beelzelboss]

Giant cardboard cutout? Have your friends move it around every hour to seem like your there.

[5StringBlues]

Catnip bonghits.

[mtizzle]

My dog use to act up a long time ago when I left for extended periods of time. I left a few of my shirts out for him so he could at least smell me, and that calmed him down.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Yep, familiar smells should calm him down.

Regards
Sam

[MikeyFingers]

I like the cardboard cutout idea. What if you put your clothes on a cardboard cutout?

[lunarpollen]

There is a product called Feliway that is supposedly very effective in easing cat stress

[machine gewehr]

Adding booze to the food.

[thumpbass1]

I used to have a female cat, that was devoted to me, more so than my wife, that did similar things when I was gone, and it was just my wife at home. My wife laid out one of my unlaundered shirts in a spare bedroom, and that seemed to settle my beloved moggie down quite a bit, as she'd lay on it. Animals can be funny.

[Asa Samuel]

Do you give your cat a lot of attention? If you do and your roommates don't it might just be feeling lonely and therefore it might get a bit anti-social when you aren't around.

[Joe Nerve]

Get new roomates.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

Get new roomates.

yes....cats are very independent,but if the litter box was left dirty,the cat would go elsewhere.....i'd suspect maybe the roomies were a tad lax on cat care

[Bongolation]

My cat has a really, really bad time if I'm gone for more than about 36hrs. I was gone for three days once and she pretty much had a total nervous breakdown. Took her months to get over it. Seriously.

As a consequence, I haven't gone anywhere for many years.

[Radical Edward]

Cats can get quite attached to their owners. I've found that if I leave treats hidden around and catnip toys it gives my kitty something to do while I'm gone. He gets so upset that he vomits when I'm gone sometimes, so I have to really make sure he has things to do and something to occupy his time and keep his mind off of me being away.
Also, yes make sure your roommates are spending lots of time with him, keeping the same feeding schedule as you did, and keeping his litter-box clean.
A nice kitty condo or cat bed makes them feel more secure usually, too.

[scorpionldr]

Now cats just sound like closet dogs.........

[MIJ-VI]

Social mammals need at least one of their own kind to play & socialize with in order to be happy and to preserve their sanity.

A long time ago a former band-mate told me that he and his new wife were going to get a cat. I said he should get two for the reasons stated above.

A few months later he thanked me for that advice.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

Social mammals need at least one of their own kind to play & socialize with in order to be happy and to preserve their sanity..

I dunno. Having more than one cat drastically changes the whole dynamic.

If you have one cat, you are the center of the universe.

If you have two cats, you are instantly demoted to the status of the third cat, "the big stupid one that feeds us."