leaving cats alone while on vacation

Question
My husband and I are going on vacation for 10 days, and will be leaving our two cats at home alone.  I would ask someone to stop by and look in on them, but my male cat is very aggressive, and will attack almost anyone new that comes in the house.  Do you think they will be ok for that long, and what can I do to keep them from stressing out?

Answer
Hi Amanda.  That's a really long time to leave the kitties alone.  My main concern would be the condition of their water.  I have used the Drinkwell's pet fountains, which work great, but if they went 10 days without cleaning, the bacteria deposited from the cats' mouths into the bowl would flourish, despite the carbon pack.  I guess if water conservation isn't a concern, you could leave a faucet trickling so they'd have a steady flow of fresh water.  But I'd also leave several bowls of water around, just in case the faucet happened to STOP trickling for some reason.  Stagnant water with bacteria in it would be better than no water at all.

Of course you'll have to leave loads of litter boxes.  You may want to get a heap of those disposable ones.  If you're going for 10 days, I'd leave 10 boxes, since no one will be there to scoop.

Remember to leave twice as much food as you think your kitties could possibly eat.  If they decide to turn to food for comfort because you're missing or because they're bored and you've left exactly as much as they normally eat, they could end up a couple days short.  Worse, if you get delayed somewhere unexpectedly, you'll be glad they have extras.  

Or if the trip is still a little ways off, you might want to see if you can find someone who'll volunteer to peek in on them, and start acclimating the kitties to them now so your male won't be so aggressive to them.  Or at least make an attempt at it!  You could try calling a professional pet sitter and having them come over to do an introduction to see how it goes.  Sometimes cats will sense an animal person and be more tolerant of them than they are of the average Joe.

When you go, leave out some worn t-shirts for them to sleep on.  Your scent will comfort them.  You might also want to purchase a product called Feliway.  I use it in my home at all times, because when I don't, my cats go insane.  I use the plug-in diffusers.  It's a little expensive, about $45 for the diffuser set up if you purchase it at pet stores, but if you have time, you can find it for less online (amazon.com has some good deals).  But it has a real calming effect during times of stress.  You can learn more at www.feliway.com