Let me start off by saying that I’m an animal lover. I can’t imagine a household without one (or two or three) furry friends. Commercials showing abused animals make me want to cry. I find joy in seeing animals in the wild. I watch animal videos. Yes I’m guilty of all of the above and proud of it.
Currently, my family are the proud owners of 5 furballs — Toby (14), Gomez (11), Stewie (10), Pickles (4) and Mowgli (1).
Gomez 
Toby and Mowgli (Momo)
This kitty number has varied through the years (though we never went above 5). Our little fur balls have all been shelter cats or strays. We treasure them as family members and cherish the unconditional love and companionship that they give us every day. They truly play an integral role in our family life and their health and happiness is very important to us.
Stewie 
Pickles
I love my pets but I also LOVE travel.
And why should anyone have to forsake one for the other?
Any pet lover can attest to the anxiety and angst we feel when leaving our beloved pets for an extended period. And although I’m not a pet psychologist, our absence affects them as well. It is “normal” for their humans to leave in the morning for work and school. However, their human family leaving for any extended period of time, like a vacation, is truly another animal (no pun intended!)
Our oldest cat, Toby, has “tolerated” the most years of our travel wanderlust.
Once our luggage is rolled out of the closet, he looks up at us with a combination of sadness and disdain. He knows exactly what’s coming next.
He glares at us with complete astonishment. If he could talk, he would be saying: “Not again! You have to be kidding me! How can you possibly do this to me? You will walk out that front door, pulling those wheely boxes and not return by dinnertime like you usually do.”
But Toby has a plan. He will firmly plant his cat butt on that suitcase, whether it’s opened or closed. Our suitcases will become his bed until our departure date. That will show them!
But he knows departure day will arrive and he, along with his kitty buddies, will watch us go out the door.
So how does my family balance our two loves –travel and animal ownership –successfully?
For our family, boarding our cats when traveling has never been an option. Keeping our cats in their home when we’re away so they have a safe, familiar environment is of the utmost importance to us.
Luckily, for the last couple of decades, we have used the cat sitting services of our local neighbors’ kids (who we trust implicitly). Our kitty-sitters provide the daily feedings, litter box cleaning and, of course, some love and kisses! Of course, these young people don’t replace their “human cat family” but it seemed to definitely reduce our cats’ stress level, as well as ours!
So yes, we have pulled out all the stops to make sure that our kitties are in their home when we travel. But more recently…
Our cats have had to face a new threat to their family dynamic — our kids leaving for college and moving out!
Our daughter’s recent move coupled with our son leaving for college definitely shifted the mood in the home. Of course, our kitties still had me and my husband but the two kids that our cats practically raised (well they think so!) were no longer here every day.
Our son is especially attached to these two guys and the feeling is definitely mutual. Both sides feel a void when they aren’t together. And cats are so perceptive. They know that it is totally different when my son is preparing to leave for college. This isn’t packing for a vacation. Their boy is packing up his room.
More than one suitcase is coming out of the closet. Boxes and crates are filling up with his belongings. Others in the family are NOT doing the same. Grrrrr…
But no worries. Our kitties did find a silver lining in our son’s “disappearance.” They will be the protectors of his room. They will accomplish this by sleeping on on his beddaily and, sometimes, leave a hairball or two behind as a token of their love! Because they know that one day, he will come back.
Cats ARE social and I do not believe otherwise.
Krysten Vitale, a cat researcher from the Human-Animal Interaction Lab at Oregon State University stated the following in her research published in the journal “Behavioral Processes,”…
“I think the importance of social interaction in the lives of cats has been underestimated.”https://www.vice.com/en/article/v74n38/we-asked-scientists-if-our-pets-love-us-being-home-all-the-time
I agree totally! I believe that cats get as much joy from our interaction as we get from them. And when this consistent interaction is interrupted by our departure for any length of time, it can be painful for both sides.
A home without a pet is not a home.
My husband and I know quite a few people who use the excuse of not having a pet because it would cramp their style. What if they wish to travel on a whim? Having a pet would be a roadblock to this freedom. Really? I hope my blog helped changed this mindset for some.
Animal lovers know that having pets is an integral part of the family dynamic and having them is what completes our home. And when we’re away, they’re in our hearts just like we’re in theirs.
