Basic Cat Questions

by Katie
(New York)

Hi, I have a couple basic questions and appreciate any insight you might have:

1. For an indoor cat, what's a good temperature to leave the house in the winter & summer? Basically, what's the min temp I can set the heat to during the winter, and the max for A/C in the summer and still have my cat be comfortable?

2. Also, people leave their cats alone for LONG periods of time and I know most cats are very different, but have you gotten any ideas about what's too long to leave a cat alone? 3 days? 5 days? Of course, food is provided during this time. I'm always stressing out when I leave my cat along for more than 24 hrs and everyone tells me that cat's don't mind.

Thank you,
Katie

Answer by Kate
Hi Katie
well I don't think there is set temperature levels which I can tell you for a cat. i think just common sense is good enough here. Don't forget cats have a lovely fur coat on all the time and so don't feel the coal as much as us. generally as long as they have a warm basket with blankets in then that should be fine. my own old cat will crawl under a blanket in mid winter if she feels extra cold.

As for the summer, as long as fresh water is available to them and some shade and a little ventilation then this too is fine.

Regarding leaving a cat alone. well in my opinion 24 hours is fine as long as they have access to food, water and there litter tray. Any longer than that and I would say that someone should visit at least once a day to freshen up the food and water and clean the litter tray out. plus this give the cats some contact with someone and won't feel abandoned. Once they are use to a routine cats are very good and getting on with things. It is also a good idea to make sure they have things to keep them occupied and stimulated so that they don't get bored and possibly stressed.

There are special videos that can be left on which is meant to keep a cat occupied. See my web page here
https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-videos.html.

I hope that I have been able to answer your questions for you.

best wishes KAte

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