guy

This may sound strange, but I'm trying to write a newspaper column that features a a cat taking vengeance on her traveling humans. I'm just at the point where the evil deeds are to be revealed, and realized the column would benefit greatly from some true fodorite experiences. Got any?

WillTravel

Particularly if they are going to Europe, I hope travelers with cats have someone who comes in every day and feeds and interacts with the cat. My daughter did this for a couple hours every day for about 5 weeks this summer for her former teacher. The cat behaved fine.

ira

Hi guy,

Do you actually have a cat?

I don't think any of us would go away for maore than an overnight without having someone, known to the cat(s), look in on them every day.

When we go away on extended trips our cats spend about 5 min rubbing and purring to welcome us home.

They then spend the next few days ignoring us, so that we will know that they were unhappy.

kaudrey

Hi Guy,

I have 2 cats. They play on a cat tree that is about 5 feet tall. When they run onto it, they sometimes knock it over, usually just onto the floor or leaning against the couch.

Last year when I was traveling in England, they knocked over the cat tree, it fell onto my bar, and cracked off the edge of the bar's counter, in addition to breaking 2 martini glasses. Luckily, they were not hurt, and the person taking care of them cleaned up when she got there later that day...

Karen

LisaB

I have a great neighbor that visits twice a day while I am away. Our kitty makes his unhappiness of our absence known by leaving his poop under the dining room table.

Travelnut

We had a neighbor come in while we were away. This did not prevent our cats from capturing a pigeon and dragging it through the doggie door. Of course, the bird was not quite 'gone' and flew all over the house, dropping feathers, etc. The neighbor told us when we got home, and said she "looked all over but couldn't find it". I found it behind a dresser.
Most of the time, they are not this naughty.

dln

First time my husband and I went to England together, we left our two young cats in the care of a neighbor, who evidently did not pay them as much attention as we did. The cats "rolled" our kitchen. Got up on the countertop and completely undid the roll of paper towels, leaving the countertops, floors, and chairs completely covered! (You really don't know how long a roll of Bounty is until your cats get hold of it.) Fraternity brothers couldn't have done a better roll job. It was a sight to see!

Scarlett

My little cat had long hair that shed unless brushed frequently. He was not allowed on my pillow, for some reason, I need air when I sleep at night and it is impossible to breath with the cat on the pillow.
When we came home from our trips, the house would be perfectly clean, the sitter would have taken excellent care of him, he seemed happy although clingy.
Then I would go to bed that night and see that there was a perfect "nest" of cat hair right in the middle of my pillow.

My daughter has two cats and a greyhound. When she leaves them alone for any length of time, the cats gang up on the dog and make her miserable, she will go into her crate and not come out until my daughter returns.

Patrick

Hmm, I may get severely scolded here for my "cat treatment", but years ago I had friends with two cats. I always hated the fact that these cats paraded all over the set dining room table and the kitchen counters when dinner was being prepared. The owner always said that's just the way cats are, they can't be trained to do otherwise. Well, they asked me to feed the cats once when they traveled for about 10 days. Everytime I started to open the cat food, the cats jumped on the counter. I immediately gave them a firm but not hard swat and they hopped back to the floor. When the friends returned they wanted to know what I had done to the cats -- they didn't jump all over the counter. I think they always suspected I had really abused their animals and I don't think they ever forgave me. The fact was they were perfectly happy letting the cats walk across their dishes and waving their tails in the food.

Kascha912

Patrick,
when I was an exchange-student in the US my host dad trained our new kitten not to jump up onto the kitchen counter with a water pistol. You know, one of those toys.
If the cat got up on it she'd get squirted (didn't hurt but must have felt dreadfully wet to her...). Yes, she did learn quickly! ;-)

Gourmand

My sister and I shared an apartment. We'd left the cat alone over the Thanksgiving Holiday. A friend was supposed to feed the cat, but she got sick and couldn't make it to the apt. She didn't have our out-of-town phone number. The poor kitty was without food for 4 days. He knocked down a heavy 8-foot ladder that reached up to my sister's loft bed. The sound of that thing hitting the floor must have startled anyone home below. // Just got back from Paris and brought my cat home some French catfood. Rabbit and duck.

PBT

Our cat is self-sufficient and self-indulgent. Although he's learned to use the toilet, he gets pretty upset when there is no one around to flush it. He takes his revenge on the toilet paper, shredding it to bits.

elaine

I saw a greeting card once, showing a cat shredding some upholstery by using a fork

caption inside read, "revenge of the declawed."

patg

Mine have been well behaved while we were away, but the other day I realized that the smartest cat knows how to turn on the bath faucet. We have those easy-to-use levers, and she whacks away at them until the water comes on. She also plays with the drain stopper until it closes. Do you think I can teach her to dial 9-1-1?

matthew

My Aunt and Uncle went away for 2 days one weekend leaving sufficient food and water etc for their cat.
It showed it's displeasure by leaving a small 'present' in the middle of my aunt's pillow.
She says she feels lucky to have noticed it but I wonder how you couldn't have.

MarthaT

I always have someone come in twice a day to look after my two cats. But I had a cat that has since died that would always pee in the middle of my bed. And my older neighbor that was watching them never caught it. It was always pleasant(not) to come home late and jetlagged and have to completely rechange the bed. I have since learned to put a waterproof matress pad on top of the bed before I leave.

jnn1964

My cat sat on my remote control and turned on the tv. I came home and found the Oprah Winfrey show on.

Another time, I came home and found every cabinet door in the kitchen, dining room, and living room open. I thought I had been robbed, but nothing was missing.

The shredded toilet paper and paper towels were pretty common, also.

I always had someone come in daily to feed and check on him when I went away, but he just re-did the damage after the pet sitter left again.

brandiandmatt

When we travel, we always either have friends come to watch our cat, or our cat will go to stay with friends. No matter how well he is watched, he eats cords when we're away. Culprits so far have been headphone wires (7 different sets), the phone cord, the connector to our laptops (twice). We've spray everything with cat spray and cover all the cords, but he works at the cord protectors until he gets them.

sicula

Hi Guy
When I had cats I learned right off that it's not so much what cats do while you're off on holiday as what they do when you get back. As soon as we got through the door and the cats realized we were home, they'd holler and scream and nip at our heels and generally throw a cat fit for days. It was as if they were saying, " #!@%##**, how dare you leave us like that." It's not nice to piss off a cat.

guy

These are very good. I hope I have your permission to use some of them in the column. I'll let you all know where it can be found online once it's published. (And keep ?em coming, if so inspired. I'm still writing.)