Can Persian cats be left alone? You might be asking this question as you are planning to go away for a vacation or you will not be in your home for a long time. Of course, you do not want to come home to a messy house, and at the same time, you also like to ensure the safety and health of your Persian cat.
In general, a Persian cat can surely be left alone due to its laid back personality. But, there are other factors to look at, such as age, behavior, and needs. These factors are used to determine how long you can leave them alone. Rule of thumb is, you can leave an adult cat for 48 hours at most.
Definitely, you cannot just rely on the personality of your cat to ensure that it will be happy while you are away. You also need to prepare a lot of things in order to make sure that everything goes smoothly.
This, of course, is in relation to their needs and also the source of their enjoyment and relaxation.
Will you be gone for a long time? Are you a working person? Here are the things you need to know!
Why Can Persian Cats Be Left Alone?
Persian cats are one of those cats that are not bothered as much when they are left alone in the house. The reason behind this is that they have a laid back attitude.
Do not get us wrong, they are also good at playing with children and even thrive in a household with a lot of ruckuses, but they also love to enjoy their alone time.
They like to lounge around and if you have a busy household, this lounging time is cut short due to a lot of activities. Therefore, if your cat is left alone in the house, it can catch up on his sleeping or lounging time.
Another thing that makes it easy for Persian cats to be left alone is that they easily adapt to a new environment. In this case, they are not relocated, rather, there is a shift in their environment.
Once your cat realizes that there is no one home for a long time, he will not panic and have separation anxiety.
In fact, he will find ways to cope with the situation and also develop new behaviors to entertain himself. Pretty cool, right? It’s like leaving an adult behind instead of your furry friend.
Further, these cats do not require a lot of physical activity, so you do not have to worry about them not going outside and getting enough exercise.
Factors That Affect Leaving A Persian Cat Alone
Just like any cat lover, you should not just rely on the general personality of your Persian cat to know if he or she is going to be okay when left alone. With that said, here are some factors that are good to check out to see if your cat is ready to be left for long periods of time.
1. Age
You do not have a problem if your Persian cat is already an adult. They can find where you put their food and water. Further, they will just carry on living as if no one in the household even left. (Yes, they might not even miss you boohoo.)
At most, they can be left unsupervised for 24 to 48 hours. If you are going to be away for a long time, then you should consider getting a cat sitter. On the other hand, if you have a four-month-old kitten, he can only be left alone for four hours.
Moreover, if you have six-month-old kittens, they can be left for only eight hours. The reason why you cannot leave kittens for a long time is that they still crave physical affection. It has a lot to do with keeping their bodies warm and feeling secure.
Further, kittens can still be very active so when they get bored and there is no one to play with them, they may resort to scratching or biting your furniture. They might also play with their food bowl so the food will end up scattered on the floor.
2. Health
It is a given that you should never leave your sick Persian cat alone. There will be no one to give him his medicine and also, you do not have the assurance that he is eating and resting properly.
Further, leaving your sick cat behind may make him feel like he is being abandoned due to his sickness.
Therefore, you have to make sure that your Persian cat is perfectly healthy before deciding to leave him all by himself for a long period of time. If you are going away for vacation, it is best to consult your veterinarian first even though you hired a cat sitter.
Another point to consider is if you have a picky eater. There are Persian cats that tend to only eat food that was given by their owners. So if this was the case, you absolutely cannot leave your cat for two days.
3. Needs
You should also be aware of the needs of your cat. It is not as simple as leaving them enough food and water. You should exactly know which ones they will eat on their own.
If you have not tried using an automatic cat feeder, then leaving your cat to be fed by this contraption is pretty tricky. Your cat might be afraid of the noise it makes so he might end up not eating at all. The same goes for automatic water tanks.
The best way to do it is to deliberately train them to eat and drink from these contraptions way before you plan on leaving them alone.
Once you notice that they automatically eat and drink from these automatic feeders and tanks, it is safe to say that your cat will be okay while you are gone.
4. Entertainment
This is not a problem with Persian cats as they love to spend their alone time sleeping or just lounging around. However, if your cat is pretty active, make sure that his or her favorite toys are easily accessible.
In this way, they will not get bored and start ruining your furniture out of sheer frustration.
5. Demeanor
Even though there is a general personality shared by Persian cats, of course, they will develop their own personalities based on their environment and also the type of owners they have. You also have to assess if your cat is too reliant on you when it comes to his or her needs.
At the same time, you also have to know if they desperately crave your presence and attention.
If you have a clingy Persian cat where it is not just enough that he lounges all by himself, rather he needs to be lounging close to you, he might feel a bit panicked when you do not come home for a long time.
If you leave a clingy cat for a long time, you might be surprised that he is feisty towards you when you get home. Therefore, if you have plans on going away for a long time, you should start training your cat to learn to entertain himself for long periods of time.
Related Questions
Can I leave my Persian cat for seven days? Yes, you can. For the first two days, he will be fine on his own. However, on the third and following days, you should hire a cat sitter to take care of his needs and also give him proper attention.
Will my Persian cat be lonely while I am gone? Even though Persian cats are independent, they also love attention. So, for one to two days, they might not even realize that you are gone, but after the 48-hour mark they will start looking for you, but this does not translate to loneliness.
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