Advice—September 2005

Dear Sparkle,
My human has this amazing career. She runs businesses, writes books and flies all over the world to speak to large groups of people. Naturally I am the envy of every other cat in the neighborhood, but they don’t know the truth of the matter. While my human’s accomplishments are certainly admirable, they take her out of town quite frequently and I hate it! Every time she starts packing I freak out and get really depressed. This has been going on for the whole eight years we have been together. Last month it was even worse—we moved! I got so upset about the whole thing that I tore one of my claws. My human totally adores me—she makes that really obvious—so why does she hurt me so much by leaving all the time? If she’s so important, how come she can’t get all these other humans to come to her?
Signed,
Forlorn Feline

Dear Forlorn,
As much as we’ve tried to teach them, humans still haven’t learned that their lives should completely revolve around us cats. But sometimes, of course, it would be impossible anyway. Consider this: if all the other humans came to your town to see your human speak, wouldn’t they have to leave their cats behind? You probably didn’t think of it that way! When you have a human with a high-powered career, the out-of-town trips are definitely a downside. The upside is that there are ways for her to make her travel less stressful on you, and since she clearly has the budget for any and all of these suggestions, she has no excuse to avoid doing them.

Humans sometimes don’t realize that on top of being lonely we get really bored when left to ourselves. So yours should at least make sure you have interesting things to keep you busy while she is away. A cat tree or tower is always welcome; a couple of them are even better, especially when placed by windows of different rooms so you can check out the view. And she can make your view even better by putting bird feeders by the windows. Plus, you need to have a variety of toys especially saved for when your human goes away. Along with the usual catnip mice and crinkly balls, a really great idea is one of those hollow vinyl balls that your human can fill with treats—those are really fun to chase around! While none of this will replace your human’s company, it will make your time alone a lot more entertaining.

If you were younger, like less than four years old, I would suggest that another cat would help keep you company, but at eight you are set in your ways and another cat would most likely only upset you. I imagine your human already has someone looking in on you while she is away, so she needs to make sure that this person takes the time to pet and play with you and give you extra special treats.

All these activities are good for cats who suffer from an average amount of depression when their human is on a trip. If your case of separation anxiety is more extreme, you may want to look into an anti-anxiety medication. But this is something your human should discuss with your vet—I’m just a cat, so I can’t exactly dish out medical advice.