I would strongly recommend against boarding a cat. It seriously stresses them out and is upsetting for them to not be in their usual territory. I’d recommend a daily pet sitter to visit and keep the cat home if possible. They would rather be in their home without you than in a strange place with loads of other people/cats.

Okay, if you have solid recommendations for that I’m also open. It will be my first time leaving him for an extended time in 4 years.

How long are you leaving them for?

8 days total

Definitely hire a petsitter in your own home. Your cat will be terrified to be in another location. Rover Isa good app for finding petsitting or pay someone you know to stay in your house while you're away.

I used Rover to hire a sitter to come check in on my cat for 7 days. They did an amazing job...took pictures while playing with him, and sent them in real time through the app. Also did a diary entry for each visit. Highly recommend.

Thank you! Will check this out.

It’s interesting that cats are much more attached to their home spot than dogs, though neither of them enjoy being away from their owners

Litterpaw

I’ve used Walkies for in home dog sitting and would recommend - their companion cat sitting service is The Cat Peeps.

Waggy Little Rascals does “cat drop-ins”

I used PhilaPets when I lived in South Philly. They will give you a magnet with a QR code that they scan when they arrive, which I loved and made me feel at ease. http://www.philapets.com/

I highly recommend in house cat sitting. I've used Monique from Hiss and Purr and she's been great! Texts after every visit with pictures and is a former vet tech so she can administer medication.

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Read this quickly as “cat hoarding recommendations” and was way more intrigued than when I open and read it

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Second this. I’ve used Litterpaw and they’ve been great.

I leave my cat at home and use a pet sitting service to come in every 2.5 days to scoop his litter pans, refresh his water bowls, and make sure that he has kibble in his automatic feeder. He is not a fan of wet cat food, unless it is canned dog food.

He seems to do just fine home alone except that he may miss his dog brother as the dog goes to boarding with a pool.

https://www.thecatpeeps.com. They have taken great care off our buddies for many years. Highly recommend

If you’re in West Philly (I don’t know their service area exactly), I highly recommend Fresh Prints. They’ve cat sit for me twice now, and I’ll go to them for my next vacation. They were great - good communication while we were gone, too, sending regular photos of the cats.

https://www.freshprintsofwestphilly.com/

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Seconding this. We had an awesome lady take care of our three cats each time we’ve gone away for a week or more and it was great.

We also have a neighbor do it who’s usually ok but having a “professional” come for longer stays is nice too.

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BarkPark does at home cat care!

we have someone sleep at our house. we work from home so us being away is really different for our kitties and having someone sleep over and be available for petting keeps some semblance of normalcy for them - and for me! i never worry about them being alone

Also there’s an app called TrustedHousesitters. You have to pay to join but you can get someone with great experience and recommendations to stay at your house (you don’t have to pay them) and care for your pets. I’ve used it and outside of the one time fee to sign up, it’s completely free. You can also stay in other cities for free, and look after other peoples pets!

I’ve used it as well, it’s been solid!

You don’t have a parent, friend, co worker, neighbor, partner, sibling, literally anyone who can come over at least once a day or every two days while you’re gone?

Adding my vote for them too

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Litterpaw in center city does cat sitting, been using them for 3 years and they’re great.