5 years of living at home.....now at work

[F2bguy]

Hi,

For the past 5 years I have owned my two Savannahs, I have been working from home. I have lived around them every single minute of their lives (save for the 3 day weekend trips to Vegas once a year).

I am starting a new job in a few weeks and will be gone 12 hours a day.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to acclimate the cats while I'm sitting in an office for 12 hours a day? Will they miss me?

 

[WitchyWoman]

Ugh. I don't have any advice for getting them acclimated easily. They'll just have to learn to adapt. But I think you can expect that they may get into a bit more mischief for awhile until they adjust to the new schedule. Do you have anyone who can drop by once or twice a day for a week or two for a few minutes to check on them?

Twelve hr days don't sound like much fun. You should try to make time to play with them a bit before you leave for work.

 

[F2bguy]

Hi Witchy,

No, I'm on an extremely tight schedule. I'm sure they will get into a ton of mischief when I'm gone. Just "baby proofing" the house now.

I'm sure when I come home on the 1st day, they will be vocalizing their dislike of the situation.

That's the problem with these cats...they're too smart for their own good. If they were regular cats, I probably could get away with it. But not this one.

I bought that "Feliway" plugin stuff and am hoping it will suffice. Otherwise, I will just play with them when I get home.

 

[tdbradin]

And I'm sure after the 1st day they will show you what else you should have "baby proofed"!
They may need extra attention after work for a little while as well. After 5yrs of having you all to them, they will want to know you missed them as well.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[F2bguy]

Do you think they will eventually acclimate to me being gone all day long?

How long do you think that will take?

And I fully agree with them needing extra attention...they will be extremely affectionate when I return home (as they are when I come home from my Vegas trips) and I will have a few hours to spend with them and pet them/etc.

There's a reason I bought 2 Savannahs....so when I'm away from home, they will keep each other company. However, I didn't realize that they would miss me. I figured they would be so consumed with each other, I would be in the background, but I guess not.

I can't imagine only having 1 Savannah and leaving him home for 10-12 hours a day while I'm at work.

So even though I feel bad for them...I don't feel too bad for them because they have each other.

But still, will maybe give them an extra can of wet food (now that I can afford it) in the morning or when I come home from work...but that will set a dangerous precedent as whenever I give these cats an inch, they take a mile. I don't like feeding them a ton of wet foot because it's not as healthy as the Royal Canin crucnhies they have to eat all day long (keep their food out for them to eat at will).

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I am sure they will adapt, BUT I do tell people that have busy jobs...you can never be so tired that you just come home and collapse into bed. You will NEED to stop and play solidly with them before collapsing...they are going to be napping and resting up waiting for you!

Yes, they do have each other, but they still love you and your brand of play they can't do with each other!

I don't agree that canned food isn't as healthy as kibble. It may depend on what canned food but really canned food is much better for cats than kibble because of the increased water plus usually less carbs. Kibble requires carbs, it can be grain free but they have to use carbs from potatoes etc to make up for that, to be able to have the kibbles form.Crunching on kibble does NOT clean teeth, studies show that kibble pieces simply shatter and do not scrape the teeth. Kibble is convenient (and I offer it here) but it is not healthier.

In terms of being away 12 hours a day, if you wanted to offer a fresh meal in the middle of that time, you can get timed cat feeders at places like Petsmart, you load in a little icepack and set the timer and the lid pops open for them at the appropriate time.

Or leave out puzzle toys or such things loaded with things like freeze dried chicken, that they have to figure out or roll about ...so work on them to get their reward. Will help to amuse them...

 

[F2bguy]

Hi Brigitte,

Thanks.

Can you recommend any good cat toys that will require them to think before they get the treat? (nothing too complicated....just something they need to figure out) Something I could buy on Amazon preferably, or Petco/Petsmart?

And yeah, I will play with them after work. That's not an issue. Was kinda hoping once they acclimate....they would sleep 8-10 hours a day, then wake up to see me come home.

When I was working from home, I noticed they would sleep 8-10 hours anyways...

 

[DumaLove]

Agree with Brigitte- dry food is easier but NOT the healthiest. Raw is best, canned food second. Almost any canned is better than the best dry, especially if it is grain free canned.

 

[Rafiki]

Trixie makes several cat puzzle toys that dispense treats. We have the mad scientist puzzle toy. Type in "Trixie cat" under the "pet supplies" category in Amazon.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I'm not that experienced with puzzle toys, although I know of many SVs that enjoy them, unfortunately I have a beagle and he's so food-motivated the cats don't get a chance to play with such things. Of course he's going to be 15 next month so once he's gone we may be able to explore them more.

I homed one Savannah whose owner told me that she took her girl to the pet store and she could figure out any of the dog puzzle toys they had...the pics she sent at the time I think were much like these:

http://smile.amazon.com/Ethical-See...id=1459279727&sr=8-2&keywords=pet+puzzle+toys
http://smile.amazon.com/Outward-Hou...d=1459279813&sr=8-26&keywords=pet+puzzle+toys
http://smile.amazon.com/TRIXIE-Pet-...id=1459280028&sr=8-1&keywords=pet+puzzle+toys

I'd try out the simpler ones first and see if they show interest. I'd offer the puzzle toys when they are hungry, with a treat they like (freeze-dried chicken or even bits of cheese) and then once they have the hang of the puzzle toys that could be the way you leave their kibble out..

Balls like this... http://smile.amazon.com/OurPets-Sma...id=1459280028&sr=8-5&keywords=pet+puzzle+toys ... can be really good ways to leave kibble for them during the day. I remember Marilyn Krieger suggesting this to me some time back, but again with my beagle it really was only for him!