Before you make up the guest bed for Thanksgiving, check how your cat uses the spare room. It may hold a litter box, a water bowl or the bed your cat chooses every afternoon. When planning for cats and holiday guests, keep those essentials accessible even when someone closes the bedroom door.
Make room for cats and holiday guests
Walk through the rooms guests will use and note which ones your cat depends on. Include the bathroom and any space you plan to use for luggage or a folding bed. Follow your cat’s routes from resting places to food, water and litter, checking for doorways or narrow passages that bags could block. Choose a place for suitcases that leaves those routes clear, and decide which interior doors need to stay open throughout the visit. If guests need to close a bedroom door, make sure your cat has another familiar place to eat, drink, rest and use the litter box.
Plan litter box access before the visit
If guests will occupy the room with your cat’s only litter box, add another box in a suitable location before their stay. Choose a quiet, accessible spot away from food and water, with room for your cat to enter and leave freely. Keep the original box available while you introduce the additional option, and check that your cat uses it before relying on the new setup. Give yourself time to adjust the room arrangements if your cat continues to use only the original box.
A useful starting guideline is one litter box per cat, plus one extra. Spread them across separate locations so each cat has choices about where to go. Two boxes side by side still require access to the same space. For an older cat, keep a box on the level of your home where they spend most of their time.
Keep meals and resting places available
Choose a quiet resting area that guests will not need to use. Set it up before they arrive with familiar bedding and somewhere your cat can hide. If your cat will spend part of a gathering behind a closed door, equip that room with food, water, litter and toys, keeping feeding and toileting areas separate.
Keep the usual meal times and maintain separate food bowls for each cat. Choose low-traffic feeding locations and keep food, water and litter apart. Show anyone helping with meals where each cat eats so bowls stay in their assigned places.
Check access after guests unpack
Once everyone has unpacked, walk through the rooms your cat uses again. Check behind open doors and beside furniture for bags that could obstruct a litter box or water bowl. Show guests which interior doors need to remain open and where to leave their belongings. Repeat the check the next morning, including any bedroom or bathroom doors guests may have closed overnight.
Update your cat care instructions
Decide who will handle each meal, water refill and litter check while guests are staying. Share any temporary changes with everyone helping care for your cat. If you have cat-sitting visits booked, tell your sitter who will be in the house and update the written instructions with every feeding spot and litter-box location before the first visit.
Stable Hands provides in-home cat sitting in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake, including feeding, fresh water, litter maintenance and visit notes through Time To Pet. When you contact us about holiday care, include your dates and let us know whether anyone will be staying in your home. For new clients, we begin with a conversation about your pet, followed by a meet and greet to confirm care details.
Related reading: Managing Pets With Holiday Guests