Without having a surveillance camera or somebody on the inside it can be hard to tell if your cat misses you when you’re gone.
There is increasing evidence to suggest that your cat does miss you while your away.
You may notice changes in behavior on your return especially if you’ve been away for long periods of time.
I thought I’d get the opinions of those in the cat community to get some real-life perspective on this subject…
The Community
“Mine misses me so much that when I had to leave for a week, he made sure to pee in my shoes when I got back so that I would not forget him the next time I left! He is very smart.
He knows that I always leave with the same shoes every day, so my shoes is what he left his scent on. This way I would be reminded to come back and get him and/or come back for him. That’s the way a good cat thinks. Can’t get mad at him for that.” – Ray G
“If my cat does not see anyone in the house, she walks around the house crying, it’s one of the few times she is vocal besides meal time. And when anyone, except my 9year old, comes home she runs to the door with anticipation.” – Marianne M
“I don’t know how much my cats miss me. When I am home, they follow me around the apartment to keep an eye on me. (I am sure this happens to many people. (I just want to use the bathroom, I don’t need an audience)
When I leave I always tell them I am going to work, or I’ll be back in an hour or two. One of my cats is always waiting for me at the front door. The other (my black kitty) will emerge from wherever she was, meow, rub up against me for a minute then got back to whatever she was doing.” – Louis H L
“When I worked outside the home, my neighbors told me that he would see my kitties go to the front window right before it was time for me to get home, and look for me. Now even if I just go out for groceries, my little one will wait at the door and run to me when I get home.” GiGi F
“Yes my cat misses me. When I’m out my husband says the cat sits by the door until I come back. As soon as I come back home he follows me around and sits next to wherever I sit down.” Sharon H G
“She misses me terribly. Even after I come home after an hour she won’t stop curling around my legs and wanting to be petted!” Joanne S
“I had to go out of town for work for a week. My cat Archie got depressed and didn’t want to do anything for the first couple of days I was gone. After the week was up and I got in really late…he came up to me with this look in his eyes like he never thought he would see me again. His eyes were all teared up and was about to actually cry.” – Lawrence D
“I have a camera in the house to watch my pets when I leave. My cat sits in the window and watches for me from the time I leave my driveway and then gets super excited and starts meowing when I pull in and runs to the door to greet me. He does this no matter if I am gone 5 mins to a couple of hours.” – Makalya P
“When I used to work away from home, my cat or cats would always greet me with joy as I came home. My late husband said he always knew when I had parked the car, as our cats would run to the door to have him open it and they would run down the stairs to greet me. Apparently, they knew the sound of the car or perhaps my steps on the stairs.” – Jean D
My Thoughts
I have a lot of experience regarding being away from my cat. I’m British but I live in the Canary Islands.
I’d often travel back to England to visit my family leaving my wife and our cat called Coco at home.
Coco would always react to my FaceTime calls when phoning home and on my return, he’d be quite different with me for a short time.
He’d always seem a little sheepish and not quite himself.
When he was a lot younger he’d purr really loudly when I’d pick him up on returning home but these days he doesn’t want to be picked up by me for the first hour.
I suppose this doesn’t show that he misses me but it definitely displays a change in behavior when I leave the house for long periods of time.
How well do you know your cat? Want to do a quick quiz about cats? Click here…
Lee Harris
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