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6 Signs Your Cat Missed You While You Were On Vacation

Christine Schoenwald
4 min readJul 26, 2021

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Photo by Valérie Ungerer on Unsplash

“Most of the cats are under the beds,” said Kurt, our occasional roommate, and consistent pet-sitter. Andy and I are vacationing in South Lake Tahoe, and Kurt had called with an update on our cats.

“Jimi is the only brave one who’s walking around.”

Sometimes the cats go under the bed when it’s hot, so that could be the reason for Allie going deep undercover. Carlos is afraid of Kurt, so he’s hiding, and Josie is probably pissed off that I’m not there at the ready to supply kisses and cuddles.

We’ve had Carlos for almost a year, and we’ve never been away from him. I pray he won’t forget me and revert to some of his street-kitty ways.

Whatever the cats are feeling now, we’ll know when we return in a few days. The signs of their missing us can be subtle, but we’re skilled at deciphering them. Once when we were going on a trip to Hawaii, one of our late cats peed all over Andy’s suitcase and made it clear he wasn’t happy that we were leaving him.

If you asked a cat if they missed their humans, they’d most likely lie and say that they missed the routine of their caregivers. The truth is our cats do a kind of loss when we’re not there.

How to know if your cat missed you.

Cats have their reputations to protect. They can’t come out and say it — they’ve got too much pride for that. You need to decipher the signs of their missing you and come to your own conclusions.

They act as if they don’t know you.

When you come home from a trip, your cat may get a disgusted look on its face and run away when you try to touch them. They’re pretending like they don’t need you and that whether you’re there or not, it makes no difference to them. They seem to say, “Who are you again? And why should I care?”

It may take a few minutes to an hour or so for them to warm up. “Oh yes, it’s coming back to me now. You, humans, are so unreliable. I’m glad you didn’t abandon me — things can get back to normal now.”

They rub up against you and try to cover you with…

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Christine Schoenwald
Christine Schoenwald

Written by Christine Schoenwald

Writer for The Los Angeles Times, Salon, Next Avenue, Business Insider, and Your Tango Christineschoenwaldwriter.com

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