One of the things I love most about cats is their ability to take care of themselves for extended periods of time. I have left Mau-be home alone for 5 days before (ironically I left him alone because I was dog-sitting for a friend of mine) because all I had to do was leave him lots of food and water and clean litter. I'll admit when I got home the litter was a bit full, and he maybe made a bit of a mess playing with his toys in my laundry pile, but otherwise, he was just fine.
The thing is, no matter how much cats will have you believe otherwise, they are social creatures. My cat is for sure. He's not the kind to jump in my lap whenever I sit down and generally avoids cuddling with me while I watch movies (which is both very annoying and also makes it really special when he does). But he always sleeps next to my pillow, he always sits with me while I eat (ok, I admit he has ulterior motives there) and he always meets me at the door when I come home so I can pick him up and hold him while he purrs.
Sadly, I realized that lately about the only thing I do with him is sleep. So now he's like super-clingy. Always jumps up to the computer desk so he can curl up around my arm (which makes using the mouse very interesting) and is even more belligerant than I am when the alarm goes off enough times for me to actually get out of bed.
I know you moms out there have your own stories about the big googly-eyes you get from your kids when you leave them at the sitters/with your mom/in front of the TV with 8 hours of ho-hos and Veggie Tales. But what about your pets? I write about what I know, and I know my cat is lonely. Do you have lonely pets at home? How do you deal with it? It's not like I can buy him a DS to make up for how often I'm away. :)
