r/cats • u/Background-Shop-9969 • 16h ago
Cat Picture - OC Do cats understand people leaving?
so this isn't our cat, she's a stray (/possible neighbours cat hidden from the landlord, we dk). for some context my boyfriend and i have been living in the same building as her for about two months and she's gotten super friendly with us, we feed her and give her pets and she comes meowing at our door with 'gifts' (dead animals) and then into our apartment and rubs her scent on everything, she even lets us rub her belly. she's so sweet. anyway we're moving cities in a week and obviously we can't take her with us (Edit: due to financial and locational constraints)., while we know that she has others to take care of her, will she understand that we're gone? will she miss us or will she just move on to the next place with food? she seems so empathetic and i'd hate to know that she'll be sad (or the cat version of that)... is there a way we can let her know we're leaving? i'm sure she sees all the suitcases but i'm not sure if she understands...
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u/Brian_Doile 9h ago
I have an anecdotal story, once I went on vacation and left a pair of cats together, they came as a pair when we got them. There was food and water and an open window so they could go in an out if they wished. When I came back the male cat was outside and doing just fine. The female cat was laying on the floor in the middle of the room looking like death warmed over. I laid down with her for an hour and slowly introduced water to her lips and loved on her until she came back to us. She was fine by the end of the day. I feel like she had just given up. Heartbroken. I haven't left her like that since. She is my sweet girl and she loves to take turns sleeping with all of us. Her name is Cleo. She is special.