This is Big Buddy with a live dispatch from the Hyatt Garden Inn, where Little Buddy has spent much of the past 24 hours hiding under a hotel room bed.
Sources say he poked his little head out overnight to deliver a few “Mrrrrps,” finally emerging this morning to eat and use his litter box.
But seriously, two things I wasn’t prepared for: Bud being almost completely silent, and the ability to use the bathroom without a loud, talkative cat screeching at me! I’d forgotten what it was like.
In case you missed the earlier posts, we’re here for two nights because of a bathroom renovation. I weighed whether it was better to leave Bud alone with contractors coming in and out and lots of noise, or to bring him with me. I still think I did the right thing in bringing him here, even though he was not amused in the slightest about being brought to a strange place for reasons he doesn’t understand.
Still, as long as I’m here with him he’s cool, and yesterday I sat down next to his hiding place and spoke to him in a reassuring voice, telling him what a brave little dude he is.
Today’s been much better and I’m reasonably sure that he’ll spend most of tonight alternating between sleeping on top of me and standing on my head, shrieking for snacks.
This has been illuminating and now I know what to expect if I have to bring him to a hotel or somewhere else overnight in the future. I appreciate the earlier advice of PITB readers, and have found the process of staying in a pet-friendly hotel painless. I left the “Do Not Disturb” tag on the door to avoid a potential Bud freak-out over a stranger walking in.
It’s also interesting to see just how attached cats can be to their familiar territory, and how age changes that dynamic. Young Bud would be like “Where are we going, dude?” But I’ve seriously slacked on bringing him places, especially since the pandemic. Combined with his age (he’s 12 now and not the fearless feline he used to be), the difference is pronounced.
Update, Wednesday 10/21/2026: We’re home. The contractors are still at work but tell us we’ll have a functional bathroom by late this afternoon. Bud’s glad to be home. Still, this validates my decision to take him with me to the hotel the last two days. He’s huddled in my bedroom where I have the door closed so he doesn’t freak out over the sight of strangers working in the Buddesian Domicile, the sounds of drills and powered saws, and the temporary mess.
As expected he’s looking to me for cues on how to react, so as long as I’m here with him and I’m calm, he’s not freaking out. I’m proud of him for handling the temporary transition out of his territory and the major disturbance to his routine. By tonight all will be normal.
The Budster did pretty well, considering how sudden the change was. Cats really dislike any break from their routine.
Many years ago my spouse and me were crossing the country via car. During a stop over in Tucson our cat Shrimi disappeared. One moment she was in the room and then she was gone. We ran around like lunatics, calling her name – nothing. No response, not even from the other guests.
And then we found her: she’d stuffed herself between the mattress and the bedsprings! Flat as a pan cake but safe!
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I hate those panicked moments when you don’t know if your cat has gotten out and is freaking out somewhere or running and you’ll never see them again.
And then finding them hiding is a huge wave of relief…followed by concern.
I’m glad Shrimi decided a hiding spot was better than bolting for parts unknown.
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Indeed. Shrimi was pretty bold in regular life but traveling was her nightmare.
Btw, the BBC wildlife mag again published an article on the immense number of extinctions due to cats. Billions, I tell you!
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I saw that and stopped reading in disgust. Thank you for reminding me about it. I really should post about it because I hate when this stuff goes unchallenged, and because the science is RIDICULOUSLY sloppy and shouldn’t even make peer review.
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OOF, Little Buddy really does not look amused in the food dish pic! Poor guy . . . I know you made the right decision — and he will be so happy once the contractors are gone, life returns to normal, and he has you all to himself again!
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They just left a few minutes ago and will be back tomorrow to do a few more things but the king just poked his head out, did a scent-applying lap of the living room and seems relaxed.
He also inhaled his first meal since we got back after eating very little most of the time we were in the hotel.
It makes me appreciate how stressful it is for shelter cats and even captive big cats who are moved between sanctuaries and zoos. Home is a big deal to a cat.
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Wow, only two nights! You lucky so and so. Three years ago my upstairs toilet overflowed to the point that it ruined both upstairs and downstairs floors. I got to pack-up my three cats and went to stay at a pet friendly hotel. A two months stay stretched to eight months! Each cat handled it in their own way, as long as Chewy keep sending boxes.
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Holy crap! Pun intended. What could cause that level of damage, a pipe failure or something? I’m glad your cats were cool about it.
My bathroom isn’t very big but I do appreciate the quick work. They’ve gotta come back tomorrow to finish and install the faucet but I never thought I’d be this happy to have a functioning toilet.
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I think that in every species, the older you get, the more you want things to stay the same. Of course, this isn’t true 100% of the time, but I get the impression that once you reach a certain age, all you want to do is rest. I’m glad they’ve repaired the bathroom in your home and that everything will be back to normal soon. It must have been quite an experience.
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It just seems wrong when your cat is 10 years old and that’s supposed to be equivalent to 60. It’s like, “What?!? No, he’s a baby!”
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I totally get you. I have a 16-year-old cat, and I usually say she’s not old, she’s just a teenager.
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All’s Well That Ends Well, as the bard was keen to remind us. Seems like you made the right call – better that Bud keeps his head down in an unfamiliar setting rather than staying to see (and hear) his home territory violated by strangers.
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Not sure if you were kidding about leaving him with contractors but NEVER leave a cat with any workers. I had to lure one cat in with treats when owners gave keys to plumbers. Other incident was door was left open and had to lend person a trap. Nearly 2 WEEKS later her cat was trapped.
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I was considering leaving him in my bedroom where his litter box and bowls are anyway. Definitely not loose in the apartment with people coming in and out, carrying equipment, etc.
But I decided that would be bad because he’d be freaking out without me there. Hiding for 24 hours under a hotel bed is probably minor compared to leaving him in a bedroom alone where he can hear the noise and doesn’t know when I’m coming back.
Believe me, the last thing I’d do is create a situation where I’d lose him.
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I know you would not but people have done that. That cat that escaped from my clients house? I insisted i stay there while workers were there and did not have to pay me for day when plumber was there. I can only imagine if i were not there. Felix the cat was under car in front of house.
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Yeah sometimes people forget our homes are also our cats’ territories, and strangers coming in, moving stuff around, making lots of noise, new smells, chaos, it’s all difficult for a cat.
Bud accompanied me into the new bathroom once, was stressed, and since then he’s waited outside the door for me without meowing to be let in. I’m sure he’ll adjust, but it shows how much these things impact our little buddies.
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