Hari Raya Aidilfitri is just around the corner and like other festive seasons in our country, it is customary for Malaysians to take the opportunity to return to their hometown to celebrate.
However, for those who have cute and cuddly pets at home, this may prove to be a challenge as going to balik kampung means leaving them without any supervision at home and bringing them along on the road trip is most of the time out of the question.
Well, if you’ve got a pet cat and are going back to your home town this Hari Raya, worry not as recently, a Malaysian veterinary officer shared several tips on leaving your furry friend at home.
As shared by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) on Instagram, Dr Nor-Alimah binti Rahman, the veterinary officer at the university’s veterinary medicine faculty shared that firstly, you need to provide sufficient basic necessities for your cat(s).
These include clean water, pet food and a litter box that are sufficient for them. She then added that for food and water, pet owners need to gauge how much the cat(s) eat throughout the day and provide them with that amount multiplied by the number of days.
Dr Nor-Alimah added that pet owners need to invest in a food and water container that can be opened automatically.
As for the litter box or a designated place for the cat(s) to “do their business”, the UPM veterinary officer asserted that for one cat, you need to provide them with two litter boxes.
For pet owners that have two cats, you need to provide three litter boxes, and so on. Moreover, the amount of sand must also be sufficient, at least 3cm to 5cm thick so that it can absorb the litter effectively.
At the end of the video, Dr Nor-Alimah advised pet owners who are going back to their home town and can’t bring their pets along to temporarily send them over to animal welfare organisations near their homes. She asserted,
“For those who are going to balik kampung and don’t know what to do with their pets, if you can’t bring them along, maybe send them over to animal welfare organisations near you.
“There are tens of organisations that you can contact, or you can also put up on social media to ask if there is anyone that wants to be the ‘adoptive parents’ for the cats.”
You can watch the whole video here:
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Awesome! So, have you guys got any experience with leaving your pets alone safely at home for an extended period of time while you’re away? Share your tips and experiences with us in the comments.
Also read: Thai Man Goes On A 300km ‘Balik Kampung’ Road Trip With His 11 Cats In Motorcycle Sidecar
