A holiday safe space for your cat is essential if you plan to entertain visitors.

The holidays are here! Your entire family is coming to visit, but your cat may not be comfortable interacting with such a large group (or even a small one!). Creating a holiday safe space for your cat gives them somewhere they can retreat from the noise and chaos that comes with holiday hosting.

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The Essentials Of A Holiday Safe Space For Your Cat

There are certain things your cat needs in order to feel safe:

• A dedicated room or space all their own
• Food, water, and a litter box
• Comfort items

Dedicated Space

It can be difficult to squeeze everyone in, especially when you’re making your cat a holiday safe space. Just remember that your cat lives there, not your guests. As much as we like to make humans a priority during the holidays, your cat deserves to feel as comfortable as possible in their own home.

If you’re having trouble fitting both your cat and your visitors into your home, consider asking family and friends to stay at a hotel. It’s not worth putting your cat through high amounts of stress by forcing them to share a space with unfamiliar people.

Food, Water, Litter Box

These should be a given, right? You should always make sure your cat doesn’t have to exit their holiday safe space in order to eat, drink, or use the bathroom. If you don’t, your kitty may end up eliminating elsewhere (e.g. your new curtains) and won’t eat or drink.

When setting up a holiday safe space for your cat, ensure their food and water are as far away from the litter box as possible. Cats don’t like eating where they pee or poop. For more tips, check out our blog post on proper litter box setup.

Comfort Items

Moving your cat’s essentials to a different room can be an abrupt change. Having their favorite toys and bed in the room will help them adjust better, as those items carry heavy amounts of their scent.

If your cat is able to take CBD oil, you can use it as a supplement to help keep them calm during holiday visits. We have used Holistapet’s CBD oil in the past, and it has helped with stressful events. Consult your veterinarian before using CBD oil.

Don’t forget to offer your cat extra treats as well!

How To Set Up A Holiday Safe Space When Traveling

This can be a bit tricky, especially if the person you’re visiting is short on space.

The essentials for a holiday safe space for your cat are the same as listed above. If you aren’t able to give your cat a dedicated space at the place you’re visiting, consider these alternatives.

Pet-Friendly Hotels

It used to be nearly impossible to find a hotel that allows pets. On family vacations, we’d have to sneak my cat in and hope the hotel employees didn’t find out. Thankfully, modern cat owners have more options.

Big hotel chains are now catering to pet owners. You can easily bring along your cat or dog and have them stay in the room with you (a small pet fee may apply). American Kennel Club has an extensive list of pet-friendly hotel chains here.

Cat Sitters

Cat sitters are rapidly becoming a favored alternative to pet hotels (not to be confused with pet-friendly hotels). No one likes keeping their cat cooped up in a kennel in an unfamiliar place. Cat sitters allow you to keep your cat at home and have a friendly professional care for them there.

Most major cities will have at least a couple cat sitters available, but those in rural areas may find this option more difficult. Check out The Spruce’s tips on how to find a reputable cat sitter in your area.

Portable Safe Space

If you have no other choice but to bring your cat travelling, and the place you’re staying has no room for a holiday safe space, you may have to improvise.

We always travel with the SleepyPod cat carrier. It’s designed to be both a cat carrier and a bed; the dome top gives your cat room to move around, and it’s breathable thanks to the mesh fabric. This gives your cat a quiet and familiar place to retreat to where they can also rest and relax.

You can also use a product like a clear pet enclosure or a small tent to give your cat their own space. These items allow you to fit everything your cat needs in an isolated space so that they don’t have to exit a carrier to eat, drink, or use the litter box.

Do you have any tips for setting up a holiday safe space for your cat? Shout it out in the comments below!

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