Leaving my pets for vacation for the first time.

I don't take long vacations because two of my three cats are twenty-five, so I don't like to leave them alone. Oh, I can easily make sure they have enough food and water, and I can arrange for someone to change the litter boxes, but they are used to a lot of attention during the day and, at their age, they need some attention. Because I was single for the first ten years of their lives, they don't adjust well to new people so it's not like I can ask a friend to spend time with them; they would hide and the friend would never see them. The young one, Ella, would be fine with pretty much anyone. She tried to go home with the UPS guy the other day, so I wouldn't worry about her.

Their cat feeder will hold eight pounds of kibble, which gravity feeds into the bowl, so they have enough food for a couple of weeks, at least. Adding water bowls is no problem. But I also feed my cats wet food three times a day, to be sure they get enough hydration, and that's a little harder to arrange.