Left alone

My daughter has two elderly cats. She enjoys up to a week away with a special feeder that 'delivers' a set amount of dried food at set times, Even has a recording of her voice talking to her 'boys' each time a delivery is made.
she has found that her 'boys' find this much less disruptive than having someone come into the house to fee them. Obviously they have a cat flap and a water fountain.

Macadia

chicken

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies to my post.
I have now told my DD that I feel vulnerable because of potential falls and so will not be taking on the responsibility of the cats. I shall take the advice of carrying a mobile phone which I can keep in a bum-bag. OH would never consider a hotel stay, and I don't enjoy "enforced jollity" as in communal Christmas events, but I have found a lady who delivers Christmas dinners which will give me a nice day free of cooking.
I like the sound of Care Calls and will investigate that.
I must stress that, in spite of my age, I am completely independent and need no care from family or others, but do appreciate having family around just in case. In emergency, I would call 111 for medical events or trusted workmen that I know for practical issues.

This is GN at it's best. People helping people.

Totally agree Macadia. Enjoy a stress free and happy Christmas chicken. 😊

Housecraftandcommunitystudies

I have a tiny cross body bag that my phone just fits in and when I go down stairs at night or I have to take the bin out in slippy weather always have it on.

My mother-in-law does this. She is 100 and it gives her the security she needs.
She uses it nearly all the time both inside and outside, even taking it to the bathroom and having it very close when she showers. It's a great idea.
Even in areas where the signal isn't great you can generally get a phone to connect after a few goes. I don't know how long it is since you tried to make a mobile phone call but things have really improved over the last few years.
Please try this before they go away.

It might be worth checking the signal as obviously you are able to come online here - presumably if you have no phone signal, something else (internet) is working so you can undoubtedly make a WhatsApp call.

Here's a signal checker;
www.signalchecker.co.uk/

Maybe the phone you are using is 3G?

Sorry, I came late to this thread.
Delighted you are sorted!
Merry Christmas

I would feel hurt, I feel they are all selfish, pity you didn't sell the house.

Hope everything was ok with the Christmas period chicken. going forward, it would be useful for you and DH safety to have an assessment visit from social services or whichever department your council has for care for elderly. My DM had a call alarm which she could press (round her neck) if she was worried, fell or something was wrong. She also had a key safe box at the door and services such as GP, District Nurses, family etc knew the number to gain access in case of falls. Could you perhaps arrange a visit from elderly care to explore these options. You sound very independent at the moment but these are small non invasive things that may give you reassurance. Hope you enjoyed Christmas.

Also “late to the party” I was saddened to hear you would be entirely on your own . Not my place to criticise other families, but I find it thoughtless of them

I would think the very least they could do is to pay for a cat sitter and ensure their parents welfare is taken care of over Christmas. After all, they should have the funds (to say nothing of gratitude in abundance) having been given a free house!

I'm not sure if people are reading the thread but the discussion was had with Chicken's daughter and a solution found.

Look back to 27/11/2024 16:53

Hope all is still OK chicken