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Well, I guess it's different bc we have a dog and they can't be left alone as much as cats! But the longest we've left him alone is 12 hours, and we always feel awful about that. That only happens under weird circumstances like both of us having to work late.

I don't think you're being Over the top at all!

We don't leave our dog for more than 8 hours. She's in a crate so she needs to be let out to eat and potty. If we have to go away for the weekend we leave her with her grandparents If I have to go somewhere after work I go home at lunch and let her out. She can't be trusted alone in the house outside of a crate so it is what it is!

Well, my dog is just a puppy so I wouldn't leave him alone very long at all

I know that when cats are older, many people seem to leave for weekends and just leave some extra food out, but cats are fairly self-sufficient, have litter boxes, etc. It does sound like your kittys might have special dietary needs, though (wet vs dry food, etc.).

Random, related story, but a few weekends ago, on the long Columbus day weekend, we could hear one of the dogs in an apartment on our floor YOWLING for hours and hours, starting in the early morning of Saturday and going through that evening almost non-stop. I kept going to the door, standing outside, and could hear the poor doggy scratching at the door, and s/he got increasingly hoarse as the day progressed.

I was getting really anxious and concerned for the poor dog, and thought that something may have happened to the owners. So my husband went to the front desk and they tried to get ahold of the people in that apartment. Apparently they WENT OUT OF TOWN for the LONG WEEKEND and left their poor dog there. ALONE. ALL WEEKEND. FROM FRIDAY TO TUESDAY. They claimed to have a "dog-walker" but I had been pretty aware of the dog/that apartment all day since I was so concerned for the dog, and hadn't seen or heard anyone go in or out. That poor dog, I felt SO badly for it. By Tuesday morning, when the owners got back, the poor dog could barely bark it was so hoarse.

Horrible, just horrible.

Anyway, sorry, that was a really random aside I think it's nice that you got your mom to check on the cats, but for them I imagine it's not incredibly necessary to have someone physically stay with them, maybe just go, change out food/water, and litter boxes.

Our cats are 10 and 4 and we will leave them for a long weekend. I wouldn't do anything longer than that though. Cat boxes get really gross quickly and while I trust them, I wouldn't want them to find an alternative bathroom.
The dog either comes with us or we get a dogsitter to stay at our place.
@anyonesays: That is so horrible! That poor pup!

oliviaoblivia, meredithNYC, MrsBrewer - I know, it was seriously heart-breaking. My pup kept going to the door and listening too; I think he was concerned. I felt so, so horrible for the poor dog (and secretly hoped that he just absolutely destroyed their apartment to teach them a lesson!). Poor doggy Ugh. Some people really shouldn't be pet-owners.

I don't have a cat so I'm not sure! We have elft our dog for 12 hour stretches. If I go away for the weekend while DH works, if I leave the dog at home she is alone while he does a 12 hour shift. She has the run of the house and free feeds though, so she is fine. She is 6 now and literally sleeps for 22-23 hours a day, so I don't think she minds!

I have a dog, so we couldn't leave him overnight unless we wanted a giant mess the clean up when we got back. The longest he is home alone is 11 hours during the work day, if whoever is walking him is running late. He sleeps all day. When we go away, he usually stays with my BIL and has his usual 3 walks a day, 2 feedings. I think once when BIL was watching him, he walked him at night and in the morning but didn't stay over with him, and it was the only time he spent the night alone. I suppose in a real pinch, we could do a dog walker 3 times a day and have him stay along the rest of the time, but the dog walker we have used in emergencies charges about $20 a walk, so that would be really expensive!
For a cat, I would think it's OK for them to just have someone come over once a day, but I wouldn't be comfortable leaving them without someone checking on them more than overnight.

@sslm: probably 12 hours tops!

we have a cat, so much less needy than a dog. the longest we've left him is a week and my bff came and spent an afternoon in the middle with him. he was VERY upset when we came home though. we're going to have to leave him for 9 days next month, but i'll have bff go once & my parents go once. i feel bad, but i don't know what else to do with him! he HATES the car, and if he were to go anywhere else, he'd cry the whole time! even when we've moved, and i was home with him, he cried the first 48hrs straight, then every night for the first week! he's not good with change =/

Longest we've left our cats is 10 days. We just had a friend stop by every other day and feed them. Put out extra litter and call it good. Cats really don't care if you're there or not. Sure, they might miss you a little but they're happy to have their own time to chill.

We only have dogs and the most we'd leave them is 12 hours.

I can't believe anyone would leave a dog for a weekend away! :*((((

We've only ever left our dog for the equivalent of a work day. Maybe 10hrs max. She's very much a couch potato though and is pretty low maintenance.

We leave our cats when we travel. The longest we've left them is 4 nights. I don't feel comfortable going longer than that. We just leave bowls of food and water all over and put an extra litter box out.