Do you go out of town often, leaving your cat in the care of friends and strangers? Cats will stress out when their owners are not in the home. Something is not "right" in their routine, and even the most complacent cats can get into mischief, or try and escape to go looking for the person who they care about. Make sure that when you leave that all doors to the different rooms of your home are either securely opened or securely latched.

The same goes with cupboards and closets. All to often I get emails from broken hearted owners who come home after vacation to find their cat has been trapped in a room for so many days and is now either at the vet's office really ill, or has crossed over the bridge. So be sure your home is secure!

Leave your scent behind. My best trick is to put on an old ratty tee shirt and get it really sweaty. Then I cut the tee shirt up in strips and leave the strips sealed in a ziplock bag in the freezer with instructions to the temporary caregiver to give the animals a few strips a day, just lay them out on the floor.

Or take a pair of old sneakers and wear them without socks as you work around the house, get them nice and sweaty, then seal the shoes, and leave one out right before you leave your home, with instructions to leave the other one out a few days after.

Cats are scent-oriented, if they can smell their owner, they will know eventually that you will return. If you are gone longer than planned, take a plain sheet of paper, and press it firmly to your forehead. Rub it gently to deposit your scent on it, then pop it in an envelope and mail it to your caregiver with the instructions to just put the paper on the floor for the kitty to discover.

Spay and neuter your cat! That is the best prevention from stopping their wanderlust spirit. If you don't spay and neuter even your inside-only cats, you stand a great risk of losing them once kitten season arrives.