Something to consider...

[Nemo14]

Before you post too much info online about yourself and your vacation plans, you might want to read this....
http://news.yahoo.com/video/squatters-over-home-while-family-212741065.html

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Depends on the cat...
I once had a cat that would sit in the middle of our kitchen, stare at one of our dogs and puff his tail up and twitch it. He was a tough one. That dog would freeze on the spot and not move past that cat. Heres a big tough GS that was intimidated by a cat. So maybe the right guard cat could do the job..

Reminds me of a feral cat that used to terrorize us. We had a neighbor at our old house that was harboring a feral cat population. This massive orange cat decided for a while that our front porch was his territory. We'd find him sitting there when we got home and the darn thing would literally growl before the hissing and tough guy posturing started up.

I usually wait to post on FB until after we get back from vacay, but I do tell one of my neighbors. We've known her for a number of years and she's recently retired- so she's home quite a bit.

 

[Sans Souci]

My mom and my grandmother live a few blocks away, so they check in daily. My mom likes to use our pool when we're gone, so she's here quite a bit. I do worry about teens trashing the house, since we are surrounded by loads of them. Most of them seem like good kids. There's a group across the street I worry about. It only takes one with a stupid idea.