Thanks this is great. The leaving them alone thing is actually why I'm going for a cat even though I eventually want a dog and a cat and like dogs slightly more. But until I can afford a daycare, it seems crueler to leave a dog alone. Cats seem to be able to entertain themselves, especially if they have plenty of toys.

The water thing is funny. My roommate's former cat would not drink out of a bowl. She would only drink out of the bubbler on the fish tank. We think it is because she was abandoned on the street for a long while before she was found, so she likes the running water which in the wild would be safer.