I also have no advice on payment. Now see, I would say Kinsey WILL do better relocating as it is such a long term. Six or 7 months for a cat to live alone is much too long; my 4 cats had a hard time when I traveled for 3 weeks once! I had 2 different folks stop in daily (one morning, one night) and I had the clock radio set to come on for an hour once a day. I think it is great that you are planning for her like this. It wasn't clear to me if you already have someone lined up or not. I would just discuss with the person and see what she thinks is proper.

You (and she) need to know it takes a cat 2 weeks to adjust to a new home setting, so she should not worry if Kinsey hides often at the beginning.

Would love to hear more about your A. Trail hike as well, awesome!