A week of work in the house is one of the highest-risk ordinary situations for an indoor cat. Doors stand open for materials, strangers move through rooms the cat considers hers, drills and hammering send her looking for an exit, and everyone assumes someone else has seen her. The answer is not vigilance in the moment, which fails by the second day, but a system: one safe room, one set of rules the crew hears from you directly, and a routine inside that room that keeps your cat calm and accounted for from the first morning to the final clear-out.
Setting up the safe room properly
Choose a quiet room away from the work, ideally one the cat already likes, with a door that closes and latches firmly. Move everything in before the crew arrives: litter tray in one corner, water and food well away from it, bedding, a scratching post, toys, and a covered hiding place such as a box with a blanket, because a cat who can hide in her own room feels far less need to bolt from it. Add a worn item of your clothing for a familiar smell. Check the room for its own escape routes: windows closed or screened, chimney openings blocked, and no gaps behind appliances. Put a large, plain sign on the door saying a cat is inside and the door must stay shut, and tape over the latch side if workers keep drifting in with materials.
Briefing the crew so the rules survive the week
Signs alone are not enough. Speak to whoever leads the crew on the first morning, explain that a cat is in the safe room, that the door stays closed, and that if she does get out they should stop, stay calm, and call you rather than chase her. Agree where deliveries come in and which door the crew uses, so traffic avoids the safe room's corridor where possible. Ask them to tell you before any work that involves opening external doors wide, propping doors, or cutting power or water near the safe room. Most tradespeople are happy to work around a cat when the ask is clear and made once, early; problems come from assumptions, not ill will.
Keeping your cat settled through noise and disruption
Visit the safe room on her normal schedule, not just when you remember. Feed at usual times, keep a play session in the evening, and spend ordinary quiet time in there so the room means company, not exile. On the loudest days, a radio at low volume can soften sudden bangs. Watch eating, drinking, and litter use, because a cat who stops eating in the stress of a disrupted week needs a call to your veterinarian for advice sooner rather than later. Never be tempted to let her out for a stretch while the crew is at lunch unless every external door is shut and you can supervise; midweek exceptions are exactly when cats vanish.
Checks that close each day safely
Build two fixed checks into the week: a headcount in the safe room before the crew leaves each day, while you can still question anyone about a door left open, and a room check before any large delivery arrives. If several people in the household share these duties, write down who did each check rather than relying on memory across five busy days. That shared, visible routine is where KinsLe's Care Teams earns its place, letting each person mark the morning headcount, feeding visit, and evening check as done with a timestamp, so your cat's week with the workmen runs on confirmed tasks, not assumptions.