Pet-keeping during a vacation
Proper planning will ensure a lovely vacation for both, you and your pet.
Having pets, like all the other pleasures in life, comes along with its own set of responsibilities. The pet soon becomes a member of the family and many emotional bonds get made with it. One of the most important among your responsibilities towards your pet would be to keep it happy and safe while you go on a vacation. Here are 10 tips for ensuring that:
1. Planning is very important. We usually plan a lot for long vacations. Please do the same about pet-care during those vacations too. This is because most of the options that you may consider for keeping your pet safe and happy will be available according to your needs and conveniences if you plan and make arrangements in time. Last minute arrangements stand the risk of being incomplete and unsatisfactory. Ensure that all the shots and injections for the pet have been administered before you leave.
2. In case your work or habit demands that you make sudden trips which may be long, it is advisable that you employ a permanent pet-sitter. If that is expensive to afford, have a friendly neighbor or some known person who loves pets to do it for you. Make sure that you return the favor at some time, in some way or the other because it is indeed a huge favor they are doing for you. You could get some gifts or help out in some other way. The task gets easier if they too are pet-loving.
3. If you are leaving behind your pet at a boarding facility, make sure that the place fulfills all the food, material and emotional needs of your pet too. Pack all the toys and favorite snacks of your pet. Do not forget to leave instructions about any special needs that your pet might have.
4. If it is a cat that you are leaving behind, make sure that there are enough stuff that you give the boarding center to make the cat feel homely. The idea of an ultimate holiday for a cat is my food, my home, my bed and my cushions. This is totally different from our vacationing ideas where we seek a change. So you could also consider leaving behind a T shirt (or your favorite sweat shirt) with your scent on so the cat can cuddle against it and feel cozy and nice.
5. Locking the pet at home for a few hours is fine. But if you plan to be out for a period of even a day, ensure that there is a pet-sitter at the least. Pets, especially cats, become very lonely, very soon. A lonely pet could also cause havoc and damage at home.
6. When you are employing a pet-sitter, allow the pet and pet-sitter to familiarize with each other. It would be a good idea to allow them to spend a few hours in each other’s company. Be present in the beginning and then, move out slowly. This will ensure that they can get comfortable with each other. You can also get an idea of how your pet behaves when you are not around.
7. There is a wrong notion that dogs and cats are enemies and so leaving them together would be a horror and tragedy. This is not so. There are many cases of good canine-feline friendship and sometimes this could also serve as good company for the pet. So, a friend/relative/pet-keeper who already has a pet could be a good choice.
8. If your pet is polite and well mannered, you could consider taking it along with you on vacation. Cats are not that fond of traveling places but dogs are. Before you do that, ensure that the place you are planning to go to welcomes pets. If you are not sure about the pet-friendliness of the place, make sure that you have some friend or relative nearby who can be entrusted with your pet.
9. While traveling with the pet, carry along its toys and favorite objects. It would be advisable to also carry a first aid kit and the food supplies too. Plastic bags and paper towels to clean up poop are vital supplies. Also, do not forget a photograph of the pet. This is just in case it gets lost!
10. Whenever you take your pet along, make sure that any damages or loss created by the pet are adequately compensated by you. That would be the basic courtesy as a guest. Also remember to personally thank the people who made efforts so that you enjoyed your vacation and your pet too had a good and safe time.
