What Should You Do With Your Pets While on Vacation?
Your hotel is booked, your bags are packed and you’re just about ready to head out on vacation. You’ve planned for every contingency, accounted for every possible outcome and you’ve made several lists and checked them twice to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything. But what about your pet? Finding the proper care for your furry family member while you’re on vacation should be an integral part of every vacation planning checklist. Here are a couple of different options you have to make sure your pet receives the care it needs while you’re out of town.
Take Them With You
This, most likely, is the first choice for just about every loving pet parent. However, it’s not always the most realistic. Planning a pet-friendly vacation requires plenty of research and thinking ahead. Does your preferred lodging allow pets? Are the sights and activities you’re planning pet-friendly? Are your travel plans accommodating for your furry family member to join you? These are just a few factors you’ll need to take into account if you do plan on bringing your pet on vacation with you.
Hire a Pet Sitter
Many pets feel most comfortable in their home environment. So having a pet sitter stop by for walks, food, water and playtime is certainly a good option. You can work with a professional, or even with a close friend or family member whom your pet is familiar with. Plan accordingly with your sitter if she should stop by once or multiple times a day, and make sure to provide her with a comprehensive list/pointers that will help her care for your pet.
If necessary, you may want to hire a live-in sitter, depending on the needs of your pet and how comfortable you would feel with someone living in your house. This would allow the sitter to provide your pet with the best quality of care possible.
In-Home Pet Boarding
In-home pet boarding is fairly similar to hiring a sitter, except you will be dropping your pet off at the sitter’s home before leaving on vacation. In-home boarding provides your pet with more attention and supervision from a responsible pet owner. There’s also the added security that you’re not giving someone access to your house while you’re away. Taking pricing into consideration, in-home boarding tends to be less expensive than a live-in pet sitter, while providing a similar level of care.
Traditional Boarding
This is probably the method most people immediately think of when it comes time to leave their pet behind. Most reputable Dog Kennels or Catteries, do require that their caretakers are certified and licensed, so you can rest easy knowing your dog or cat will be adequately taken care of. However, your pet might not receive the level of individual care compared to some of the other options available.
If boarding your cat, make sure to choose a facility that is feline-only and does not allow the other cats to come into contact with each other. This kind of environment is preferred for a cat in an unfamiliar area. On the other hand, if boarding a dog, look for a facility that will allow dogs to play and socialize with each other since they are pack animals.
If you do plan on taking your pet with you on a road trip, make sure to visit the pet accessory page on WeatherTech.com for all your pet traveling accessory needs!