Vacation options: boarding your pet or pet-sitting

Let caretakers know if your pet has dietary or medication
needs. Plan ahead and you'll both enjoy your vacation.

Vacation season is coming. For pet owners, that means one of three options:

1. take your pet(s) with you
2. leave your pet(s) in a boarding kennel of some kind
3. get a sitter to care for your pet(s) while you’re gone

Taking these in order, let’s look at the pet-with-you option. Some pets travel better than others. For instance, very few people take their fish on vacation with them. For one thing, there’s the water-sloshing issue. For another, even a five-gallon aquarium weighs a lot. If you have a motor home, maybe you could find a place to put it—but would your fish thank you? Dogs, on the other hand, usually love road trips. And my mother-in-law took her cat along too, the year she traveled by camper van.

Before you say, yes, that’s the ticket for me, consider where you’re going and how you’re getting there. If you plan to drive and your cat or dog does well in the car, you only need to make sure your pet (or pets) will be welcome wherever you plan to stay. If you’re flying or taking a cruise, check with your carrier to see if bring your pet is even an option—and if it is, how much that will cost.

Which brings us to the boarding option. My childhood dog always carried on as though we were deserting her forever and she expected to be executed in the morning. When we picked her up again, she practically turned inside out in her excitement that we hadn’t given her up forever. On the other hand, my mother-in-law has found a kennel out in the country that her dog thinks is a vacation spa. Remember, dogs are like toddlers—some adjust to change easily while others are insecure.

If you decide to board your dog or cat, do check out the facility with a visit beforehand. The place should be clean, with appropriate bedding, exercise areas and separation between boarders. Caregivers should ask about food preference, feeding schedule, and ways to make your pet feel at home. Ask about veterinary backup in case of illness or injury. And reserve your time early, as boarding kennels fill up just like human hotels.

If you have a pet other than a cat or dog, you may have a hard time finding a kennel that takes your ferret, bird, fish, iguana or hermit crab. So on to our third option, using a pet-sitter. I have a friend who can combine pet- and house-sitting by inviting a young couple she knows to trade their apartment living for her beautifully appointed house in return for looking after her cats.

Mostly, we take our dog along, when we travel. The ferret is another story. Enter the pet-sitter. I found out that a friend is not only a trained vet-tech but loves to pet-sit, walk dogs, etc. We have a mid-size cage for the ferret, easy enough to carry around, so I took the ferret to her home for convenience.

When choosing a sitter, interview for qualifications. Ask about insurance … and bonding, if the sitter will have access to your home. And before you decide, have him or her meet your pet. Remember the pet/toddler similarity. You can’t expect your pet to accept a stranger instantly—so make the sitter as familiar as possible. All the training in the world won’t matter if your Petunia takes an instant dislike to the potential sitter.

Sitter or kennels or taking your pet along … think it through now so you and your pet can both have a great time when you go on vacation.