A Tale of Two Kittens and One Puppy » Dogs & cats home alone

Last week we were on vacation. The boys have a pet sitter that comes in twice a day, but we knew that that would never work for Chester — he’s still going out about 6-7 times a day, most days.

We looked at a lot of different places, but we finally settled on a woman who boards dogs in her home. As my husband put it, Chester probably thought he was in summer camp, or doggy heaven, depending on how you look at it.

We live in a large city, and there are many, many different boarding kennels here. We probably looked at 4 or 5 different kennels, as well as looking at the Websites of another 10 or so. We asked at our vet, where it turned out one of the techs did in-home boarding. We ended up not choosing them because they lived quite a ways out of town, so it was difficult for us to go and visit their home.

You have a lot more choices of when it comes to dogs:

In-home boarding
Boarding at vets
Boarding at kennels

It’s a good idea to go and visit any place you’re considering first. We found that with larger facilities, it’s a good idea to drop in unannounced. Often they have drop off hours, and you may not be able to see their facility outside those drop off hours, so it’s a good idea to check their policies first. We found one place that had no one watching the dogs, who weren’t kenneled, when we dropped by (even after being told that it was okay to just drop by anytime).

In-home boarding is my ideal. That way your dog is in a somewhat familiar environment and has lots of room to roam. They’re not stuck in a small kennel with maybe two excursions outside each day. You do want to make sure that there’s a reasonable ratio of people to dogs, however. Two of the in-home boarding places I looked at had four dogs of their own, and will take on a maximum of another four dogs.

Boarding at a kennel is probably the next best option. Not all kennels are alike, though. Some charge a fee for boarding, then additional fees for additional services (additional playtimes, kongs, cuddle time, etc.). Some don’t let the dogs socialize, some do. Some take the dogs out frequently, some only a couple of times a day. Some have a person onsite at night, but not all do.

I’m not sure that I would ever board Chester at the vet, although we have close friends that board their dogs at the vet, and they say their dogs love it. Their vet happens to be open 24 hours a day, though, so at least someone is there all the time (most vets do not have any staff on at night).

Whatever you choose to use to board your dogs, make sure to do several trials before you leave. Try a daycare day first, then an overnight. That way you’ll feel easier about leaving your dog, and your dog will already be more used to their new environment.

Cats are more difficult. While there are catteries, most cats do much better in their own home. And that means getting someone in to look in on them at the very least once a day. I really believe twice a day is necessary, even though it is expensive. Cats can get very, very sick in a frighteningly short amount of time.

Neighbors and friends are certainly a cheaper option than a pet sitter, but you want to make sure that they know the signs of a sick cat. Some may not realize that a clean litterbox is not a good sign, for instance. Or they may not realize that cats shouldn’t go more than 24 hours without eating.

My parents say they can’t have animals because they travel too much. We travel, too, although I’ll admit it’s not as much as they do. It costs more for us to travel — in fact, it costs us roughly $40/day for our animals — but it’s worth it to me, to know that they’re getting the best care I can provide, even though I’m not there.

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