KENNEL DILEMMA pet care while you are gone

[critterchick]

With two dogs and six cats:eek: , not to mention an aquarium full of fish and a bunch of stray cats that we feed, we find it far more economical to hire a petsitter. Fortunately, our vet has an ample supply of young techs who live with their parents and are willing be paid to sit at our house even if it means being yowled at twice a day for meals and buried by a Border Collie mix at night.

 

We've boarded the dogs, and know that they hate it, but they get a bath & pedicure (nailclipping) and come out all nice & fresh-smelling & happy to see us. If we have to do that, our neighbor will come & feed our cats, and they do just fine. But the charges at the boarding facility add up to the point where it's less expensive and less stressful for all to have somebody live with them while we're gone.

[patrice1]

We are owned by an African Grey parrot and a Quaker parrot & we always hire a sitter to stay at our house. If the sitter is new to parrot-sitting, we ask that they stay a night with us to watch our evening & morning routines, for which we pay them. These folks are either close friends or vet techs. I call every day from the ship (or land, if available). I wouldn't enjoy myself otherwise. I also leave them the name of a bird-knowledgeable friend who knows our birds in case of emergency. We used to live near a birdy "bed & breakfast" that was wonderful, but they're too far away now. It is different for birds, as they wait in a cage all day for you to come home. On the last trip when we got home, my grey said "It's okaaaaay!" as soon as she saw us :) . Apparantly, she was very worried!

[gjules]

I'm puzzled why do so many people feel that it is so sad to put a dog in a kennel? Yes some dogs don't like it, but I would say that over 95% of the dogs that visit my kennel have a good to great time. They are interacting with other dogs which many can't do at home. They have play time with humans which show them care and love. Is it just the idea that they are in a "cage" "jail" what? We call our runs rooms to try to take that idea of "jail away. Isn't it more peace of mind knowing that your special kid is in a safe place and has human contact while you are away? Or always wondering while you are gone did your dog dig under the fence because it was bored and now is in danger of being lost forever due to a car?

For those of you that think that dogs are sad and depressed in a kennel, go and visit kennels and really look at the DOGS and see if they are drooling from stress or just laying around and sad. I will bet for the most part you will see excited dogs. If you drive up to a kennel and you hear it very loud (not exercise time or feeding) for more than five minutes then yes it might be a stressful kennel. I would go crazy if my kennel was loud all day. Most of the dogs nap in the day as they do at home. Exercise time is a whole other story. Sorry I didn't mean to go on and on.

 

We took our dogs to a particular kennel in our area several times and the last time apparently WAS a bad experience for our dog. We don't know WHAT exactly happened, but we had several hundred dollars worth of vet expenses over the next few months that were due to stress and seperation anxiety. We will not take our baby back to that kennel. This time I am researching LONG before vacation to find the best place for her. I don't think she got any one-on-one attention from these people. I'm not saying ALL kennels are bad, but that one didn't work for us. There are some in our area that provide a more family like setting for the dog and that is what I'm going for this time.

[sea_breaze]

Just when I thought I was going to have to research something for our upcoming cruise without the help of Cruise Critic I found this thread. You really can get advice about "everyhting" on this site.

 

Have 2 little ones of our own that will need taken care of while we are cruising. Was planning on talking to our vet about recommended kennels but really liking the pet sitting idea. Thanks to all for your input.

[suzeyQ]

I didn't read all of the replies but I have to chime in and highly recommend hiring a pet sitter. This is the best thing I've ever discovered. I once boarded my 3 cats at the kennel and they charged $17/day per cat ($60 per day total with tax). Then I found my sitter. She charges $16 per day and spends 45 minutes with them, collects the mail, waters the plants, etc. It's so much cheaper and best of all, the cats are so much happier!!!

[Max Circus]

We've never kennelled our dogs. Been lucky enough to have friends who are also dog-lovers for pet-sitting. This has the added bonus of house-sitting which gives you additional peace of mind. For our next cruise we have someone flying down from New England to stay for the week and take care of our 10 1/2 year-old Golden and 2 year-old mixed. He did it before for when we lived up there. Now he's getting a chance to escape a little of the cold. Win-Win all around.