- Mar
- 26
Finding a Reputable Sitter for Your Companion Animal Friend
Posted by Guest Blogger at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Abardwell / CC by 2.0
Leaving your animal companion safe and comfortable at home while you travel doesn't have to mean checking your loved one into a kennel, cattery, or veterinarian's office, where animals often become stressed, frightened, ill, or even hurt or lost. Ideally, "safe at home" means finding the right companion-animal sitter.Your best bet is to select someone you know personally and trust, such as a relative, close friend, coworker, or neighbor. It's best to stick with adults, since even well-intentioned youngsters can forget to come by when they are supposed to. Be sure that the person you choose likes and is comfortable around companion animals. It's best to have the person come to your house at least once prior to your trip so that he or she can meet and get acquainted with your animal friends.
If you have never been to the home of the person you are planning to have watch your animals, now is the time to pay a visit. Watching them interact with their own animals can give you an idea of how they will interact with yours.
Some people feel more comfortable having the person who is taking care of their animals stay at their home. This is especially appreciated when the animals are older or have health problems and can provide extra security for your animals in the event that they become ill or injure themselves during the night. However, only allow a responsible adult to stay at your home, and make it clear that you don't want the sitter to entertain visitors who are unknown to you—you don't want your animals to be harmed by a stranger or to slip out unnoticed during a wild party.
Another option is to hire a professional sitter, but you must be very careful to screen potential sitters, even those who are bonded, licensed, and insured. If you use a professional sitter, here are some basic rules to follow:
1. Ask for multiple references (including at least one from a veterinarian) and check them. Better yet, ask someone you know who takes excellent care of their animals to recommend a sitter they have experience with and trust. The National Association of Profession Pet Sitters (1-800-296-PETS) and Pet Sitters International (336-983-9222) can provide referrals for sitters in your area who have completed animal-care courses and adhere to certain guidelines (these sitters should still be asked to provide references, however).
2. Call the Better Business Bureau, your local Chamber of Commerce, and animal protection organizations within 30 miles to ask if they have ever had a complaint about the sitter.
3. Meet the sitter in advance and ask questions about prior training and experience with companion animals and their care.
4. Sign a contract that spells out the sitter's precise duties but not one that exempts the sitter from liability in the case of your animal's illness, accident, or death.
5. Make sure that the sitter agrees to check in with you every day, no matter where you are.
6. Leave your telephone numbers, numbers of people to contact in the event of an emergency, and the numbers of your vet and emergency vets taped to the telephone.
7. Have a back-up caretaker lined up in the event that the sitter is unable to get to your house. Leave a spare key with that person and leave his or her phone number with the sitter (and vice versa). Leave out multiple bowls of water in case some disaster prevents anyone from being able to get to your animals. (Dehydration poses a greater threat to animals than starvation.)
If Boarding Is Your Only Option
If finding a responsible, caring sitter is not an option and you must board your dog or cat, please visit the facility beforehand, while there's still time to find another kennel if it doesn't appear to have a safe and friendly environment. Take a tour. Is the facility clean? Are the staff members gentle and kind? Is the kennel air-conditioned? Are the dog runs made of cement? (If so, will your dog be comfortable urinating and defecating there, or will he or she "hold it," becoming extremely uncomfortable, for fear of breaking the rules?) Are the cat condos spacious enough for the cats to move around freely, with different levels to climb and sit on? How many times a day are litter boxes cleaned?
Speak with staff about any concerns that you may have. Ask questions. How many times a day are animals given fresh water and food? Are dogs taken for walks? What about emergency veterinary care? Can a friend drop by to snuggle with your cat or take your pup for a romp at the dog park? How many times a day are the dogs allowed to relieve themselves outdoors?
For a few extra dollars, some kennels offer extras like one-on-one TLC sessions, doggie daycare, or "deluxe" suites with beds, couches, and cat trees.
Look for a kennel that offers lots of space, stimulation such as wildlife documentaries on TV screens, safe toys, supervised play groups for socialized dogs, and, most importantly, caring, responsible employees to make your animal's stay as comfortable as possible.
Posted to Home & Garden | Posted to Tags: cat, companion animal, dog, sitting, Travel
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Mike says...
March 26th, 2011, 11:01 pm
Thanks for the great advice, especially for those planning summer travel. My wife and I have just begun planning our vacation and with a new member of our family (a rescued boxer named Miles) we've been worried about how to keep him happy while we're out of the country.
robin says...
March 28th, 2011, 3:37 am
I haven't "had a vacation" in 11 years…because there is no one in my area I feel I can trust with my two parrots. In the city where I lived before this, I had a wonderful sitter, who loved the birds and treated them so well. They would get excited when she showed up, even though it meant dad was going away for awhile. (At the time on business.)
One of my parrot housemates was a rescue bird, from a horrible PETCO store. He is easily unsettled by strangers, changes, in routine, etc. The second bird is less easily upset, but older and more used to me. They both love visitors, and since I live in a beautiful part of the country near many natural attractions, I never want for guests. I can take them out on day trips, then come home to my featherbuddies. One of them will tell me stories about his day, using words of human for the things he saw out the window–worker, deer, hawk, crow, bad rat (non-native grey squirrel), little bird (any small ground bird scratching outside his window), bok (neighbor hens coming over to scratch).
I would never have believed this was possible, before experiencing it. I'm pretty sure he's not just running through his words, because on several occasions I came home to him talking about deer, deer, deer, and found landscaping plantings eaten to the ground. Twice he talked about crow, crow, crow, and I found black feathers in the front yard or on the porch (the crows leave them there in exchange for shiny things; they really like the little bird bells we use to make parrot toys). And the Boks come over and scratch up the planting beds–well the evidence of that is easy to see.
Sometimes I feel low, realizing that I may never again get to go away even for overnight. But this is part of the commitment I made to these intelligent beings when I invited them to share my life, and receive care they were both denied in the first part of their lives. When I offered them a Forever Home, I meant it, and when I "lust" after the consumerist drug of jet travel and hotels and such, I pause and look at what these two featherpeople extend me.
They give me 100% reliable flock interaction, affection, play, excitement over the simplest things, large gratitude for the humblest blessings, and a sense of immediacy and focus on the moment that many humans strive to cultivate all their lives, and manage only here and there. They warn me of intruders, cuddle me when I'm feeling low, and share my joy at various things. Their way of being is so incredibly…pure is the only word I can think of, but it's not in the judgmental sense. Just, clear, like fresh water.
What I find hard to tolerate is when friends and colleagues who claim to care about animals treat theirs like something temporarily disposable because they want the luxury of travel. So I'm glad to see this story. I tell people all the time who "want a parrot" just what they're signing up for: a lifetime relationship with a sentient being at about a human toddler level of intelligence…and sometimes even more than a lot of humans running around. Someone you really have to meet halfway, and can't just shove around at your convenience.
I really don't understand why someone would "rescue" and animal then immediately plan to leave the country.
debby says...
April 2nd, 2011, 2:51 am
I have always had a cat and for the past ten years two cats at home and a few that I take care of in the garden . I made my living as an airline employee for over 28 years. I always first found the sitter with back-up from neighbor ,leaving more then enough food and emergancy phone numbers.For the garden gang ,I found another person ,who cares for stray animals ..the money was worth spent , as my home cats did not get stressed leaving their home environment (I am sure they missed me) but the sitter always stayed with them ,played,brushed ,cleaned the litter etc…
I know of people that have not gone on holiday for years and years because of their pets ; I can only say that …some good and loving people are always out there it is a matter of searching and getting connected ;onthe other hand I have wonderful friends who travel everywhere with their cat or dog ,go only to holiday to hotels who will take them…it is a choise ,also how you bring up your pet ..to like to travel
Judith says...
April 2nd, 2011, 3:54 am
Great article. I just finished pet sitting, living in the house for a third time for friends while they were on vacation. I love their pets as if they were my own and it gave them peace of mind allowing them to have a worry free vacation.
The advice in the article is valuable especially for someone who has never had experience with sitters.
Deena says...
April 2nd, 2011, 5:11 am
I stopped leaving my Border-Collie with the kennels a long time ago. They are very impersonal with your pets. I've now got a friend of my son's to come home to feed and let my dog out to the toilet. He even goes to the extent of removing her pooh and putting it into the outside bin. He's also got a spare set of keys.
Ingrid says...
April 2nd, 2011, 9:32 am
I appreciate this article and the information it provides. My husband and I have 7 rescued cats, all living happily and safely indoors. We're not big travelers but have been known to visit family and be gone four days or so. We hired a forty-something woman from our vet office, a vet tech with pets of her own. She, I have no doubt, is reliable and would do the right thing if one of the kitties appeared ill. But even she made a boo boo, and forgot to give them fresh water. We returned to find the bowls empty, shoved across the room in our kitties' frustration and desperation, and a pile of poop in our bedroom. Our kitties have never before or since pooped outside the litter box, such was their misery at having no water.
This event has traumatized me, made me reluctant to ever leave my sweet kitties again. What kind of a life is this that I feel I can't leave my companion animals in the care of even a reliable person? Once I had a good cry and calmed down enough to let her know what had occurred, we used her again, reminding her to not forget the water bowls, but took the additional step to put out a water dispenser in the event of another mishap. Even the best person can make a mistake, but putting out extra provisions is my routine now.