How to keep your pets happy while you’re on vacation

Going on vacation is one of life’s true pleasures, but it can be hard to leave pets behind (especially if they are prone to feeling stressed or anxious when you’re away). While nothing can make leaving your companions at home while you travel pleasant, there are steps you can take to put your mind at ease and ensure that your furry, feathery, or scaled babies are comfortable and relatively stress-free without you. Firstly, you need to decide whether you will leave your pets with a professional or a friend.

Who should care for your pets when you leave?

Finding a pet sitter can be a bit tough if you have a particularly large pet or a pet with special needs. In most cases, it is preferable for everyone (pets included) for a family member or close friend to take care of pets when you are away. If you have a family member or friend that your pets are familiar with already, this person is ideal. 

Research published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science shows that environmental factors can be very important to a pet’s well-being. Leaving a cat in familiar surroundings with familiar people is one of the simplest ways to minimize stress. This is not always possible, however. If there are no family members or close friends that can care for your pet while you are away, you should screen professionals carefully. This is especially important if you have animals with special needs or long-term medical issues.

Four ways to set your sitter up for success

If you want your pets to be happy, comfortable, and safe while you are away on vacation, it is important that you make sure all key details are dealt with. You should also ensure that the sitter has all the information they need to provide adequate care. Here are four steps you can take to keep your pets happy while you’re away:

• Update IDs and microchips 

It is quite common for pets to try to escape and return home when they are dropped off with a kennel or pet sitter. Ensuring that your pet’s ID or microchip is up to date is important because if your pet does escape or run away it will make it possible for anyone who finds them to contact you. This is also important if you are leaving your pet at home and having a sitter come in to care for them. Losing a pet in their care is a pet sitter’s worst nightmare.

• Provide enough of all medications

If you have a pet with long-term medical needs, or your pet has been prescribed short-term medication that will overlap with your time away, you should make sure you provide an adequate amount of the medications to the sitter. The medication you provide should last the entire time the sitter has your pets, or for the duration of the period recommended by the vet if that ends before you return. You should also provide instructions on how to administer the medication to your pet sitter, as well as an emergency number to contact you and your vet if something should change.

• Write out clear instructions for routine

If your pet has special needs or thrives with routine, be sure to write these out for your sitter. For example, if you have a very energetic, intelligent dog that needs mental stimulation and you usually provide certain toys in the morning, write this down (and provide the toys). Likewise, if your pet needs to be cleaned, walked, or receive a specific kind of care at a set time, leave these instructions for the sitter.

• Leave a piece of yourself with your pet

Many pets find it hard to be away from their owners. After all, they don’t understand why you have left, where you have gone, or when you will return. If you leave something that smells of you with the sitter for your pets, it may help them to settle into their new environment and soothe them while you are away.

There are other steps you can take to help your pets cope while you are on vacation, of course, and the best steps to take depend on the type of pet you have and their personality. Above all else, you should ensure that your pet sitter can always contact you if they need to.