Care Guides

Booking the holiday is the easy part. Then you look at the dog asleep on the sofa and the whole thing turns into a low-grade guilt problem that follows you around for weeks.

It does not need to. Pets cope with owners going away far better than owners cope with going away, provided the arrangements suit the animal rather than the human's convenience. The trick is matching the option to the pet you actually have.

Sitter, kennel, or someone popping in

For most cats, a sitter visiting the home wins comfortably. Cats bond to territory as much as to people, and moving one to a cattery means losing every familiar smell, sound and hiding place at once. Two visits a day in the cat's own house is far less stressful, and for a confident, healthy adult cat, one long visit a day can be adequate, though two is better.

For dogs, it depends entirely on the individual. A social, adaptable dog often has a great time at a good boarding kennel with structured play groups. An anxious dog, a reactive dog, or a senior with a fixed routine usually does much better with a live-in sitter at home or a small home-based boarder taking one or two dogs at a time.

The friend or neighbour option works for short trips and easy pets, but be realistic. Unpaid arrangements slip. If your dog needs medication twice daily at fixed times, or your cat has a history of urinary blockage, an informal favour is the wrong tool.

Doggy day-care style overnight boarding in a private home is increasingly popular and often the best of both worlds, but the standards vary wildly, so vet it like any other business.

What to check before you hand over the keys

Start with the boring paperwork, because it separates professionals from enthusiasts. Insurance covering pet care, including public liability and care, custody and control. Any licensing your local authority requires for boarding. A written contract setting out services, cancellation terms and emergency authority. Recent references you can actually contact, not a screenshot of a testimonial.

Then visit. Always visit. For a kennel, ask to see everything, not just the reception area. Check whether it smells of urine or of disinfectant covering urine. Look at the size and cleanliness of the runs, whether bedding is dry, whether water bowls are full, whether the dogs already there look relaxed or frantic. Ask directly how many staff are on site overnight, and whether that is a human sleeping on the premises or a camera.

Ask what happens in an emergency. Which vet do they use, do they have your authority to treat, is there a spending limit, and how quickly will they call you. Ask how they handle a dog that will not eat, because that is by far the most common problem, and a good answer involves patience and familiar food rather than shrugging.

For a sitter, ask about their other bookings during your dates. A sitter juggling eighteen visits a day is not spending forty minutes with your cat regardless of what the schedule says. Ask what they do if their car breaks down or they fall ill, because a professional has a backup and an amateur has an apology.

Vaccination requirements are a good sign, not an inconvenience. Any kennel that does not ask for proof of vaccination is telling you something about the other dogs it accepts. Kennel cough vaccination is usually required and should be given at least two weeks before boarding.

The trial run nobody bothers with

Book one night before you book two weeks. A single overnight stay, or a couple of short sitter visits while you are still in town, reveals more than any amount of research. You find out whether your dog settles, whether the sitter actually turns up on time, and whether the daily update photos arrive as promised.

For nervous dogs, several short day visits to a kennel over a few weeks turns an unfamiliar place into a known one. It is worth the effort for a dog that will board repeatedly over its life.

The handover pack

Write it down. Verbal instructions evaporate. A single sheet on the kitchen counter should cover feeding amounts and times, exactly which food and where it is stored, treats allowed, medication with dose and timing, walk routine and duration, any behaviour quirks, and rules that matter to you such as whether the dog is allowed upstairs.

Include your vet's name, address and phone number, your own contact details plus a second local contact who can make decisions if you are unreachable on a flight or in a poor signal area, and written authority for treatment. Some owners leave a signed note with a spending threshold. It feels grim to write and it saves an enormous amount of confusion in a crisis.

Send your pet with its own food. Switching diets during a stressful week is a reliable route to diarrhoea. Send a familiar bed or blanket that smells of home, and a favourite toy. Do not send anything valuable or irreplaceable.

Leave more food and litter than you think is needed, in case your return is delayed. Flights get cancelled.

Cats need slightly different planning

Show the sitter every hiding place, and be honest about the one behind the washing machine. Explain what normal looks like for your cat, so the sitter knows whether hiding under the bed on day one is expected or alarming.

Litter trays need scooping at every visit and a full change midway through a long trip. Ask for a photo of the tray, not just the cat; urine output and stool quality are the earliest warning signs of trouble in a cat, and a good sitter will report on them without being asked twice.

Leave a window blind partly open, some background radio if that is your cat's normal, and ask the sitter to play, not just feed and leave. Ten minutes with a wand toy makes a real difference over a fortnight.

Coming home

Expect some sulking. Cats often ignore returning owners for an evening, dogs sometimes have loose stools for a day, and both may sleep heavily. That is normal decompression.

What is not normal is significant weight loss, refusal to eat for more than a day, limping, or a cat that has not used the tray. Any of those warrant a vet call and a conversation with the sitter about what happened.

Find a good arrangement and keep it. The best pet sitters get booked out months ahead, and there is a reason for that.