During summer, many people make holiday or travel plans to different destinations. You may be planning to have a weekend at your Grandma’s house or take a flight for your vacation. While you make all these arrangements, you need to also consider what to do with your pet. You can either take the pet with you, or make a reservation with a local boarding facility for the time you are away. Some people prefer taking their pets with them wherever they go although this is not the best option due to weather changes, routine and other unforeseen issues. Since your pet is a territorial creature, leaving him behind is the best choice.

Home alone

If your cat is not used to socializing with people, adventures and travelling, having a pet sitter in your home is the ideal choice. You can also have a trusted friend or neighbor to take care of your cat when you are away. Although you can leave your cat at home with enough food and water in a bowl, it is not the wisest thing to do because a lot of things can happen. For instance fire, electrical failure, flooding or even the cat develop a medical issue. If no one is taking care of your cat, you may end up losing it. Also, it may be very stressful for a cat to be left alone if it’s used to interacting with people. It does not matter if you work from home or from an office, your cat has a schedule, and from time to time it may have been seeing you or other family members. Therefore, leaving it for a whole day or even a week alone could be devastating.

Unlike dogs, cats are perceived as low maintenance pets, and hence most people find them convenient. However, this should not make you leave your cat unattended for days because you could be risking the health and safety of your cat.

Boarding facilities

If you are going to be away for a long time, leaving your cat in a boarding facility could be the best option. There are good, great and terrible boarding facilities. You will therefore have to inspect the boarding facility you want to leave your cat in since cats are susceptible to smells and noises. Therefore, makes sure you have the answers to the following questions when choosing a boarding facility:

• Does the facility have odor smells?
• Is the facility noisy?
• Are cages facing each other? This could be very stressful to your cat
• What type of interaction do the staffs have?
• How big is the cage? Can it accommodate my cat effectively?
• Do the cats get petted, played with or held?
• Do the facility has an emergency veterinarian?
• Is the facility monitored at night?
• What do the staff do to reduce anxiety and fear?

You will have to do a thorough research before choosing the right facility. There are numerous boarding facilities and getting the right one is the key for your cat to be safe and well taken care of while you are away. You can check for online reviews and comments as well as get a referral from friends who have been leaving their cats in a boarding facility.

The comforts of home

You can opt to hire a pet sitter or a friend to take care of your cat on your own. This could be accommodative and less stressful for your cat because it has not lost its territory. Some cats are very anxious and upon being taken to a boarding facility, regardless of how well its run could be a terrifying experience. This is one of the reasons why some people prefer having their cats taken care of while still in their homes by an experienced pet sitter, a friend or even a neighbor.

If you opt to leave your cat with someone else in your home, you will have to make necessary arrangements to ensure that everything will be okay while you are away. In your planning, you need to make sure that everything that the cat needs is at the vicinity i.e. enough food and water among other needs. While planning, you need someone who will feed your cat, clean it, make sure that the cat is safe, interact with the cat and clean its litter box. Also, he or she should monitor how the cat is feeding to establish if it is healthy or has problems. If the one taking care of your cat cannot establish when the cat is in pain, unwell or has not eaten, you shouldn’t hire them. You need a pet sitter who takes his or her time to check the welfare of your cat. If you get a ‘drive-by’ friend, neighbor or pet sitter who rarely interacts or takes his/her time to interact with your cat, it is better to leave enough food and water to your cat and believe everything will be okay when you are back.

How often should the pet sitter visit?

Since by now you’ve understood that my preferred method of caring for your cat is by hiring an experienced pet sitter or having a trusted friend do it. You need to know how often the pet sitter should visit your home in a day. Ideally, a pet sitter needs at least two visits per day to take care of your cat effectively.

Therefore, you will have to explain to your pet sitter about the routine of your cat. How often you fed it among other details. It can be stressful for a cat that has been used to feed three times in a day to be fed only once. This abrupt change of routine may affect the cat psychologically and its health too (digestion problems). You should have your pet sitter follow the same routine you had before you were gone to avoid stressing the cat.

It is also important for your pet sitter to monitor the cat litter. This can be very helpful in case the cat has diarrhea, constipation or bloody urine. These are health problem symptoms, and if they go unnoticed, you cat may develop further problems. A pet sitter who visits your home twice will also ensure good litter hygiene to avoid cat lounging. If your cat has been used to a clean litter, having a dirty litter box may stress your cat. If your cat can have more than one visit per day, it increases the chances of interacting with your cat. This means that your cat may not be stressed while still, it may be getting necessary care. A visit in the morning to open curtains ensures good lighting, feeding, litter cleaning and a little play time with your cat. An evening visit is to turn on the lights, close curtains, have playing sessions while still spending some time with the cat. If the litter is not clean, your pet sitter can clean it before the cat sleeps.

If you have your pet sitter visiting your home at least twice a day, there is no way that the cat can develop a medical problem and go unnoticed for 24 hours. You should remember to have an emergency number of a veterinarian in case your cat develops a complication. When making all the plans, take extra precautions to ensure that your cat will be safe when you are away.