What to Do With Your Pet When You Go on Vacation

The following post was originally featured on Team Wiking and written by Jessica Doll, who is part of POPSUGAR Select Living.

We have never been able to take our furry friends with us on a trip except for a couple of our shorter and more local getaways. I'm sharing with you today some of our tips for making sure that your furry friend is taken care of while you are away.

Friends Family
My go-to is always trusted friends and family. Not only does it help keep the costs down, but we know our babes will be safe while we are away. Our pups love to go visit Grandma's house. They love the wider and more open space and receive lots of love and attention while we are away. I always buy them a new toy, lots of treats, and lots of their favorite chicken or food too. Our pug actually gets really excited when he knows we are close and freaks out from the moment we're off the freeway until we are parked in the driveway. Luckily the distance isn't too far.

Home Pet Sitter
While researching alternate options for us, I stumbled across individual pet sitters who will also stay at your home with them. I find this appealing since our pug, Yoda, is starting to lose his eyesight and Lily is very fragile. This keeps their stress levels down by staying in a familiar place and you won't have to worry about your house being empty or mail piling up while you're gone. Some even offered to clean and water plants.

Pet Boarding
This would be a last resort for us. If you have a place locally that has raving reviews from people with similar dogs it might work for you, or if you have a less fragile dog. Locally I found lots of dog hotels and boarding places, but none of the reviews were enough to sway me to actually send our pets there. I would definitely look for one that offers individual suites and a 24/7 live webcam. I'd also recommend a trial stay just to test the waters, and if you're feeling any hesitation about it stay with option 1 or 2.

Our cat is pretty self-reliant and if we are going on a trip that isn't too long we will leave her at home with an automated feeder and have a friend check in on her every couple of days. If the weather is going to be too hot we send her along with the dogs just to be safe.

I hope this offers some insight into taking care of your furry friends while you're away. We love ours like our children and are so thankful that we have people who love them just as much as us to look after them.

Do you have any tips to offer for leaving your pets while you're away?