Just curious. What do you do with your pets when you travel...kennel, pet sitter? How much do you budget for pet care per day when you plan your trips? Do you ever take your furry "kids" along?

My husband will be retiring in 15 months (But, who's counting!). At some point we would like to spend a couple of months in CR. I would love to take our dog with us. Has anyone had any experience along those lines? I wonder if there would be any particular risks for my pooch. Can anyone help?
As always, thanks for the benefit of your collective wisdom. This is such a great forum!

I used to think I might like to take along our dog Zoe. She is a Jack Russell and used to coming along with us when we travel to horse shows for 3 or 4 days and travels well.

THAT was before I read and heard and saw all of the things that can go wrong with travel with pets overseas. (Bites/attacks from stray, uninnoculated dogs, heat rash, unusual germs/illnesses they are not accustomed to, quarantine, dying in cargo, etc.)

It made me decide to wait until we retire to the Caribbean to tote the whole menagerie down there.

We used to board at a kennel, but we have three horses, two dogs and two cats, and that was running us about $175 per day! Yikes.

Now, we have someone come and stay in the house and care for the animals. It is much less expensive - $40 per day - and the animals seem MUCH happier when we get home.

You have to have certification from the vet, and the airlines are making it more difficult to fly with dogs to CR too. I hear from people moving there about the hassle they go through, and I wouldn't do it for a couple of months. Most of the dogs in CR are running loose and might cause a problem w/ your dog. Not to mention snakes, scorpions, etc. You won't be able to relax as much either if you had to worry about him.

Sandy

Thanks for your thoughts. I 'm glad to have my concerns validated. Looks like it will (hopefully) be many years before we spend an extended time in CR. Our dog is only seven now. I wouldn't dream of leaving him behind for that long. So, that trip will have to wait.

Diana, I'm a pet sitter myself. I'm glad you feel that your pets are happiest at home. Most times that is true. It certainly is for my dog. And, boy can I relate about the challenges of leaving a menagerie at home. Not too many years ago we lived far from town and had two horses, three dogs, a cat, and, a cockatiel. Luckily I had a young guy working for me who was thrilled to come stay in the country...for pay, of course. He even learned how to monitor our diabetic dog's sugar and give insulin injections. Alas, he's married now with two kids and no time. I can't seem to find anyone as good.

Here's a link to a thread on this topic on the Thorntree forum; if the whole thing isn't "live" you may have to copy and paste. Happy trails!

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/me...d=0&from=1

I have cats - two, because the solo cat got so lonely during one of my travels he apparently put his front paws around a petsitters ankle and hanged on to it, so that she would not leave. Two cats can be left alone for longer (and it used to cost me between $5 and $10 a day in the USA for a petsitter) and they do not like to travel. Unless, of course, you are planning to stay for several months in one place, then, I bet, they would rather like to go with you.