I always feel bad about leaving our cats when we travel.We have someone stay in our house but he tells us the cats spend most of the time hiding under the bed while we are gone

The worst year was when I had to leave one cat with the vet because he'd developed liver disease just before we left. The other cat was left without his brother/pal for a week. I was a wreck. Called the vet twice a day. Called the cat sitter once a day. When I got home, both were fine.

So I learned this separation was much harder on me than on them....

The angst of it all! Sounds like your cats do not like strangers in the midst..you may want to kennel them next time, together or separate, and enjoy your trip! They soon forget their 'jail time' when all is back to normal.

I have found that it is easier on me and the animals (cats and a dog) to leave them at the kennel. There have been close calls when my good friends have taken them in - not intentional, but nobody cares for them as you do. Kennels have reputations to keep up so they are usually very attentive to your needs. You should plan on visiting your local kennel and checking it out - don't wait until your next planned trip. You won't have to worry about someone leaving a door open or not leashing, etc.

The first time I left my dog I used the place where my friend boards hers (the vet). We ended up leaving him for 8 days rather than 5 like was planned. (I don't rememeber why.) When we picked him up he was not the same dog. We had rescued him when he was 7 months & at that time he was about 13 months. I don't know what went on there but it took a while for him to get back to normal. Something told me it was not just because we left him for so long even though that did not help.

After that I said "never again" without checking the place out myself. I went to the fancy little boarding places where for $40+ per night the dog has a bed and a tv and 30 minutes of playtime per day. Can you believe that?!?!? A puppy allowed only 30 minutes to run & play outside? Forget that. I took my dog to our Vet to be boarded and he always seems fine. He gets excited when we drive there whether it is for shots or for holiday. He does not associate the place with pain or anything negative. We got a companion for my dog after the first boarding incident & she seems happy with our Vet too. I wish I could have someone come house/pet sit but I doubt anyone would be willing to let my 2 sleep with them.

By the way, my friend went to pick up her dogs a day early one time at the place she uses. Of course, this was after my ordeal. Her dogs had doody all over them!! I would not have taken my dogs back there for anything-- especially after that but she does. I also realize her Vet takes advantage of her always telling her that her dogs need this or that. She spends 1000's and cannot afford it! She & her husband are in there 50's so it's not like she's young & naive.

Moral of the story: Physically go check out different kennels, ask questions, if something does not feel right then your gut knows something & you should pay attention. See how your pet acts when you pick them up. That will tell you a lot.

We travel a lot and are sometimes gone for 2 or 3 weeks.

I used to use one of those "luxury" places with TV's and all that stuff.
Our two dogs and one cat could have been staying in a VERY nice hotel for what we were paying a day after all the add-ons for "play time" and "nature walks" and all the extras.

BUT, every time we would do this, the dogs would come home with kennel cough, smelling like some kind of nasty disinfectant and sleep for DAYS because they couldn't get any sleep with all the barking.

We found someone (girl in her mid-20's) who stays at our house if it's to be longer than just a couple of days.

She charges 1/3 of what we were paying, gets the mail, keeps an eye on everything at the house, takes care of our horses too for a reasonable rate and the animals all LOVE her.
She is worth her weight in gold!

Find a vet tech or a vet student or a pet-sitting service with a person compatible with your animals.
You can go away knowing your pets will be happy and healthy.

diart, I had a similar experience to yours. We left a rescue cat we had only had for about 6 months at the boarder's for about 2 weeks when we went on vacation. When I went to pick him up, her literally FLEW out of the crate and latched onto me with all four legs wih his paws around my neck and middle like a baby. It took days of petting him and reassuring him that we were not going to abandon him to get him to relax. No more boarding for me!

Have never felt guilty about leaving our four parrots until this trip. We have always used a bird sitter who comes in to feed and clean in the morning. A friend does drop by evenings to check in with them.. This trip he said our African Gey was beside herself so excited to see him and communicating with him...Now, on our next trip (cruise) I'll be worried and ask him to visit them daily at night.. Our 14 year old dog goes to the vets..

Feel bad about leaving our , but then again our in-laws our in charge of handling the litter box.

I don't care how reputable a place is - and we feel ours is - but I still think of it as "doggie jail," rather than "the kennel." We do leave him there for a few days at a time, but I always feel guilty. In a few weeks, we're headed for about a 10-day getaway and I've found a beachfront condo that is pet-friendly. On the road, our pooch is pretty happy sleeping in the car - if we haven't landed a PF-motel. Even at that we know that he'd rather be with us than anyplace else.

I'd be thrilled to find someone who'd come in and stay with him (and our cat, who gets left in the house and a neighbor comes in about every other day to check on her and provide a bit of socialization). That would really be the ideal, I should think.

We have a wonderful kennel and our dogs LOVE it there. Whenever we are driving them there, when we turn in the driveway they go nuts, tails wagging, barking. We have to hold them back when walking them in to register.

The only thing I don't like is the bill when I return.

We try to have friends cat-sit who know the cats and are fond of them, but every so often we have a professional petsitting service, when we're not away for too long and can afford it. One of our two cats takes medication and the petsitter is good at giving it to him (and he's quite cooperative about taking it). I know that they are well looked-after but we still agonize and wish that we could give the cats our cel phone number so they could call us if anything goes wrong! I wouldn't put it past the male cat to figure out how to do that one of these days.

We have always felt bad about leaving our Lab, or Labs at times, behind. Usually left them in kennels, then found a great kennel that let them out to play with their kids and they could also go swimming in the pond. But when we had to put the Mom down, her daughter acted differently afterwords. Then a neighbor offered to take care of her (and later, them again) during the day, and they had their own home to sleep in at night. Now we leave them with our two adult kids...so our only Lab has a country home (ours) and a town home (theirs) and is quite happy, but she is happier with us.

Definite guilt. Right now I live within walking distance of my boyfriends mom who watches my dog and cats when I'm away. However I'd like to move and am unsure what to do because the convenience is so nice. (she doesn't drive)

I've only kenneled my dog once and that was at the vet. They have a good reputation but she seemed dazed and confused when I picked her up. She acted like she didn't know me. Took a few hours and then all was normal.

I tried a pet sitter once too but that didn't go well either. So now I don't know what I'm going to do.

Our cats are on vacation EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES! (schedule: eat, sleep, poop - repeat). Why can't I take a week off for a vacation of my own? No guilt here! (Well, not much).

We love to travel but unfortunately, unless they are driving trips, can't take our little english cocker with us. We tried one "pet hotel" and during our visit to check it out beforehand, was shown around by a very nice woman. When we picked Ellie up though, we talked with the owner who was very unfriendly and obviously did not like dogs. So we nixed that place.

Now we've found a place about 35 miles outside of Minneapolis. We love it and so does Ellie. She gets 4-6 hours of play time with other doggies in this great outdoor area with trails. Plenty of land and even a swimming pool. Whenever we pull up, Ellie goes nuts and doesn't even give us a second look. It's more $$ than the other options and a pain to drive out so far but it defintely gives us piece of mind!

Oops- "peace" of mind

I had my Shepherd trained by a guy who used to train guide dogs for the blind. He has his own kennel and per our training agreement anytime I board my dog he does refresher training sessions with him.

I have 2 dogs and they both share the same large cage. I don't think they sleep at all when I board them because when they come home they sleep for a week. Do I feel guilty? Yes, I do. Especially when they turn those sorrowful eyes on you.

I always feel guilty about leaving, even just for an overnight. My kitty sees me packing a suitcase and she just gets all depressed! She started doing this back when I traveled frequently with work, and even though I don't travel for work anymore, she knows what the suitcase means!

If I'm gone more than 25 hours, I have a wonderful pet sitter that comes and checks on kitty. He'll also water plants and bring in mail/newspapers. We found him through our local Petsmart's bulletin board, and he is awesome! We've been using him for 2 years now. Kitty is SO much happier when she is in her own house! She gets NASTY when I have to take her to the vet for checkups, so she'd probably kill me if I left her there over a weekend!

Our cat also gets upset when she sees suitcases out. She knows what that means. Even though we have people my cat knows and likes to take care of her when we're gone, upon returning,the cat gives us the silent treatment for a few hours before things go back to normal.

This might be slightly off topic but, what do you think is a reasonable price per day for a kennel? I have reserved one and it's $18.00 a day plus I have to supply food.I usually board my dog at the Vet. which is $11.00 but, I thought a kennel would be better. I will be gone two weeks and that will cost 300.00 but, only 180 at the vet. Is 18.00 the usual cost?

We miss our dog when we travel but have been pleased with our local kennel. He gets lots of play time with other pups, something he doesn't get much of at home. (He gets lots of people play time at home-we're not sure if he thinks he's a dog or a boy). The kenel is also great about placing dogs that know each other near each other. Our dog frequently is right next door to his friend Chester from the neighborhood.
Our kennel charges @ $20/night and you can bring your food or use theirs. We bring our own food and treats so as not to disrupt our dog's diet.
After one trip, our dog suffered a ruptured spleen within hours of returning home. The emergency vet was skeptical but we were confident in our kennel. It turns out there was no abuse-our dog had a tumor which caused the rupture. The timing was pure coincidence.
I Our pup also loves being groomed so we make it a spa trip for him-bath and haircut at the on site grooming salon.