How many people dread leaving their pets?

[maureencruiser]

How can I leave a face like this? But, I do and the lady down the street comes in and takes good care of her and buys her special treats. This might seem silly, but, I tell her before I leave that every night at bedtime, we will both think of each other and say good night. And I do!! And I believe that she does also! I have been known to take a small picture of her on my cruise with me.

[royal girl]

Animals are awesome!! How can you not miss your pets?? :p

[njmomof2]

I never had more than a goldfish until last spring when we adopted our dog last spring. Never having had to deal with boarding a pet, I went on a search for an acceptable kennel, as I have no one who could come and stay with her, or anyone to whom she could go while we are away.

 

I found a kennel about 15 minutes away. They are lovely people, it's clean and always smells like they are cleaning it. Each dog has their own separate kennel, that opens to an outside run. There is a large open area, and I think they let the dogs out there for a period of time each day. She always comes home clean and happy and has never been sick.

 

I wish we had a place that sounded like the ones a few of you are talking about with a pool, outdoor toys and such. It was incredibly hard for me to find this place and some I saw made me run away as fast as I could.

 

I would drive a bit further if I could find more for her to enjoy.

[donaldsc]

They are just animals. We love them but they are just animals. Our current cat stays at home and is cared for by an across-the-street neighbor who loves him as much as we do so we do not worry.

 

One thing that you should do just in case of an emergency is to give whomever is taking care of your pet medical power of attorney and make sure that your vet knows that the person has your authority to do whatever is necessary just in case.

 

On one trip we took, our cat had a major medical issue and had to be euthanized only a few days after we returned. If the problem had occurred a week earlier, the neighbor would have been forced to make the decision in our absence. Having the medical power of attorney would have made it easier. Luckily, all of us had the chance to say goodbye.

 

DON

[Donder1]

I hate to leave my 160 lb Great Dane and aging cat. They are very well cared for by a kennel that I have used for years. I have fantasies of taking the big guy with us. He is a Therapy Dog at a big hospital here and extremly well behaved. He'd love the balcony and long walks on the Promenade Deck. He'd be as good as gold. Too bad he can't come with us:(

[jamessemaj]

Remember the pet rocks back in the '70's? They were very low maintenance.

[Econom405]

We are lucky, our 'boys' go to Grandma's when we cruise. They get all bummed out when they see our suitcases out, but as soon as they see their bag come out, they know they're going to Grandma's and they go nuts! I miss them when we are gone, but the only worry I have is how much she is spoiling them. She makes them scrambled egg for breakfast and chicken and rice for dinner so they are happy little boys!

[Gunner22aa]

My Molly the Brittany Spaniel either stays with my daughter or in a kennel that I have used for years with two different dogs and trust implicitly. Actually owned and operated by my vet who I also trust. I do however miss her so much that I take along a framed picture for the night table.

[restlessmysteries]

I dread leaving my babies, whether it's just for a weekend or a whole week. My oldest cat, now 18, has always been a bit of a recluse but she still is overjoyed to see me come home. My youngest cat, at 5 years, sticks to me like glue regardless. Luckily I have my parents watch them while I am gone. When the suitcases come out, the youngest finds a way to get into them. When I leave, I have to endure the "and where do you think you're going?" look. I just recently spent 10 days cat/housesitting for a friend, leaving my own cats to my parents as I could not take them with me. My youngest would sleep by the front door every night and wait for me. I'm in the dog house for a while, and she's even more on top of me 24/7 now.

 

They're my babies, and I love them more than anything, so I do feel terrible leaving for any period of time (even just to work). And I do worry about them on a daily basis (especially the oldest), even while on my cruise.

 

Love that somebody started a thread like this! :)

[Truluv]

Econom: Can I go stay with Grandma too LOL? She sounds wonderful.

 

Donaldsc: Great tip about the authorization for medical care.

 

We found a kennel with a cat room, and will be able to keep our cats together in a giant cage with a cat tree. The Owner lives next door, and the place was spotless. It's going to be $24/day for the two cats. We'll bring their food and some other stuff for them. It's more than our cat lady used to charge. On the other hand, I won't have to worry about coming home to a week's worth of presents all over the house from Mr. Bulemia...

[Gingee]

I am approaching the time to leave our furry babies for a while and I keep hugging them. My DH says they probably know we are leaving them. Haven't left them since a year ago last May though.

[Starlaker]

 

Which is all beside the point as the person we rent from said 'no pets'. Our cat is old, no claws, is a female, so does not spray (only males do that). She does not and really cannot damage anything. We just put down a shower curtain put a disposable litter box on it and change the box about every 5 days. BUT - it would not be honest to take her when we are not suppose to have her. SO I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO. ????????

 

Female cats do spray on occasion. When our 18 year old female cat developed urinary tract problems, she began spraying. You gave yourself the answer. "It would not be honest to take her when we are not supposed to have her."

[klgreen803]

We have a 4-5 year old Boxer/Cocker Spaniel mixed breed wonderful dog. She was abused before we adopted her. She loves us dearly just as we love her. She senses when we are about to leave her and becomes sad. It isn't so bad when my daughter (who lives next door) is home to take care of Mia, as Mia loves her & the grandchildren to the moon, but when DD is traveling with us Mia's care is left to my son & grandson. They are not as good of caregivers as I like. Because I am now a stay at home mom with Mia, she is used to someone being in the house almost all of the time, plus she is afraid of loud noises especially thunder. Yes, I feel guilty leaving her at home and I miss her a lot while we are gone, but I am not going to stop cruising because I can't take her with me. I do know that if my DD is going to be away from home at the same time I am, I will take my Mia the Wonderful Dog to her vet office for boarding.

[Gingee]

I just gave my DD and son-in-law the instructions. Will take them out to eat the night we drop the dogs off and then come back and give the dogs the last kisses. I even told my daughter to please adopt them if we sink or catch on fire or something on the ship:) Better NOT I hate looking at those sad faces as we walk out the door.

[Texas_Diver]

We treat our dogs like children and we miss them like crazy when we board them in order to vacation.

 

D.

[Winnigirl]

We have a 4-5 year old Boxer/Cocker Spaniel mixed breed wonderful dog. She was abused before we adopted her. She loves us dearly just as we love her. She senses when we are about to leave her and becomes sad. It isn't so bad when my daughter (who lives next door) is home to take care of Mia, as Mia loves her & the grandchildren to the moon, but when DD is traveling with us Mia's care is left to my son & grandson. They are not as good of caregivers as I like. Because I am now a stay at home mom with Mia, she is used to someone being in the house almost all of the time, plus she is afraid of loud noises especially thunder. Yes, I feel guilty leaving her at home and I miss her a lot while we are gone, but I am not going to stop cruising because I can't take her with me. I do know that if my DD is going to be away from home at the same time I am, I will take my Mia the Wonderful Dog to her vet office for boarding.

 

Have you tried a "thunder shirt" for Mia? Apparently they are suppose to

work wonders on nervous dogs.

[cherylatwork]

Although Buddy is very well cared for when we cruise, I get his cold shoulder for weeks after we return :p

 

Cheryl :D

[wizard-of-roz]

I totally understand where you're all coming from. I travel with my dog "Horton" who is a Service Dog [he'll be on his 3rd cruise in September] and used to travel with "Brenda" who is now retired. Brenda had completed 15 cruises before her 10th birthday. She is now 13 and although she loves to be with us, she gets so tired and just can't keep-up like she used to.

It's so difficult to leave her behind. She is tired [afterall, she is 91 years old in people years!] I insist that someone come and stay in my home so that she has all her familiar "stuff" around.

Brenda and Horton are both Black Labs, Brenda's an English Lab [short/stocky] and Horton is an American Lab/Golden Retriever mix....he's tall and thin.

We get approached a lot by dog lovers when we're cruising. It's all of you who are missing your babies so much. I do allow for "doggie-time and pats", I've had people who literally lay on the floor with my dogs, just to get their "fix!" I don't mind and love the company of like-minded folks. :)

[Tudorcruisers]

What a great thread. We have two cats which we really hate leaving as the eldest one - 8 years old really misses us so much and gets very stressed. We can't even take her to a cattery any-more as vet said she needs to be in her home surroundings so we now get a cat-sitter to call twice a day.

 

When we come home the youngest one is hoarse as she has cried so much and the oldest one just won't let me out of her sight for days. I think the problem is that I am at home all day and they are so used to company that when we cruise they are lonely.

 

I worry that when the older one gets much older it really won't be fair to leave her and yet we also require our holidays as well so it is a worry. Love the pics of all the animals.

[OCruisers]

Some of us who have had a "much loved" pet no longer with us, wish it were still around for us to dread leaving to go cruising. :o

 

LuLu

~~~~

[wizard-of-roz]

What a great thread. We have two cats which we really hate leaving as the eldest one - 8 years old really misses us so much and gets very stressed. We can't even take her to a cattery any-more as vet said she needs to be in her home surroundings so we now get a cat-sitter to call twice a day.

 

When we come home the youngest one is hoarse as she has cried so much and the oldest one just won't let me out of her sight for days. I think the problem is that I am at home all day and they are so used to company that when we cruise they are lonely.

 

I worry that when the older one gets much older it really won't be fair to leave her and yet we also require our holidays as well so it is a worry. Love the pics of all the animals.

 

I totally understand and I'm sorry that it's so difficult for all concerned. You're so right, you do deserve to take a vacation but it's not so easy when we leave our alternative children behind!

The joy we bring into each others lives is worth all the angst!!

[wizard-of-roz]

Some of us who have had a "much loved" pet no longer with us, wish it were still around for us to dread leaving to go cruising. :o

 

LuLu

~~~~

 

That is so true.

When our beloved dogs are no longer dogs but are a thousand winds that blow, and the diamond glint on snow, and the sunlight on ripened grain, and the gentle autumn rain or the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circling flight and the soft starlight at night - They become part of us, wherever we go.

They live on and on and on and on.

[Guest maddycat]

Royal_Girl: I understand completely! Our mini schnauzer will be baby-sat by a kid's girlfriend. He'll get a lot of attention, and might not want to come back!

 

I'm worried about our cats though. We had used an elderly "Cat Lady," who took great care of our two cats in the past. She is now in very poor health and I have to find a replacement. Unfortunately, one of our cats is bulimic (vet hasn't found anything, and we've tried everything from special foods to feeding him in a private place). If the bowls are full, he'll eat everything as fast as possible and then throw it right up...under chairs, on chairs, on the kitchen table...yech. I'm afraid a new cat sitter will just fill up the bowls or even show up every other day. That's the worst way to feed this cat, and it would be a lot to ask a catsitter to look for and clean up his "gifts" during the week we're gone.

 

The vet won't board, so we're trying to find good cat boarding at a kennel. Our alternative would be to leave the cats in an air-conditioned 8 X 10 storage room off the garage for a week. A new "Cat Lady" would take care of their litter and feeding, but the cats would have to stay in that room. It's bigger than a kennel cage, but it would still might be very stressful for the cats not to have the run of the house. Some of my kids' friends are offering, but frankly I'm not comfortable turning pur house over to these kids.

 

Simplest thing would be to get rid of Mr. Bulemia, but we've had him for 9 years. His bulimia has just gotten really bad in the last year. We feed him in a bathroom and wait an hour or two to let him out, which at least minimizes the clean up.

 

I'm very stressed out about this.

 

One of my cats would eat too fast and then throw up. I started putting a small dish upside down in the center of her food dish. It slows down her eating and she no longer throws up. I also feed the cats the same amount of food spread over 4 feedings, less food at each meal.

[Truluv]

Thanks MaddyCat. We've tried everything, from feeding him in raised bowls, feeding him tiny amounts, feeding him in isolation, feeding him special foods, etc. I can't believe how much money I've spent on vet fees for this too, but we still don't have an answer. It's enough to make me a dog person :-).

[ruecatt]

This is such a good post because I hate leaving my dog. We have to board our dog every time we go on vacation and its so hard. I usually make my husband go with me to drop him off to handle the dog, who wines the whole time, so all I have to do is take car of the paperwork because its so heartbreaking. I am such a sap for that dumb dog!