Pet lovers, be honest.

[brigittetom]

Don't you just hate to leave the pets. You love to cruise and you have to leave the pets in the hands of someone else. The worst is driving up to the house and hoping all the pets are well.

[teedee]

Brigitte - Oh I totally agree. I worry about my Duchess when I'm gone, and as much as I love cruising, I do miss her a lot while I'm gone. Now that my daughter is grown and on her own I seem to have transferred some of my mothering instincts to Duchess! I only leave her with my daughter or brother so she's in familiar surroundings. I wish there was some way to bring her with me, but I don't expect that to happen.

Terri

[pamkev]

I hate to leave my two "girls" Hazel and Cassidy very spoiled bassets. When it comes time to take them to there home away from home they don't care they love it. It's me that feels bad. Pam

[JerseyshoreBruce]

you are so right.....I feel guilty as could be and my baby looks at me on the way to the kennel and I could just cry.......He is a Jack Russell and needs lots of love and lots of running....the kennel plays with him outside once a day for a half hour...I pay extra for it to be him alone and no other dogs....when i pick him up he is so excited he pees on me...and won't leave my arms for at least 10 min.

[tuggers]

I don't feel TOO guilty about the dogs since I have found a wonderful place for them to stay. Maddie, the Great Dane, loves it there! They have her in the house with them some and she loves the step kids when they visit and because she plays so well with others she gets many play times throughout the day, Tuggers, the wire doxie, is okay with it but he truly is a mama's boy. Maddie is usually exhausted and sleeps for about two days when she comes home but Tuggie stays close to mom.

 

The cat stays home and someone comes in, but he is so social and attached to me that he gets lonely. When I come home, he is velcro cat for days! I do have guilt about leaving him.

 

The parrot loves her second home and since I've only had her a short time, she thinks that's how life is!

 

I do call home and check on everyone. A lot! The cat more so because he's 14.

[davis0056]

Dave and I miss our 3 'kids' too, but they are more spoiled while we're gone then when we're home (if that's possible). We have a licensed pet sitter come in 3 times a day. Our oldest dog is 14 and has doggie alzheimer's and forgets to use the doggie door to go outside when needed. The petsitter makes sure she goes out. All the dogs get massages and pettings and playing everyday. They are as pampered as much as we are. The petsitter keeps a diary and its always a laugh to see other peoples' perception of our kids and to know what they've done while we were gone. They even put the diary on line so we can check on the kids while we're gone if we need a 'fix.'

[Cruise Arizona]

I love our dog because she is so sweet and loving, but she is not the brightest dog in the world. Last week she spent 20 minutes barking at a streak of dirt on the porch one day, and a weed on the porch the next day.

 

On our last cruise we were lucky because we left the kids at home, so the dog had her kids to play with. My parents were here to baby sit the kids, and the dog would bark at my dad every time he changed his clothes, must have thought he was dirt or a weed. :D

 

Anyway, for the trip to Hawaii in November, we are hoping that two of my neighbors will be able to pet sit. One is a 12 year old girl who loves the dog and the other has a dog that likes to play with my dog. So hopefully she'll be all set.

 

I try not to worry about her and enjoy the cruise.

[chessbriar]

Have never worried about is. We drop our pets off at my moms and they live the life of luxury themselves as my mom babies them to death.

[runner1909]

I am sure it is harder on me than on Molly when we board her to go on a cruise. She stays with her vet/groomer, so she knows everyone there. But she is getting older and I worry that it is hard on her. In December, we're going on the Galaxy for a 12 night cruise--the longest we've ever left her, and I have already started to worry! My motto has always been: Worry now and avoid the rush later. I also have beta fish that I have to be farmed out to someone, too.

[Leela]

One of my closest friends and I have a pet-care exchange agreement. I watch hers when she's away and vice-versa. I know my animals are in great hands and never worry about them. However, when I'm flying home on the plane, I keep thinking "I'm going to see Cece and Millie! I'm going to see Cece and Millie!" and when I come in the door there's lots of happy petting and cuddling.

[Arubalisa]

Seeing all of my boys is the only thing I look forward to coming home from vacation :)

[Ekaj]

Oh yes, I worry a lot, actually. We have 3 horses, 2 dogs, and a cat; the dogs and the cat are usually fine, but the horses can cause trouble or get into trouble so easily, that I do worry. Last time we were gone, we hired someone specifically just to take care of the horses. One of the horses, though, had her figured out, and opened the arena gate and got out every single day and made a mess of the barn. *sigh* At least he had fun, too! ;) And, I have owned my oldest horse for 16 years, since he was a foal, so he really is like my child. Since he has had a couple of serious illnesses lately, I'm not looking forward to leaving him on our next cruise. (I know, I know, it's far worse when you have real children, but you pet owners know what I'm talking about!)

 

Anyway, I just try to hire very experienced people to house sit/pet sit, which usually makes it easier, but with my horses, I still worry a bit.

 

Oh, almost forgot - very funny story. Before DH and I got married, I only had one cat at my house (the horses were boarded.) I lived across the street from my husband's father, so we asked him to feed my cat while we went on our honeymoon. We forgot to tell him how MUCH to feed her, though, and unfortunately she's not the kind of cat who will eat only little bits at a time. She eats EVERYTHING you give her, and begs for more. Well, we were gone for 3 weeks, and when we walked in the front door, this MOOSE of a cat was sitting in the entryway, looking quite pleased! I swear she gained 3-5 pounds while we were gone; it was like she had gone on the cruise, eating with us! ;) (And from then on, she LOVED my father-in-law!)

 

Happy cruising, and may all your pets be well! :D

[mahdnc]

Don't you just hate to leave the pets. You love to cruise and you have to leave the pets in the hands of someone else. The worst is driving up to the house and hoping all the pets are well.

 

Yes, this is just about the only negative aspect of cruising for us (or any other vacation). I was never a pet person when I was growing up but my wife decided that we should adopt a puppy that our neighbors decided they could not keep anymore when their dog had a litter. Well as you would guess, Emily (pictured in my avatar) quickly became part of the family and it many ways she was our first kid! We have been always able to avoid kenneling by arranging for a house-sitter or via a pet exchange arrangement that Leela mentions. That helps but it doesn't make the guilt go away completely.

[nu2sea]

The only downside of a cruise (other than the cost:eek: ) is leaving our four cats at home.

 

We too have a mutual pet sitting agreement with close friends who also travel a great deal. Since Deb is a cat lover she tends to spend long hours at our house where she can also use our elliptical trainer to amuse them. A couple of them will usually sit on a table nearby measuring angles and distances for a leap onto a moving shoulder.

 

Of course, the best part of any trip, no matter how wonderful, is having a houseful of pets awaiting our return and greeting us joyfully. That helps to make up for the worry and guilt of leaving them behind.

:)

Susan

[newmexicoNita]

Generally we take the kids, 3 dogs, Shelby our Great Dane, Reggie, our Springer and Somo our little Llaso plus Patience and Sunny to the boarder which the dogs love:Cats of course not. I never worry but I do miss them. This time we are going to leave them home with nieghbors 40 year old daughter taking care of them. We did this years ago and Reggie was miserable, but that was before he had his friends. Of course the cats will probably take things out of the bedroom drawers among other things. It will be interesting to say the least. I hope everything works out. NMNita

[Leela]

Maybe I'm not a good cat mommie but I don't really feel any guilt at all about leaving them behind. When I'm home I take really good care of them, cuddle and play etc. They are very friendly social and are loving "lap" cats. But when I'm gone I'm gone and although I do miss them from time to time (most often at bedtime) I don't feel guilty for leaving them. I know that my friend and her 4-year-old daughter are taking really good care of them, making sure they get plenty of food and water and a clean box and some petting and company (my friends like to come over to watch DVDs on our flat-screen TV when we're away on vacation).

 

But then, I don't feel guilty when I go on vacation with my mom and leave my husband at home either.

 

I guess I'm just not into vacation-related guilt :-)

[TEXASMUNK]

Sorry, love the pets but do not transfer human emotions to the guys. Our daughter house sits (the Great Dane would overwhelm their apartment).

The newspaper is brought in, the mail is brought in, she takes great care of the dogs and cats.

[halos]

I always worry about my dog because I know how attached he is to me...BUT it does ease my worry somewhat that I have found an amazing woman to board him with and he loves going there...although he still misses me, he is not unhappy to be dropped off there because he gets wonderful treatment and other dogs to play with which is a treat for him because he is an 'only (4-legged) child'.

The cruise we have booked next will be a tough one...we'll be gone quite a while....and yes, I'll worry like I always do, and then it will be for over 2 weeks that I'll be worrying. :eek:

[tuggers]

Amazing how many Great Danes we have on here! Mine is an almost four year old black female. Very much a Dane in that she would lick the bugler to death. Which is why I have the Wire Doxie. While Maddie has got them distracted and worried, Tuggie would go for the kneecap (that's as high up as he can reach!). When they bred that terrier in to the Doxies, they sure deposited a lost of feistynes!:D

 

I know what you mean about the long cruises. I have a couple of b2b2b's that'll be a month and they do miss me then.

 

Jim, sorry you ("do not transfer human emotions to the guys") yet you refer to them as 'guys' as in 'humans'. Me thinks you protest too much. At least I hope that for you because otherwise you are missing out on a lot in your life with your pets and I would have to feel VERY sorry for you.

[gkm]

Leaving them is the reason I don't have pets now. I always worried, stewed, thought about them all through vacations. As they died of old age, I never replaced them. When I first had my girls (cats), I was a "at home" mom, but now I work and am out of the house 10 hours a day. I think it would be cruel to bring a pet into the house and then leave it most of the time. Hopefully when I retire (in a couple of years) I can once again have the love and joy a pet can bring. My DH and I are enjoying traveling so we are home even less. I do miss them though.

 

Garry

[Desertbelle]

Sorry, love the pets but do not transfer human emotions to the guys.

 

Exactly, they are pets, and I care for them, but I don't pretend they have human emotions.

 

What we do miss is our kids and grandkids. On our last cruise I called my daughter to check on things back home and my 2 year old grandson got on the phone and said "Belle, come home now!" :D

[ladysail2]

I miss my cats when away from them...I don't feel guilty for leaving them as they are in very capable hands...usually dh's hands..or ds's hands. But I am so glad to see them and that is because they give me so much pleasure with their antics. Maybe it isn't on purpose that they 'seem' to love me....but why else do they purr and give me that...I Love You So Much...look?? I do believe that they miss their humans...certainly dogs show it more than cats physically....but cats are more dignified..uh oh here comes the flaming :eek: !!

But to miss them terribly would ruin the vacation....so I just think of them, hope they're doing well and give them lots of hugs and kisses when I get home. dh gets his turn when the cat-greetings are finished, LOL

Arubalisa....love your pictures!

Hi Terri!

[L11]

This is going to be the first cruise I have really worried. We had a mutual pet sitting agreement with our neighbors, but they just moved over the past couple of months. We will be using a licensed pet sitter for the five kitties. Now I know she will do fine with them but stilll...While I do not feel terribly guilty, by the time we get back, we miss them awfully. Our old guy (12 yo) is also a velcro cat for days after we get home.

 

Linda

[Shari2]

Hi Brigitte...

 

I know my two kitty-cats are well taken care of because they go to my daughter who knows and loves them. I do worry when I first leave them, though, because they really don't like to leave home. They get really anxious if they see us packing, and then I do feel a little guilty. Once on the cruise, though, I can relax and know that they're well taken care of.

[BLACKBELTBLONDE]

So it isnt just me? We ahve a golden retriever, a cocker spaniel, a toy poodle (13 yrs old, my 1st "kid") and a labradoodle. My daughter takes a photo album with her when we cruise, and I admit, I have pulled it out a few times too! But, my dad stays with them, and they are rotten when we get home!