Simplifying Travel: Critter Sitting
Posted on December 23, 2009 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Simplification
Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.
One aspect of holiday travel that sometimes gets overlooked is what to do with the critters while you are gone. Most people either take their pets with them, put them in a kennel, ask a neighbor to look in on them, or take them to someone’s house for care.
Taking pets with you can be a challenging thing. It limits where you can stay, and how you can travel. Putting them in a good kennel is easier, but can be harder on the animal. Asking a neighbor can be good, but may be limited as many people travel during the holidays.
With two felines and one canine and one fish-nine in the house, we have a lot of critters. While we do take the dog with us whenever possible, having her home doesn’t work well for our carpets. The cats are sensitive to stress, so boarding them is not a good idea. And while we may be able to take the mammals with us, transporting the fish isn’t possible. So we hire a critter sitter.
I’ve been using the same critter sitter agency for the past fourteen years. The sitter, already bonded and verified through the agency, first comes over for an interview. If it is a new sitter (rare, we have great consistency) she learns where we keep things. (And also how to give insulin to our elderly diabetic cat). Then she will come while we are gone, once or twice a day, and take care of the animals. She also will fetch mail and packages, open and close drapes, put out the trash for pickup, turn lights on and off, and spend time with the fuzzballs, playing and cuddling.
It’s a great peace of mind to know that our fur-babies are well cared for in our absence. If you are looking for an alternate means of caring for pets, check out the critter sitters in your area.
Photo by Per Ola Wiberg (Powi)
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