Boarding Kennels: Options for When You Can't Take Your Pet with You
By Beverly Eschberger
Maybe your upcoming travels involve a business trip or other plans where your pet is not welcome. What do you do with your best friend while you are away? Fortunately, you have several options.
Perhaps the easiest option is to board your pet in a kennel. This is an especially good idea if you will be away for a week or longer. Check with your veterinarian or friends for a recommendation for a good kennel. You can board your pet with a stand-alone kennel, or your veterinarian may even offer boarding on site. If your pet is young and healthy, a stand-alone kennel is usually a less expensive option, but you can often find a local kennel that offers luxury accommodations for a pampered pet. The luxury accommodations might include such amenities as specially prepared meals, a television in your pet’s quarters, and a kennel that has access to both the indoors and outdoors. Either type of kennel will offer daily exercising, and may offer bathing and grooming, so you come home to a pet that smells and looks nice.
Boarding your pet with your veterinarian is a good option if your pet has a medical condition or is an older pet. Boarding with your veterinarian is also a good idea if your pet requires daily injections for diabetes or other daily medications. Even if your pet is young and healthy, you might consider boarding with your veterinarian because your pet’s medical information will be on-site. If your pet has a medical emergency while you are away, veterinary boarding kennels will be able to provide 24-hour medical attention. My husband and I were especially grateful for this when our Irish setter Clancy had to have emergency surgery while we were in Kansas City. Veterinary kennels often offer bathing and grooming as well.
Before you take your pet to the kennel you will need to make certain that your pet is up-to-date on his vaccinations; many boarding kennels will often require that you provide a clean bill of health from your veterinarian, proving that your pet’s vaccinations are up-to-date before your pet is allowed in. This not only protects other animals from any diseases that your pet may bring in, but also protects your pet from any illnesses he might be exposed to during his stay.
No matter which option you choose, you can make your pet’s stay more enjoyable by providing a few personal items to remind him of you. Pack some of your pet’s favorite toys, his bed, and a familiar blanky, and provide treats for the kennel staff to give to your pet. Also, be sure to pack any medications that your pet requires. If your pet is on a special diet, be sure to provide sufficient food for your pet during his stay.
Before leaving your pet in the capable hands of the kennel staff, make certain that they have all the information they will need. Leave your emergency contact information with the staff; either leave the telephone number of the hotel where you will be staying, or the number of a friend or relative who knows how to reach you. (It’s a good idea to leave the number of a friend or family member as well as your hotel telephone number, just in case you cannot be easily reached.) If your pet will be staying in a stand-alone kennel, or in a veterinary kennel that is not your regular veterinarian, be sure to leave your veterinarian’s contact information. (Be sure to give the name that your pet’s information is listed under if you and your spouse/partner have different last names.)
Be sure to leave any special feeding or medication instructions; be sure to tell the boarding staff how much to feed your pet and how often, so your pet is not overfed. Give the kennel staff your travel information, when you leave and when you will be returning. Last of all, be sure to take the kennel’s contact information with you, so you can contact them in case you will be delayed and will not be able to pick up your pet on the specified date. You’ll want to have this information in case you suddenly remember that you forgot to tell the kennel staff something important, or if you find yourself missing your pet and just want to make certain that he has adjusted to staying in the kennel.
If you have done all of this, you can kiss your pet goodbye and leave him in the capable hands of the kennel staff, and go off to enjoy your trip.
About the Author:
I live with my husband, Everyday Geology editor Geoff Habiger, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. We have three children of the furry variety--two cats, Motley and Nero, and an Irish Setter named Clancy Marie. By day I am a chemist with Abbott Laboratories.
When I am not writing about Paleontology or Travelling with Pets, I like to spend as much time as possible outside, I enjoy hiking, bird-watching, and gardening. I am an avid reader of "just about everything," and I love to visit museums of all types, especially those that feature science and natural history.
My husband and I enjoy travelling to all sorts of different places whenever we get the opportunity, and we like to take Clancy with us.
In addition to writing about science and travelling, I enjoy writing fiction and poetry, and I enjoy combining my love of science education with my love of the literary.
Beverly may be contacted by email at paleoartisans@hotmail.com.
Article courtesy of Suite101.com.
