Isn’t it great! You have a healthy pet that loves you and enjoys hanging around your home. What happens when you have to leave town for a few days? In the absense of kind friends who can board your pet while you are away, you have to come up with a good pet boarding facility to keep them while you are away.
Coming up with the best option for boarding your pet may take some time and effort. It isn’t a good idea to just pick a place because it’s cheap or easy to get to. First, check around and see if anyone you know can recommend a facility. Then, consider the tips below when making a final choice. Your pet’s health and well-being is at stake.
The best thing to do is visit any boarding facility you’re considering. Ask for a quick tour and keep your eyes open. Observe how the pets are treated, check the cleanliness, and in general get a feel for how well the pets and the facility are maintained. Are the floors nasty? Is there a bad odor over and above what you’d expect?
When checking out a facility, ask if they require current vaccinations. They should. If they don’t, keep shopping until you find one that does.
Occasionally, veterinary hospitals set up an in-house pet boarding facility for the convenience of their customers. On the surface, one would consider this to be the best option, since it would be near medical care should it be needed. However, there are other things to think about here.
Consider this from your pet’s perspective. If you were a cat or dog, how would you feel hanging out in a human hospital for a few days? Hospitals are what they are. They are places for sick and recovering pets. Your pet is probably will not have much fun staying in a veterinary hospital while you are away, nor are they likely to get the care and exercise they need.
Most vet clinics are ill equipped to provide boarding services. The staff in those facilities is typically going to spend most of their time taking care of sick pets, and those awaiting or going through surgery. It is a pretty good bet, if your pet is boarding at such a facility, he will be cared for only after all the pet “patients” have been taken care of.
While checking out various facilities, observe whether the pets are being watched while outdoors. In some places, animals are simply let out to play and are loosely supervised. This is not good. Check the fence wire and gates to make sure they are strong and designed to securely contain the animals.
A couple of notes regarding boarding cats and dogs. Cats should be kept in a separate area from dogs. Having barking dogs nearby will stress your cat out totally and is not recommended. For all animals, check to see what sort of schedule they will be on. How often will they be fed? Will there be frequent exercise and play time? Can you provide your pet’s own food for them?
One last thing to consider when visiting and evaluating a pet boarding facility – watch the staff and see how they interact with the animals. To do this job well, one must love animals and have a tremendous amount of patience with them. Not everyone is gifted with this ability. If the people working directly with the pets are impatient and unfriendly with them while you’re there, think of how they must act when you leave.
Take enough time to visit different places and evaluate your options. Pick the one you feel will best serve your pet’s needs while you are away.
Keeping your pets healthy and contented is part of being a caring and responsible pet owner. Stay in touch of the latest healthy pet news and pet products.
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