So you are finally able to get the time off that you have been waiting to have for so long and can’t wait to head to the mountains, the beach, a cruise or Tokyo. While this is amazing for you, when you have a pet, the planning for them is always on your mind as well and deciding on whether or not to bring them along is one of the questions that most likely keeps you up at night time to time. While travel for you is bountiful, rewarding and exhilarating, it literally might be the exact opposite for your pet and cause a lot of stress for them. There are numerous factors to keep in mind and sort through to be able to determine what the best situation is going to be for your pet. While you may want to bring them along wherever you are going, taking them to quality boarding or having a pet sitter may be a better option.
The most important aspect is putting their best interests first. While you may think the best thing would be for your pet to be with you due to separation concerns, it can actually more often than not be the exact opposite. Depending on where you’re going, is your pet going to be in a crate all day in a hotel room? Or at a kennel most of the day if you’re at resort? This may cause more stress for them and be a worst case scenario instead of being in the surroundings that they know and are comfortable in at home. Cats especially do not enjoy change and temporary conditions, so the idea of riding in a crate for hours and being in a strange hotel room is not going to be the ideal situation for any cat. After reviewing some factors that can affect your pet the most, it can help you decide on what the best option will be.
Considerations to Keep in Mind
The key to keeping your pet safe and healthy is to keep in the mind the factors that are going to impact your pet the most and determine whether or not traveling with them is good idea or not. Some of the most important factors include:
Age – Physical Ailments – Travel Location
Temperament – Trips Purpose – Medications/Illnesses
The age of your pet might be one of the largest factors. As much as we don’t like it, if your pet is aging, the last thing you want is for them to get injured while they are away or get stressed because their movement is more limited than it used to be as to prevent them from doing things as they did before. Something that may have been a little accident before might be a larger concern if they are older.
Physical ailments are going to limit the activities your pet is able to partake in and their mobility to get around. While you may have gone on hikes all the time previously, as your dog gets older the ease of them doing that might not be so easy. If they are younger and healthy, enjoy every moment with them, and explore as many destinations as possible.
The travel destination you are headed to also has a great deal of impact. If you are doing a road trip to a family member’s house for the week, this might be an ideal situation for you and your pet. However, if you are going to a campground, hotel, resort or bed and breakfast for an extended period of time, you may need to decide if the environment is ideal for them to be in and conducive for what they need.
Your pet’s temperament is a major factor. If you are going to be in a social environment such as a resort, campground or equivalent, determining whether or not your pet’s interaction will be ok is very important. Some dogs are skittish and get very stressed out if they are around other’s, some enjoy their time with other dogs and have the best time of their lives running, chasing and playing fetch with balls and Frisbees, while some may be just a little too aggressive to be in certain surroundings. Be aware of your pet’s tendencies and temperament to make sure the best case scenario plays out for you, your pet and the others you’ll be around in the area also. The last thing you want is to create a stressful situation.
Determining the trip’s purpose might be one of the easiest factors. If you know that you are going on a business trip, helping someone move, house or apartment hunting, etc., then most likely adding in the responsibility of taking a pet along will usually not do anything except cause more worry for you. On the other hand, if you are going to be relaxing and enjoying the destination the entire duration of trip, being on your own schedule, having your pet with you to enjoy that might be ideal in that scenario.
Any medication that your pet is on or illness they may have might be something to take into consideration. If they do not have any illness that would make travel stressful or unsafe for them and are going with you, make sure that you have enough of their medication to last a few days past your travel dates as the location you are going may not be able to do any refills. The last thing you want to happen in run out of their prescription while you are traveling with them.
Most of these concepts for any responsible pet owner are second nature to them and are aspects they are always aware of for the benefit and care of their beautiful and beloved pet. Sometimes however, we all do appreciate an additional checklist of things to refer to time to time which in turn can spark the thought of additional aspects that may impact their pet individually more than others.
Taking Them For The Ride
If you determine that the best case scenario is going to be to travel with your pet, you want to make sure that you are prepared in every way possible. Having the appropriate supplies and pet travel accessories is going to not only help your pet tremendously but also help you out quite a bit as well. If you are traveling by plane you might need a few different accessories such as identification tags and approved airline carriers to make the travel experience as streamline as possible.
Things like collapsible water and food bowls as well as their leashes, collars, bags and wipes are all the necessities to make sure you include in your pets travel gear. The most important things to have with you however are your pet’s paperwork and documentation. Any and all vaccination papers, records, rabies shots tags, veterinary contacts, etc. While most likely you will never need the documents you take with you, if you should ever need anything you want to make sure you know where everything is to access it quickly and easily.
Having A Pet Sitter
Your pet being at home in the surroundings they are comfortable with is obviously always a great option. If you decide that you are going to have a pet sitter keep an eye on them while you are away, there are really only a few things that you need to make sure is available for them. While you will not need to get out the usual travel gear for your pet, they will still need all the obvious things like their leash, wipes, bags and the everyday cleaning tools that are used regularly laid out so the sitter has easy access to everything.
Your contact information, where you are going, the veterinarians contact information as well as a 24 hour vet facility information should be supplied and positioned in an area where the sitter can utilize the information in a moment’s notice if need be. While technology has made things easier for us to get a hold of one another, having all the valuable information provided for the sitter upfront puts them at ease as well.
Changing Scenarios
The more you travel with your pet the better idea you are going to have on when you think it will be best to bring your pet along with you and when it would be probably best to keep them at home with a pet sitter or house sitter or even taken to a pet hotel or boarding option. Most scenarios of where you are traveling to are most likely going to be quite different so you will need to determine what the best option for each scenario is.
As your pet ages, keep in mind that the idea of bringing them along with you will increasingly become not the best option for the safety of their health and overall well-being. No one is going to know the needs of your pet more than you do and you are the only one that can ultimately determine what the best decision for them is and to do what is in their best interest. Besides wonderful organizations, there are some phenomenal pet owners in the world and doing what is best for them is always the top priority.