Family | Life | Food | Travel

23 January 2020

What Should You Do with Your Pet When Travelling?


Travelling as a pet owner can sometimes be complicated. It is rarely feasible to take your pet travelling with you, which means that you will need to make appropriate arrangements to ensure it is being looked after whilst you are away. If you have never had to make these arrangements before, the sheer range of options open to you can often be overwhelming.


What Should You Do with Your Pet When Travelling



Find a Trusted Sitter

Having someone look after your pet while you are away can be an expensive undertaking. If there is someone you know and trust to look after your pet while you're not there, it is worth asking them if they would consider it. Choosing someone that you know and trust over a professional sitter can have a number of advantages.

The big advantage of a professional pet sitter is that they come with experience and knowledge that other people might not necessarily possess. However, if you know someone personally who has extensive experience in taking care of pets and is knowledgeable about looking after the type of pets that you have, then you should leap at the opportunity to have them sit your pets for you. Using someone that you know will usually be much cheaper than hiring a sitter, as you can easily afford to pay them and still be way ahead in terms of expenses.



Consider Insurance

If something does happen to your pet while you are travelling, you will want whoever is looking after them to be able to take them to the vet and get help without having to worry about landing you with a massive bill for treatment. Having pet insurance in place can minimise the financial impact that medical treatment for your pet often entails.

It’s recommended to do your research and compare the cost of buying insurance for your pet to the cost of even the most common treatments and procedures. Then you should be able to see the value of having an insurance policy. Health-related costs are often some of the most significant costs that pet owners have to shoulder, and an insurance policy can provide an important financial cushion. There are various types of pet insurance available for any given animal. For example, many companies offer various pet insurance products for cats and dogs, as well as a multi-pet discount.

Before you go travelling and leave your pet with a sitter, make sure that you have sorted out some pet insurance for them. Pet insurance can make all the difference if your pet becomes sick or injured while you are away and means you don’t have to make difficult decisions based on financial necessity.


A Pet Swap

If you have neighbours who also have a pet that will need sitting at a different time of year, you might want to approach them and ask about doing a pet swap. This is essentially where you agree to take care of one another’s pets while the other is away. This is a good option because you usually will not have to pay the other party involved; instead, you will repay their time by looking after their pet when they need it.


House Visits

Hiring a pet sitter is often expensive because they need to spend most or all of their time with your pet. A much more affordable option is to hire someone to make house calls and to come and tend to your pets at the time of days when they most need it.

While a dog may require walking multiple times a day, many pets will only need to be fed twice a day. This doesn't justify the costs of a full-time house sitter, so hiring someone to come to your home a couple of times a day just to check in and feed your pet is a much more realistic option.


Professional Pet Sitters

A professional sitter will live in your home with your pets, or alternatively, they might take your pets into their home. In either case, they will be taking on full-time responsibility for them and will therefore need to be compensated appropriately. A professional sitter is the most expensive option open to you. Professional sitters can bring a lot of experience to the table.

You don’t want to be worrying about your pet when you are trying to enjoy travelling. If you want your trip to be one completely free of worry about your beloved pet, you need to make the necessary arrangements for its care before you leave. The best option for you will depend on your individual circumstances. Whatever you do, make sure that there is a plan in place for any emergencies that might occur.


Where do your pets go when you travel?

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2 comments

  1. Great advice! Another thing about professional services is some of them drive clearly marked vehicles advertising their services. The issue with this is that they come at set times and criminals scoping out the area for burglaries can see the house is empty the rest of the time. So another thing to consider!

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