2 Dogs, 3 Cats, and One Big Headache
We have five pets in our house, and I use that term loosely, because they are not thought of, or treated like pets. The five people in our family treat them like they are babies, and there have been many instances where I’ve wished I were one of them. Working at home all day has forged a bond that has no business existing between a human being and an animal, but it’s there. Which is why it is such a big, fat headache when we want to go on a family vacation.
No one I know will babysit my dogs. They’re young, big, overly energetic dogs and people have no freaking idea what to do with them so I really don’t even bother to ask. Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t leave them with just anyone anyway, and certainly not someone who would leave them home all day while they are at work, or God forbid, treat them like dogs! I do realize that I’m the one with the problem in this scenario, but that doesn’t change the fact that we need doggy and kitty care for our “people” while we’re away.
I’ve partly solved this problem by taking them to the doggy spa. I say partly, because there have been times that the canine accommodations have been more spendy than ours. And that is a problem, too. But the fact remains that I just can’t go away and leave them unless I know they are safe and well taken care of. So for the dogs, I solve one problem by creating another one.
Then there are the kitty cats. At times we’ve had the perfect person handy to check in on them and feed them a couple times a day. I figure, there are three of them. How lonely can they get? But, at the moment, we just don’t have that handy person, and I will do anything other than feel like I’m inconveniencing a neighbor, though I would happily do the same for them.
There’s also the fact that we have a cat right now who is over 16 years old. That’s damn old, and it worries me for obvious reasons.
So the point of all this I guess, is that with each responsibility you have, it makes it harder to get away. But I would never give up the joy I get from my gaggle of furry beasts. And I won’t give up traveling either. Hence, I plan accordingly.
Besides, my daughter will soon be old enough to dump all of the animals on anyway. We’re just biding our time.
Do you have pets? How do you handle it when you go out of town? Let me know in the comments!
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About the author: Debbie Ferm is the founder of Travel Dither. Subscribe to Travel Dither today!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
We do not have pets now, but when I had my cat NOBODY wanted to watch him. He was a grumpy guy that attacked anyone but me. I had to pay big time just to have family watch him!!
Oh no! My pets don’t attack anyone, so at least we’ve got that going for us:)
Well, we just have one pet…our furry first born dog. He’s a lab – and the biggest baby you’ve ever met…
I HATE when he can’t come with us – not only because it’s hard to leave him behind but I feel BAD for him!
Thankfully – we have FANTASTIC neighbors who also have a large dog –
we trade off doggie duties so we can leave town on occassion…that way, our dogs get to stay in their own houses (with the occassional sleep over), run around their own yards…and just generally do their own thing while we are out doing ours.
It has worked out perfectly – though I still hate asking for help even when we are able to return the favor…
I feel like we aren’t too far away – maybe we can watch your furry children sometime!
These photos could have been taken at my house! I should have my head examined to travel so much and own a virtual petting zoo, but I’m right there with you.
What do we do? Pay the 20-year-old next door $15/day to mind the farm.
Ouch.
Too bad I don’t live next door. We could trade:)