I haven't seen a category for this, and it's a real issue for many pet owners. Maybe there should be an area for this?

db, you're in fine form tonight!  I can't do either with my pets, unless I get someone in the family to take care of them.  But in the past I once had someone do twice a day home visits for my cats & that worked out OK.  I didn't really feel perfectly comfortable with the woman, but she had good reviews from other clients & none of my cats had health issues. 

Boarding - not sure if I could ever do this.  One problem is my refusal to get vaccines for my dogs every year like many of them require, another is it seems like jail time & I think my dogs would be crazed by the time I got them back.  I've also heard horror stories (a few from friends) of disasters, like dogs getting killed or getting out & never being found again.

I'm kind of resigned to leading a boring life of no travel as long as I have so many pets.

JessiesGirl, I'm glad you started this topic. 

I have 4 cats one of whom has CRF.  In December my husband and I will be going on our first vacation together in almost 3 years (we haven't gone away together since Porsche was diagnosed.)  Before Porsche got sick my mother-in-law would come over every day to take care of the cats.  Unfortunately she now lives on the opposite side of the country.   We have no one who lives close enough who we trust to come twice a day to give Porsche her meds and EOD sub-q fluids, so we are now beginning the search for a pet sitter.  Boarding just isn't an option for us.

Luckily we have plenty of time to find someone.  I live in a small town, so I have started clipping the ads for the couple of pet sitters who live in our town.  I also plan on contacting the local vet and my vet (30 minutes away) for their recommendations.  Obviously I prefer someone who is/was a vet tech.  It's very important to me that a petsitter spends enough time with Porsche and is observant enough to notice any change in her appetite or medical condition.  I plan on talking to my vet about leaving a deposit or credit card # with them in case Porsche needs to be seen while I am away. 

Oh, I do have someone who I trust who can stop by a couple of times while I am gone to be an extra set of eyes to notice any change in Porsche.  This person will be my emergency contact for the pet sitter while I am gone (we'll be on a cruise so it will be too hard to contact me directly in an emergency.)

Any suggestions on things to look for/questions to ask a pet sitter are greatly appreciated.  I've never had to leave a chronically ill cat for more than a day or two before, so I incredibly nervous about the whole thing.

Especially if you are looking for a pet-sitter for a dog or cat who needs med administration, subQ fluids, etc., you might check with the vet techs at your vet clinic, if a qualified professional pet-sitter can't be found.

A friend of mine has done this for an elderly cat.  I was surprised to learn that quite a few techs do this.

We've used a pet sitter twice for the cats.  It worked out well since we have so many cats.  She was awesome.  The cats loved her.  Some of the vet techs/receptionists here also do pet sitting, too.

We had a bad experience last time we boarded the dogs, so we are unlikely to board them again.  Can't afford vacations anyway.  The pet sitter we used doesn't sit for dogs, so that's out of the question. 

Just make sure you screen the sitters first if you go that route.

Tips for choosing a boarding facility:

-start with local vets, trainers and people you meet in your neighborhood and dog parks to get recommendations. You can also call local Kennel Clubs for their recommendations.
-tour the facility, and insist on seeing dogs that are currently being boarded (cats if you are looking to board a cat). It should look and smell clean, the animals should have access to adequate space, and should have water available at all times. Animals should be housed on a readily disinfectable surface.
-dose the facility require shots for every animal that is boarded? Do they perform flea treatments on incoming animals?
-what is the facility's policy for aggressive animals? Do they employ a behaviorist? Do they have an on-call vet?
-what is the standard service? Walking, feeding, play-time? If they offer these they will be more than happy to advertise time spent with your animals.
-If the standard service is only cleaning pens and feeding, can you pay for additional walk/play time? If so, is this individual or group walk and play? If group, how do they ensure are animals are properly socialized?
-check the BBB for complaints.
-what training do their employees have?*
-are there any people on-site overnight?
-in the truly unfortunate event that your dog attacks or is attacked, does your facility know the local laws?
-can you leave your dog at their facility for a few hours or a day to try it out?
-can you bring your own toys and food?


*Although I LOVED my facility, which was run by a famous dog trainer/Golden Retriever breeder in GA and offered an unusual amount of people time with the animals and many options for additional exercise (which they met, because my young dog was behaving normally when she got home, rather than running laps around the house), had a behaviorist who was on-site daily, had staff who lived on premises, etc., they fell down on training for ALL employees. In the summer months, to meet increased demand and their advertised 'people time and exercise' with the dogs, they employed some teens who didn't understand dogs well. This turned out to be a bad thing as my dog was just reaching maturity. The teen brought my dog first into a play area, another teen brought a Maltese into the play area. The Maltese handler didn't like the look Jess was giving the Maltese (good instinct there) but she hung the dog, jerking it by it's lead into the air in her panic...which allowed Jessie to strike the Maltese in the belly. By then it was too late for the more experienced handlers to successfully intervene. It was an awful, awful situation. Thankfully the Maltese survived, but it didn't have to get to the point of a belly attack, or any attack for that matter,  if more experienced people had been handling the animals at the time.  That's why I strongly advise that you inquire about the experience and training of EVERYONE who will be handling your animal. I still feel AWFUL for that Maltese owner and for the staff of this facility. It was a tragedy all the way around. The only thing they did right in this  situation was to remove Jess to the area in which they housed 'problem dogs', where no people or animals interacted with them for the most part. And I had to pick her up through a side door to ensure she didn't run across other dogs during the pick up. (Yes, that was the right thing for them to do.) But they had no idea whether I could even legally take her home! Since they didn't know, I picked her up immediately.  But I was shocked that a really well-known and well-regarded facility not only had under-trained people supervising dogs but also had no idea how to handle a dog fight or advise owners of the dogs involved how to respond.  Now we have well-vetted pet-sitters.

We've just adopted two 8-year-old brothers from an animal shelter here in Japan.

In September we'll be away for 6 nights in Bali, and are weighing the options - 'pet hotel' as they're called here, or pet sitter.

This may or may not be of any use to people outside Japan, but we're really impressed with the website of a pet sitting agency the shelter recommended:

http://www.rusubanwannyan.com/aisatsu_e.html

They seem to have a really responsible, careful attitude about the whole thing, coming to meet the cats and meet with us for about an hour before anyone commits.

To be honest, we're not so much worried about the cats - they're pretty independent, and since they survived the shelter, they would probably be okay in a pet hotel.

Our concern is actually having a strange person in our house every day... is that a selfish concern?

Mandycat - Thanks for the good advice! We'll probably go with a sitter, and since this is our first time, all insights are new ones for us!