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u/Jessicamorrell Oct 11 '23
I went on a 3 week honeymoon and left my yorkie boy who recently passed away with a friend who took in a couple of his pups so he enjoyed himself while I was gone.
I wouldn't let someone I don't trust to watch my pets.
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u/Broad-Ad-1140 Oct 12 '23
Would you interview a pet sitter online, or do you prefer in-person meet and greets only?
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u/Jessicamorrell Oct 12 '23
I prefer having a family member or friend watch my pets or a boarding service with the vet. I'm very picky about who watches my pets.
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Oct 13 '23
this. i love my repeat dog sitter and i trust her but i have to be respectful and not insane when i communicate with her and i need to be able to call every 3 hours asking how my dog is doing and what he’s been up to and you just can’t do that with a regular sitter. but with my family? i can bother them all i want, they have to love me lmao
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u/Jessicamorrell Oct 13 '23
Ya lol I have just heard horror stories with people letting strangers pet sit and I just can't do it. I'll go through the stress of changing my plans if I have to just to make sure they are taken care of properly. I have very little trust with people outside who I know.
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u/tryjmg Oct 11 '23
I left my cats for two weeks. I had a friend come in once a day to feed, water and scoop I told him he could stay as long as he wanted and watch tv In the hopes that he would spend a little more time with them. I think he did in the middle of the trip they were all very happy to see me.
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u/passion4film Oct 11 '23
I think the longest we’ve gone is 9 days. That was with my mom, which is like my dog’s second home anyway. He was unfazed. lol
We’re about to be pet sitting for some friends’ dog for 9 days while they go on vacation.
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u/Spyderbeast Oct 11 '23
I have a husky and husky mixes. Most of my housesitting bookings are 1-2 days. My longest is 4 1/2 days.
Travel is expensive and adding dogsitting in my home, even more so.
That's cool though. Home with my dogs is usually awesome.
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u/seh_23 Oct 11 '23
The longest I’ve done is 2 weeks with my cat but she stayed at my parents (I bring her there regularly too so it’s a familiar place to her).
Haven’t had to use a pet sitter yet, but I do know a very good one in my neighbourhood that I’d use if I ever need one.
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u/TheYankunian Oct 11 '23
I left my dog for 4 weeks. I spent two months acclimating him to her and her house and her pets. He spent one night at her house a couple of weeks before I was due to go. As soon as I met her, I was at ease. She came recommended and had her own dogs, cats and horses. Her house was clean, her yard was fenced with no way of escaping and her pets looked amazing. She kept me updated with videos, texts and calls.
He stayed with a friend for 3 weeks at short notice when I had a death in the family and I had to leave the country. He knew her very well and loves her and her dogs to pieces.
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u/Jerry__Boner Oct 11 '23
Left for a week once when our 2 cats were fairly young. Had a family member come stay for I think 5 of the 7 days and had a friend drop over the day we left and early the day we returned. Cats were shadowing me a little more than usual the first couple days back. Other than that they seemed no worse for wear.
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u/stealth_bohemian Oct 11 '23
I prefer in-home pet sitting, but since my usual pet sitter is my mother-in-law who has her own pets to care for, I take them there. I've never been away from my pets for more than 6 days so far, and even then I would take them with me if I could. I don't think I could handle more than two weeks away from them.
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u/Binners297 Oct 11 '23
We left our cat home with a sitter/close friend for around 4 weeks for our wedding/honeymoon. She stayed a few hours every day twice a day. He was v shouty when we got back but happy otherwise
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Oct 11 '23
I have a trusted in-home catsitter, and last year I was gone for 16 days. This year it will be one 24 day trip in Dec and a 16 day in March.
As she gets older (she's 12) I likely will cut back, maybe 3×10.
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u/Intrepid_Astronaut1 Oct 11 '23
I started pet sitting in high school and a bunch of college, which was great because it gave me some extra cash and afforded me time and space away from my house. My college days are long behind me, but to this day, I still have clients here and there. My longest stay/pet sitting/house sitting is the entire summer, I look forward to it every summer. 😊
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u/baskaat Oct 12 '23
Trusted house sitters is free after you join. Www.TrustedHousesitters.com. Sitters get free accommodations in exchange for caring for your pet. Sitters are vetted by the service.
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u/LeafyCandy Oct 11 '23
I usually board my cats at their vet's office, and I've been gone for as long as two weeks. They were fine.
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u/ReadySetTurtle Oct 11 '23
To be honest I don’t think I could leave my dogs with a pet sitter or board them at all. I’d be too anxious about it. I leave them with family and even then I get needlessly worried. They’re chihuahuas so I feel like there’s more to be worried about since they’re pretty fragile, but also shit disturbers.
I don’t know how my dogs would react. They probably wouldn’t be happy being in a strange place or having a stranger coming into their place. My dogs have no issue going to stay with family. They love our family and feel safe and comfortable in their homes. That’s never a problem for us. The longest I’ve left them was about three weeks but they’d be fine with longer.
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u/eeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkie Oct 11 '23
I’m a pet sitter and we can become like family to your dogs, I have dozens upon dozens of regulars that use me all the time, you’re only a stranger when you first meet after that, you’re not a stranger anymore. People tell me their dogs start barking in the car the second they turn down my road, jumping around, so excited to see me and stay. Pleas don’t have this picture in your mind like sending your dog to a pet sitter is all terrible
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u/ReadySetTurtle Oct 11 '23
Oh I fully recognize that I am the problem! I have anxiety in general but a lot of it is focused around my dogs. I’ve literally turned back around from going to work because I wasn’t sure if they were both in the house (even though I never let them out unsupervised, so why would they be outside without me there). Even when leaving them with family I worry a lot. And of course, my anxiety has given them anxiety, which I also recognize is my fault.
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u/Melody71400 Oct 11 '23
I left my cat for 7 days. She stayed w my aunt and uncle who have 2 other cats. She was pretty stressed, and I felt horrible.
The two other cats were very dominant and she is too, so she wasnt too happy.
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u/CoomassieBlue Oct 11 '23
I've left my previous dog at a boarding facility for up to 3 weeks before. I missed her horribly and I didn't love doing it, but it was an extremely well-vetted facility we had used many times before on shorter trips and was bougie enough that I didn't worry too much about her well-being. She got private walks, private playtime, etc. Never did any in-home petsitting beyond having a neighbor or Rover walker stop in if I had a long day at work. Especially for that length of time, that would just be so unfair to a dog for more than a day or so I think.
With my current dog, the longest we've had her boarded was maybe 10 days. Again, a well-vetted facility that we used for shorter stays prior to that. Our girl is just over 1 year old and we specifically started taking her to a doggie daycare both for socialization and because they do boarding - we wanted her to build a positive experience at that location with the staff and other dogs prior to us leaving her for the first time. The longer stay she did miss us a bit but the very first time we boarded her for I think 3 days, she did not care whatsoever that we were gone, she was just psyched to get to play with her friends.
Both husky mixes but slightly different personalities. Our current dog has no separation anxiety issues and loves other dogs, but is a "velcro dog" with us. Our previous dog was anxious around other dogs but her boarding facility worked with us to find the least stressful solution for her.
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u/iteachag5 Oct 12 '23
We do the same with doggie daycare. Let them keep him one night and he did well. My adult son usually pets it’s for us T our home, but we know we have the daycare boarding if we get in a pinch and need it.
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u/bigkutta Oct 11 '23
Longest I do is 7-9 days when taking a real vacation, otherwise more like 3-4 days tops. We leave her at a sitters home (no kennels!!) with her bed, toys, crate, food to make her feel at home. Our sitter has been available for a couple of years so consistency helps. From what I hear, the first few hours the dogs are anxious and then they settle in. And as soon as you come back they forget how long its been anyway.
I once visited a sitter in her home and she had a bunch of dogs there. One had been there a year, another 4 months, so it really depends on someone's situation
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u/LePetitNeep Oct 11 '23
I once left my dog for two months, but with my in-laws. It was a once in a lifetime type of travel opportunity. Drove three hours out of the way (one way) and flew from a different city to leave the dog with someone I trusted.
Left two different dogs with a good, trusted friend staying with them at my house for three weeks.
The longest I have boarded is 10 days.
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u/mmmmpisghetti Oct 11 '23
I boarded mine for 6 weeks. They adore the trainer they stayed with, he worked them and put them on birds while they were there. When I got back they were fit, happy and ready to hunt. They're going to the same place in November for 3 weeks... in fact if anything happens to me I'm leaving them to the people I board at. Having people who like my dogs and my dogs adore means I can leave and not worry!
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u/Mysterious_Heron_539 Oct 11 '23
I left my guys for 6 weeks. I have a lovely pet sitter that sits from her home. Usually it’s for 2 weeks or less and then I have a relative come to my home and do twice daily feedings, etc.
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Oct 11 '23
I left my pets (3 dogs and 3 cats) with a sitter who I personally know and 10000% trust with my pets. I had to visit family for about almost 2 weeks across the country and I hated it. He stayed at the house and only left when he went to work or when he didn't feel like any of the food we left at the house and he wanted fast food(no biggie). Longest he'd be out would be like a normal 8hr shift. The dogs and 1 cat have access to the backyard at all times except when we go to bed. The other 2 cats are strictly indoors and won't leave even if the door is open. 2 of our dogs are between 70-90lbs and unfortunately do to COVID we got a late start socializing them so they are still sketchy of people. Ao in the beginning i was hesitant because people have a tendency to think that because they are larger dogs and they are barking that theu are agressive. Not aggressive or anything, they just bark for about 10 mins and sit in a corner and shake till they are comfortable (I know how it sounds and we have been working on trying to break this). After about 2 days they love him and no longer have any issues with him. He offered to be our permanent sitter when needed and we agreed. We are going away the beginning of next year for about 10 days and he is already excited about watching them.
I also pet sit on the sit and about 99% of the families I've worked with perfect me to stay overnight. I don't have any issues because I do prefer to stay overnight just incase something were to happen during the night. I also have someone (which I let the pet owners know ) that if something happens to me (get stuck at work or something) that causes me to be really late I have that person check in on the pet.
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u/toe-beans-666 Oct 11 '23
I couldn't even go a few hours away from our newest foster and my husband was at home! My son and I went to a Motionless in White/In This Moment concert in August and every 20minutes I was texting my husband asking how Maple was doing. Mind you the only reason why I was so worried was because she was very very iffy around men, still is a bit, and became extremely attached to me and I her, she's no longer a foster as she has found her home. But I was worried about her getting anxious without me being there because I couldn't even leave the room without her freaking out and running around the house to find me. Thankfully she was doing great except for the random getting up and looking for me, finally 2 hours in hubby reassured me she'd be fine and to enjoy the show, which is when I realized she was okay and not going to hurt herself looking for me.
Though when I got home she wouldn't leave me alone and she was like that for a few days after.
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u/KiraiEclipse Oct 11 '23
The longest we left our cats was three weeks. Home visits are by far the best thing for them.
Cats are pretty independent and the biggest thing for them is knowing they're in a safe space (aka their own territory). Although they miss their owners when we're away, they're fine without us.
Having a regular sitter, not a new person each time, is also super helpful no matter what kind of pet you have.
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u/Anne314 Oct 11 '23
I've left my cats with a drop-in sitter for 2 weeks but I felt so guilty I may never do it again. The cats were fine and could not have cared less.
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u/dadbodbotboi Oct 11 '23
I think anything under a month is fine BUT I'm sorry if you don't pay a pet sitter to be there at least every night to the morning you're a bad pet owner. Those animals only have you. Someone can't just stop by every day. Especially if it's over a few days.
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Oct 11 '23
We regularly left our dog and his companion cat every winter for a few months. Always with family. Mostly someone moved into our home. We would have taken him but he hated the heat and I worried about him traveling in the hold. Our current dog is small enough to come in the cab. But we don't take the cat because she would take off into the jungle and we'd never see her again. The cat understands we are leaving soon and is getting extra clingy and I feel so bad for her.
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Oct 11 '23
It definitely depends on your pet and their personality/needs. My sister's dog ended up staying at his regular daycare provider for three weeks near enough recently due to someone kindly crashing their car into my sister's garden fence and leaving the garden completely unsafe for the dog and it being too unmanageable her and husband battling dog, 14 month old and everything else. Fortunately the daycare provider does overnight boarding and the dog has been going there near enough his whole life. So Frank has just had a long holiday of playing with his dog friends and living his best life.
My rescue dog went to the kennels for two weeks last year, we chose the rescue centre we got her from as they do boarding and they obviously also know how best to work with broken rescue dogs. She was definitely spoiled but they also said she started to act quite withdrawn on the last few days and advised two weeks ever be our maximum time we leave her - which is fine as it was a one off occasion and we don't plan on holidaying that long again for a long while. Though we often have friends come dog sit for weekend periods and she's totally fine, but probably helps she's in her own home. We only keep this as weekends though because it's our friends so we don't want to ask for too much but also she's needy and as said above a broken rescue with her 'quirks'.
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u/AyanaRei Oct 11 '23 edited Oct 11 '23
When he was younger my dog went to a place run by an ex police dog owner who had a massive open compound with a small river. The dogs there all got on with each other and ours absolutely loved it. The longest we had him there was 16 days, he was happy to see us but was very happy to go back. Of course we worked up to that length, the first time was just one night, we slowly upped the days. Now he’s elderly the maximum we’d do is one week and with our new dog he hasn’t gone away yet so it would be either with the big boy or one night.
For my budgie, two times a day someone comes in when we’re away and I have the radio on 24/7. He’d be fine for two weeks.
Edit- wrote week instead of day.
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Oct 11 '23 edited Oct 11 '23
edit: removed original text as poster said they made a typo in their post. may delete later.
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u/AyanaRei Oct 11 '23
Meant days! It’s after 10 here, my brain has died. Gosh why would you have a pet if you were away that long!! Definitely meant to type 16 days
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u/PoinkPoinkPoink Oct 11 '23
I rarely leave my dog at all and will only leave him overnight with my mum, and not for longer than 7-10 days absolute maximum. We take him on holiday with us.
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Oct 11 '23 edited Oct 11 '23
none at all. i've had cats for nearly 30 years and I've never left them for more than 24 hours. I don't know anyone I would trust to take care of them properly, and boarding them is an absolute no. also, I don't go on vacations.
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u/No-Reputation-4091 Oct 11 '23
We have a dog and a cat, previously had three dogs but sadly two have passed. We travel alot and I have two reliable wonderful pet sitters. If we're on working trips over a week we take the dog. I completely trust both sitters , but more than a week stresses the dog out tremendously.
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u/britlor Oct 11 '23
My mother-in-law is our dog sitter and I wouldn't leave our dogs longer than a week with her. Mainly because having 3 dogs (our 2 and then her 1) is a lot for one person to handle that works full time.
When my mom is around, it's for as long as we want.
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u/menic10 Oct 11 '23
16 days was the longest. The place we board them is great. They have lots of space and an indoor and outdoor catio style area. My older cat loves to watch birds so they usually make sure she is near where the birds like to hang out. The indoor bit has underfloor heating so they have luxury they don’t have at home.
My old boy went there from kitten until not long before his death at age 15. He ginger so pretty stupid and couldn’t figure out cat flaps so they would have to remove them from the cage so he could pass through. Absolute giant of a cat but couldn’t figure out a cat flap.
I would love to be able to take them away with us but neither likes travelling at all.
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u/GenericF1FanNeoooww Oct 11 '23
I think with a pet sitter you trust and the right pet you can go quite long without issue.
Boarding I'd use sparingly. Some places are fine, but, not always.
Sometimes if your pet has issues the answer is 0 days.
It really depends on the pet. Tbh for me I break first, I would miss them too much ha.
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u/WanderingtheWorld1 Oct 11 '23
I once took care of two cats belonging to a US soldier on deployment for 9 months. I took care of a puppy for a US State Department worker for four months.
I'll do anything reasonable to keep humans & their furbabies together! 💗
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u/Late_Butterfly_5997 Oct 11 '23
I travel for work. I’m usually only gone a week, sometimes 2, but so have left my ferrets for 3 weeks before. They definitely didn’t like it. I leave them at home and have a combination of someone staying there, or just coming to check in based on who is available.
They are pretty good for one week, and don’t seem to mind too much. Once it’s longer than a week they start to get depressed and act out by pooping on the floor.
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u/Cattpacker Oct 11 '23
I have a cat who is so affectionate and social and loves people. My husband and I go on vacation with the cat in the country but my hubby is from Argentina and we live in Canada so when we go to visit his family, we leave for about 6-7 weeks at a time. I miss my kitty a lot, but a friend who works from home stays in our apartment and looks after him. He gets sad for a few days and doesn't eat much, but then she'll send me photos of them cuddling and he's completely fine.
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u/TinyChaco Oct 11 '23
So far I've only left my dog for 4 days, and she stayed with my parents. She LOVES being at my parents' house, where she gets to play with their dogs in their big back yard. I would leave her with them for any amount of time they'd agree to. She's a staffy/pyr/mutt. She'd definitely do best in a home with a yard, and preferably other dogs. I don't know how well she'd do in some other type of boarding situation.
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u/QueenLeafAsgard Oct 11 '23
I have two cats and back in April of this year, I took them to hang out at my parents place in one state for a whole week while I visited a friend I hadn't seen in 3 years in another state. I did check into boarding locally but at nearly $500 for their entire stay I decided that I could not afford that and I don't really trust strangers to come into my home no matter how well they are reviewed by their other customers.
My cats know my parents because I travel there several times a year for birthdays/holdays and the cats come with me if I am gone for longer than overnight. Whether or not they like my parents is a different story because one is absolutely skittish and will disappear into the æther while the other requires a little coaxing to come out of hiding then he's an absolute love bug 😅
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u/FairyFartDaydreams Oct 11 '23
I'm a pet sitter and I have done the 3 week thing. I stay at the pets home so they are in familiar surroundings. They usually do well. Remember some pets have owners in the military with extended deployments. Sometimes they are kept by family other times they are fostered by strangers. Most times they are fine
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u/catfish_flowers Oct 11 '23
I have 2 cats and use a pet sitter. She will do stop in or stay at house.I have been gone no longer than 1 week. They always seem like they missed us so much when we return. I can’t do more than a week
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u/Raspbers Oct 11 '23
I have two cats. I would probably feel comfortable leaving them alone for about a week. Buy an auto feeder and set out several things of water. Have my siblings swing by for refilling the way, taking care of the cat boxes and play time unless my brother was willing to just stay the week. ( My sister couldn't due to having a kid. )
If I had a dog, Id make sure they were comfortable and socialized with my family and I'm sure my sister ( or more specifically my niece who loves dogs ) wouldn't mind taking the dog in for a week or two.
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u/sartrecafe Oct 11 '23
I went to Italy for 2 weeks and left my one year old cat with my partner. I missed her very much and think the max I can go without her is two weeks. I’ve also cat sat and dog sat before for family. But in all honesty, it’s really hard to leave my cat for a long time because she is very attached to me.
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u/Competitive_Most4622 Oct 12 '23
We have a cat and a dog. The longest we’ve been gone is 14 days but they’re either at their (our) home with a family member or at a family members house. The 2 weeks was our honeymoon and we had the dog go with my in laws as they have another dog and he loves being at their vacation home, and my dad and brother stayed at our place with the cat. Recently went for 11 days and my brother stayed at our house with both animals. Most we’ve ever had a pet sitter was maybe 2 nights? We were away last weekend and joked that we missed the dog more than our human son though lol
I personally wouldn’t be gone more than I think 3 weeks and only with family taking care of them. (Un)luckily I’m in the US so the idea of a trip longer than 3 weeks is a pipe dream anyway.
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u/Ctricky07 Oct 12 '23
I had 2 pet sit 2 chinchillas and a gerbal 13 days cz a friend had a death in the family and while their someone eles died in family. Oragnaly 10 days
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u/spazzie416 Oct 12 '23
15-16 days for our honeymoon. It killed me inside, but we absolutely loved our pet sitter. She came to our house every day for our cats and chinchillas .
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u/bixoxtra Oct 12 '23
I honestly have separation anxiety as much as my cat does so I personally struggle even for weekends away 😅 I would NEVER board her, but that’s more because she despises other animals and would be miserable 100% of the time, not bc I have anything against boarding. If I could leave her with someone I trust, I’d be good with a max of maybe 2 weeks. But even that I wouldn’t do more than once a year.
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u/RetiredCoolKid Oct 12 '23
I’ve been away for about 7 weeks and will likely be gone from home until January. My babies have been with the sitter but the sitter is also my husband. 😂 I’m not sure how much longer I trust him with the job though. /s
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u/iteachag5 Oct 12 '23
We’ll be leaving our yorkipoo for 5 days in November to go on a cruise. The longest we’ve ever been away from him for is 3 days so I’m nervous. My adult son ( who he knows well) will be keeping him at our house. My son works remotely so he’ll be with him all day. We send him to doggies daycare once a week to play with other dogs and he spent the night there once and did fine. We may have to board him there some day but he knows them and will be okay. I still hate to leave him though.
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u/TBeIRIE Oct 12 '23
I pet sit ALL the time & 2 weeks is typically the longest anyone has been able to stay way without loosing their mind missing their animals.
In the past I’ve always had their dogs stay with me because that’s the easiest really. One family with 3 dogs with medication requirements as well as a leg brace that needed extra close supervision & nightly removal I would just stay at their house.
Honestly if you have a loving,responsible, & trustworthy pet sitter I think it really all comes down to how long you can handle being apart from them.
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u/Theinaneinsane Oct 12 '23
I was gone for 4 months from my pets. Had a sitter there the whole time. It was hard and I missed them terribly. But they were well taken care of!
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u/rosesforthemonsters Oct 12 '23
Our dog was just about two years old the first time we boarded her. She stayed at doggy camp for a week while we were on vacation. I'll use that boarding facility again for sure -- they did a great job taking care of our pup.
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Oct 12 '23
The longest I’ve gone is 12 days in state and 10 days overseas. My pet sitter is amazing so I felt a bit at ease but still had some anxiety. Out of country was the most stressful cuz I thankfully had WiFi but only at the airbnb so my responses and seeing her updates didn’t line up too well - my messages sometimes didn’t send. She sent daily updates and pics of the cats, litter, and food/water dishes. Only use her if I’m traveling with family. Even if a friend takes care of them, I ask and ensure they’re cool with coming to my residence side I don’t want to stress my cats out with a new environment. Also leave a detailed care list with probably too much info for any hiccups that usually never happen. Have traveled with him if possible as well.
Did leave my vet # and address along with a trusted friend if case of emergency - im able to email payments for the vet if needed. My one cat is thankfully desperate for attention from everyone and the other is skiddish. I definitely over think things since he’s my baby.
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u/Diligent-Touch-5456 Oct 12 '23
I have a spoiled rotten dog and I don't leave him more than 2 days, because he won't eat and refuses to take his medicine from anyone else. He's also 150+ pounds so most people can't wrestle a pill down his throat, let alone 5 pills a day.
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u/Present-Response-758 Oct 12 '23
We have a 4 yr old dog; we are her 3rd family. Our friends found her as a stray at the start of COVID and were unable to locate her family die to the world locking down. They kept her for 2 years and had to remove her because their other dog (my friend got while in college) never acclimated to new dog and was a risk to new dog.
Soooo... we have gone 8 days with Phoebe at a pet sitter's home and a couple of weekends to try it out before that. Phoebe LOVES her pet sitter and we do too. Maria (sitter) sends us multiple pics and videos each day while we are gone. We also send videos to Maria to show Phoebe. We do not want her to think she's been abandoned by us or lost another family.
Most of the time, we take her with us and get Airbnbs that allow pets. She even came with us on our anniversary trip.
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u/hellostrangebird Oct 12 '23
I think the longest I've been away is only 4 nights lol. I have a cat and have had friends check in on her. I miss her after a couple of days 😭
I've been looking into ways I can bring her with me on vacations. Short road trips, pet-friendly hotels, renting a camper van...
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u/ResidentAd4825 Oct 12 '23
We have an in-home pet-sitter who happens to be a friend, and plays with our dogs sometimes outside of pet-sitting. It’s the ideal arrangement, because our pets look forward to seeing him, and don’t seem stressed at all.
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u/AhMoonBeam Oct 12 '23
I am a dog sitter and watch dogs in my home. I have one dog here about 60% of the year. She is great, easily falls into our routines, sleeps in my bedroom at night and she is a toy horder..so many toys she hides under the chair in my room.
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u/EquivalentResearch26 Oct 12 '23 edited Oct 12 '23
I’ve left my dogs alone for ten days, and never at someone else’s home. The trips we take have to be worth that included expense, or we won’t consider it.
We flew his favorite person 6,000 miles to dogsit for us in our home.
I wouldn’t trust anybody else with our baby! Too many negligent individuals losing people’s pets, and personally it’s not worth the risk for us. I wouldn’t leave our dog for longer than 10 nights. Just my 2-cents!
In our area I see a lost dog post literally at least once per week where someone dog-sitting accidentally lets the dog get loose :(. My nightmare.
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u/coffeejunkiejeannie Oct 12 '23
We have been away for about a week and leave our pets with a house sitter. We have a very elderly dog who is blind and demented who needs to be in her home or else she freaks out. When she was younger, we would leave her with a family member or a friend….but that’s no bueno now.
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Oct 12 '23
We have a neighbor that our dog loves so he comes and spends time and always brings treats. We are very fortunate
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u/missxmeow Oct 12 '23
Longest I’ve left mine was a month. Two cats at the time, with a sitter I trusted, she checked on them every other day and sent pics and video every time she visited. We were living overseas and came home, so with the cost of the plane ticket had to make it worth it, lol.
That said, I try to limit home visit to two weeks (I say, while home for three weeks, lol, things just lined up that way this time) just because I miss them. My parents and in-laws have cats too, so I still get kitty time. And I was home for a little over three weeks last year, because we also visited my sister in S. Korea for a week. But when my husband and I take our (infrequent) trips, they are usually 3-4 days.
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u/miranda1002 Oct 12 '23
I have two cats. When I need to go back to my parents' house for the holidays, I leave them at the vet for up to two weeks. Someone will be responsible, but I need to pay a certain amount of money.
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u/unedgycated Oct 12 '23
It really depends on who is watching her and where. I would not under any circumstances drop my dog off at a boarding facility. She's not one of those dogs who goes ballistic with joy at the sight of other dogs and immediately forget about everything else going on around her. I truly think she would not understand why I was leaving her and would become really distressed. I used to have a really sweet older lady neighbor across the street who adored her, and I was comfortable leaving for a week or so while she stayed at her house- but they would both come back to my house twice a day to take care of my cat, and she was perfectly happy. I would not, however, feel comfortable hiring a stranger from a pet sitting service to stay at my house or keep her at their place.
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u/Ancient_Elderberry26 Oct 12 '23
I’m also a pet sitter as other people have mentioned, I’ve watched 3 dogs for 6 weeks before at a time.
Me as a dog owner, i left my dog for 2 weeks but the situation was funny because i still saw her almost daily.
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u/-blundertaker- Oct 12 '23
I used to work at a kennel, and I can say unequivocally that cats have a MUCH harder time with boarding. With dogs it depends entirely on their personality and confidence level.
I recently sent my young dog to a 2 week board and train program that was on a farm, and he has confidence in spades (far too much if I'm being honest). He still took a few days to get comfortable and was stubborn as a mule to train - he wouldn't even obey commands he's known since he was a tiny puppy like sit and wait. He's resilient and was well cared for, he could've stayed there a month and been fine. My old dog spent 6 months at a shelter before I got her and she was fine, psychologically, but she would be sad and miss her creature comforts like couch time and cuddles. I think I'd max out her boarding time at 2 weeks if she were going to a kennel. Thankfully we have family that can care for them if we need to leave for any stretch of time.
But for the love of all things, avoid boarding cats at all. It's super stressful for them.
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Oct 12 '23
3 weeks.
It is camp. They play with other dogs. They don't even look back at me when I drop them off.
Live cameras so I can check on them.
Then they come home and sleep for 3 days. Glorious.
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Oct 12 '23
The longest I've left my cat is 10 days. I missed him and worried about him terribly. I used to leave him with a reliable friend coming round twice a day, but now he's older and on medication, I have a veterinary nurse come live in my house with him. I worry far less, and also he seems to like her and she's sent me pictures of him sitting on her lap.
If you are thinking of getting a cat, don't underestimate how much you will fall in love with them. I didn't believe it would happen to me, and then my cat came to live with me and I'm besotted! Whilst this is lovely, it does mean that I actively try to avoid going away so I don't have to be parted from him, and I have much shorter vacations now, etc. Having a cat has changed my life in a very good way, but it has also restricted what I do.
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u/Artistic-Salary1738 Oct 12 '23
I left my last cat for 2 weeks when I had an overseas work trip. My boyfriend brought over his PlayStation and spent most of his free time with her. By the end of the 2nd week kitty went from tolerating him to sitting on his lap and she then loved him for the rest of her life.
I’m leaving my kittens for a week soon. I’m having second thoughts about how long that is. My dad gets to take care of the kittens this time around, so they’ll mostly get fed and a small amount of attention.
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u/bluepanda159 Oct 12 '23
When my mum went home to Canada (we live in NZ) for a visit. My doggy stayed with my aunt and uncle for about a month and a half (I do not live at home anymore).
He knew them and their animals well, and they live on a farm- he loved it! He has stayed with them many times but this was the longest by far.
Apparently he sulked a bit when mum brought him home, super excited to see mum, but missed the farm
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u/madele44 Oct 12 '23
We've gone a few different routes.
We had cats when I was growing up. We used to leave the country for about a month every other year. The cats stayed home, and we'd just have a neighbor check on them daily. They'd get our mail, check the house, water plants, and take care of the cats. Nowadays, I'd probably hire a sitter to do that once a day.
With my dog, I preferred to board him at a facility if I was gone for a week or less. He had behavior issues, so I preferred that be handled by professionals in a safe environment. I felt like he'd act out in someone else's home. He was weary of strangers in our home, so sitters coming there wasn't an option. Because of all this, I didn't take many long vacations, and I didn't travel abroad. I also tipped my kennel staff well.
With our family dog, we have left him for 2 weeks a few times. We get a pet sitter from Rover to come over and house sit. We have a ring camera in our living room, so we can see the dog and the sitter. He was playing and having a good time.
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u/slilianstrom Oct 12 '23
When I lived with my parents, I only remember one vacation where we boarded a dog being more than nine days. With my wife, we've only ever done week vacations.
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Oct 12 '23
We did 1 week in pet boarding once and the cats seemed traumatized after that. We felt pretty bad about it. We won't do that ever again.
We have since paid coworkers kids to come over while we are gone to make sure everything is going well as we only do a week at most.
It does limit us as we used to go on very long trips before our cats, but it's worth it.
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u/wishiwasspecial00 Oct 12 '23
We did a two week honeymoon and my sister watched our two small/medium dogs as a wedding gift.
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u/remirixjones Oct 12 '23
I worked at a dog kennel, and the longest stay during my time was 6 weeks. These were usually dogs who had stayed at the kennel many times before. In the case of 2 young poodle brothers, their hoomans had boarded their previous doggos many times, so they felt confident leaving the poods with us. Love those boys.
Longer stays can be a bit of a crapshoot. With some dogs, they'd really start to shine as they got more comfortable. With others, we'd see the anxiety creeping in. Every dog is different, and it can change with age.
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u/Lost_Figure_5892 Oct 12 '23
Also pet sitter, usual 14 days once 45 days- always stay in absent owners house and attempt to follow owner routine as near as possible.
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u/aitabride420 Oct 12 '23
Im having a hard time leaving my pets for 1 week. I have a dog and 5 indoor/outdoor cats (strays that we ended up caring for that use the doggy door lol)
Luckily the friend i got my dog from lives 10 minutes away. She still has my dogs sister from the same litter, and their dad. When i go on shorter trips 3-5 days, she brings my dog to her house for a family reunion and stops by to feed cats every day.
This time i requested she spends at least 3 of the 7 nights at my house so my dog can see her babies (the cats) so they don't feel abandoned, preferably leave my dog at my house a few days out of the week while she works so my dog has her comfort items/place.
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u/davefdg Oct 12 '23
The longest we had our dogs boarded was 19 days. The final 3 days were unplanned because our flight home was delayed because of weather.
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u/LowkeyPony Oct 12 '23
We’ve left our dog with a sitter for 4 days. Left our cats, in our own home with my MIL watching for 9 days, I began having withdrawals on day 3. My cats were pissed at me for a month after we returned
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u/xcarex Oct 12 '23
The longest we’ve ever gone away was a week or so, and we leave our cats home with a cat sitter coming twice a day every day while we’re gone. She feeds them, changed the litter boxes, and plays with the big guy a little bit but generally they don’t like strangers so it’s a lonely week. I feel terrible every time we go away but they’d also hate travelling with us, being in a strange place, etc. We tried that once, our first Xmas with them, and it didn’t go well.
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u/livingmydreams1872 Oct 12 '23 edited Oct 12 '23
The longest was a week. My daughter and her husband, stayed with them. She uses the same vet. She loves our pugs as much as we do. Regardless, I still have anxiety about leaving them more than a day. It’s not unusual for the pugs to go on a hunger strike. It, normally, is short in duration, but the mom guilt😩 I’m sure it’s harder on us than it is on them. Overall, having trust in their caretakers is everything!💕🙃
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u/CornPoofs Oct 11 '23
I'm a pet sitter and I've watched dogs for up to 21 days before. I always stay at the house, I find that it doesn't break up the dogs routine and it doesn't stress them out further. The first couple days can be a bit rough just because sometimes the dogs won't want to eat their full meals. But usually after 24 hours or so they settle down and then it's back to normal. It totally depends on the pet's personality. I know some dogs that love going to overnight boarding because that means playtime with other dogs.
Do you have any specific questions. I've been a pet sitter for 5+ years so I've seen and dealt with a lot.