It can be nerve-racking to leave your pet with someone else for whatever reason, especially if you’ve never left your pet with that person before. But if you’re going on an extended vacation, you likely don’t have much choice. When leaving your pet with a friend and to ensure both your pet and your friend have the best experience while you’re away, do these five things before you leave.
Make Sure Your Friend Is Capable
The first and most important question you should ask yourself is whether you trust this friend to look after your beloved pet.
Are they capable of taking care of the animal and all its needs? Do you trust them or can they be a bit unreliable?
If you’re truly concerned and don’t have any other options, you might want to consider a local pet-sitting business instead.
Write Good Instructions
For your own peace of mind and to make things easier on your friend, you should take the time to write out clear, detailed instructions on how to properly care for your pet.
Instructions should include information about the pet’s normal schedule, what and how much to feed them, any medications, exercise routines, your contact information, info on where you will be staying, and what to do in case of an emergency.
Buy The Food
You shouldn’t expect your friend to be out any money when they’re looking after your pet, so make sure they’re not.
Before dropping your pet off, pick up all the food they’re likely to need.
Drop these off with your friend so they don’t have to pay for the food.
Make sure this is the right food by checking out Freshpet reviews and doing similar research.
Your friend will appreciate it and your pet will love it.
Think About Veterinary Care
If your friend already has a vet they know or trust in the area, or your pets will be close enough to their regular vet, you can likely just leave it at that.
But if you have an exotic pet, such as a bird, your friend’s regular vet might not have the expertise to care for your pet.
If your friend doesn’t have a vet, their vet isn’t suitable or your friend isn’t close enough to your regular vet, be sure to research vets in the area before you leave.
It’s also a good idea to learn something about the equipment the vet in question uses.
Researching veterinary equipment brands like Keebovet may not sound like a ton of fun, but it can be useful.
If you know a little bit about the difference between high and low-quality equipment you will have valuable insight into the type of facility they’re running.
Things to Avoid
For example, if your cat is an indoor cat, make sure your friend knows so they don’t accidentally let your cat outside and it gets away.
If there are any dogs in your neighborhood that are unfriendly, or if your dog doesn’t do well with other dogs, be sure to let your friend know.
Even if you have small caged pets that don’t get along, make sure the friend knows not to have them out at the same time or put them together in the same cage.
Arrange a Meetup
If at all possible, it’s best to get your friend to come over and meet your animal ahead of time.
During this time, you can go over the details of care and show how you usually care for your pet.
Your friend will be grateful, your pet will see that your friend is okay and errors or misunderstandings will be less likely.
While preparation in advance might not reduce your stress levels, it will make things much easier on your pet and your friend.
If you do these five things before leaving, problems are much less likely to occur. Try and relax and enjoy your vacation!