Pet Vacation Checklist

A couple of weeks ago I was making a checklist for a vacation that I was taking with my family. An important item on my checklist prior to leaving was instructions for my pet sitter on how to take care of my “furry kids” while I was away.  Since I was going to be in a different time zone, I didn’t want anyone to have to worry about getting in touch with me, or me forgetting my phone… I was going on vacation after all!!

While most people consider just the basic feeding & watering instructions sufficient for pet sitters, I may be just a teensy bit more of a neurotic cat & rat dog* mama.  So I included the following information for my pet sitter:

• Frontier Veterinary Hospital contact information
• Phone numbers & addresses to local emergency hospitals
• My emergency pet credit card information
• Frontier’s Authorization to Treat Form
• Labeled pet medication
• I also spoke with members of the Frontier team to let them know my wishes just in case something happened while I was away.

Now I know that some of you might think that this is a little overboard- I work at Frontier… what‘s the big deal?  For me, I just felt that if I prepared for the worst, then nothing bad could happen!  Okay, okay, that’s not quite true, but pet emergencies and illnesses can happen to our pets just as easily when we are with them as when we are not!  As a pet owner, I never want to think of the day when I will be faced with an urgent situation or life-threatening emergency.  But the reality is that it can happen, and it would be so much harder if I didn’t already have a plan in place as to what I would want for my pets, especially if I am away.  And it is much easier to think about this ahead of time in a non-stressful environment, instead of being put on the spot in the event of a true medical emergency.

With the holiday boarding season almost upon us, I would urge all of our vacationing clients to take an extra few moments to put this type of checklist together.  Whether it is a family friend, a pet sitter, or for the boarding staff at Frontier; planning for the “what if” can save so much time, worry, and stress in the long run.  When it comes to urgent situations only you as pet owners can make the tough decisions that sometimes need to be made.  We love your pets, and we love when your pets are boarding with us, and we want to care for them just as you would- when you are here and while you’re away!

*The affectionate breed nickname of my 2 chihuahua mixes!