By Amanda Gosser

Every fur-kid is different, and therefore need different types of care.

When deciding who should look after your beloved family member while you are away, there are many factors to

www.pawspetcareathome.com

At Paws Pet Care, your pet gets to stay in the comfort and security of their own environment.

consider. How does my pet react in a new environment? Are they welcoming to others? Territorial? Are they comfortable spending their day in a kennel or crate?

Having worked as both an in-home pet sitter, and in a boarding facility, I have seen both sides of the coin.  I remember 3 wonderful dogs I used to care for in their homes; Opie, Wyatt, and Bruno.

Opie and Wyatt were two Labrador puppies who had a wonderful, carefree attitude about them, but Bruno needed someone to take the extra time to get to know him. His owners had warned me that Bruno wasn’t too friendly with strangers. It took a few minutes, but after spending a few minutes understanding Bruno’s personality, he warmed up to me.

Opie and Wyatt may have done ok in a boarding environment but I can’t say for sure how Bruno would have reacted. Some dogs get very stressed out in a kennel environments because of factors like loud barking, cramped and unfamiliar spaces, aggression from other dogs, different food, and a change in routine. These high-stress conditions reduce their immunity to fight off illnesses and they may become sick from exposure to various kennel-borne diseases. Also, many animals won’t even eat in kennels when they are under that amount of stress. And the ones that do eat often develop an upset stomach with bouts of diarrhea because of the sudden change in diet. Some even start chewing on parts of their own bodies like their feet/toes.

There are also medical factors to consider.

Is your pet on a daily medication? Does he/she require special food? Boarding facilities can accommodate pets that need medicine even on a 4x daily basis and those on insulin. They are normally highly organized and take every precaution necessary to ensure the right patient receives the right medicine at the right dosage. The downside to this is that mistakes DO happen (this can happen even in home sitting situations, although much less likely). In boarding facilities, you relay the medication info to a receptionist who then relays the information to the kennel staff. In a home pet sitting environment, you are telling the person who is caring for your pet exactly what to do and how.

A big upside to pet sitting is you know and have met exactly who is caring for your pet. If you are working with a professional pet sitting company like Paws Pet Care, you will have the opportunity to meet your sitter, go over your routine and expectations in detail and your sitter will be qualified to accommodate and administer medication to pets – including time sensitive medications like insulin – as many times a day as required in a much lower-stress environment.

Paws Pet Care offers each of their clients their very own online profile management system that sitters can access for instructions on their pet care.

If you currently do not have a caretaker for your pet while you are away, the best thing to do is to carefully explore your options.  Give Paws Pet Care Pet Sitting & Dog Walking a call at 502-802-5052 to ask us any questions that you have regarding in-your-home pet care. We can even do a free “Get Acquainted” visit with you! This is will help you make the right decision for your family.