The sun is shining and the year is winding down, pet owners thoughts are heading toward holidays. What about the most important member of our households, the pets?

Taking your pets with you.

Being able to take our pets on holidays with us is an idea that is slowly gaining traction. In the US its quite common to board a flight and see a number of pets in the cabin, and pets are welcome at most up market hotels. In Australia if you want to holiday with your pets you are generally limited to destination and accommodation. www.holidayingwithdogs.com.au is a good place to start if you are open to ideas. If you have a destination in mind caravan parks can work really well call them first and see what facilities they have and make sure your pet is up to date with vaccinations and well covered for internal and external parasites.

When packing don’t forget your pets, have a good supply of the food they like and a way to give them water on the go. Make sure you have a copy of all of their emergency details such as council tag, microchip number and their vaccinations certificates. Make sure you have extra supplies of any medication they need and make sure your first aid kit has supplies for them as well!

Leaving your pets at home.

Leaving your pets at home can be great for animals that don’t do well with new situations or a bit old to travel. The first decision to make is are you going to have a house sitter in the house full time or have someone drop by. Dogs are social creatures and will get really bored if they don’t get their normal routine so think about that carefully when making your plans. What about if something goes wrong and your pets gets unwell. When you go away whoever is in charge of your pets needs to know who your vet is and what your general plans would be if they got sick, making an arrangement with your vet to pay any bills when you get back makes it easier too.

Boarding kennels or a Cattery

Professional kennels and catteries are an extremely safe way to have your pet looked after. You know they will be getting fed and cared for by people who do it all day every day. Choosing a good kennel is just like choosing a vet, ask around and see who your friends use, go out and inspect some and find out how they are organised, what sort of activities your pet will have access to. A good boarding facility is like a pampered holiday for your pet!

Early planning will give you a stress free holiday!