Sun cream, car hire documents, instructions for pet-sitter… it's holiday time, and that means a staycation for many of Britain's beloved pets. Most of us have at some point agreed to 'pop in' and feed the neighbour's cats, or nodded along as a family member gabbles through the visiting Jack Russell's daily routine. Even hosting the school hamster over the holidays is a responsibility, yet a pet-sitting favour is often requested as casually as taking in a parcel. The problem is, when the parcel is living, breathing, and possibly a pedigree reliant on stringent medication, there's a great deal that can go wrong.
The most important thing is to decide if they're staying at home, or going for a sleepover. And either way, a swift handover won't do, says animal behaviourist Rosie Bescoby. "The more 'settling in' sessions that can be done prior to going away, the better," she says. "The owners should also tell the sitter about any ailments as well as behavioural quirks, training cues and emergency contacts."
Even if the animals are staying in their own home, they should meet the sitter first, she advises. Advice which I utterly failed to heed a few years ago, when my kindly older neighbour agreed to feed my two grumpy cats for a week. They stress-moulted all over her like dandelion clocks, but far worse, I came back to a polite note – "I'm afraid the cats have been poo-ing on the rug... It may need steam-cleaning." Unfortunate, given I'd promised they were 'no trouble at all.' Though at least they stayed in one place. My friend Rebecca was charged with looking after her sister's precious Burmese cats for a fortnight.
"On day two, I went round, filled the bowls, and called them - one appeared, but the other didn't," she says, still shuddering at the memory. "I looked all over the house then realised the top bathroom window was open and she must have slithered out. That was when I really panicked." Rebecca searched the neighbourhood to no avail. "I was awake all night, mentally running through my confession... I was on the verge of phoning my sister and coming clean, when two days later, she appeared on the front doorstep. I'd never been so relieved."
You'd think dogs would be easier, but that depends on the individual, says Clare Hamilton, Managing Director at Buckinghamshire animal hospital Hamilton Specialist Referrals. "Dogs are generally more sociable than cats," she says. "However, it is not uncommon for dogs to be upset by a sudden change," she adds. Even that can be tricky, admits my neighbour, Paula, who took in her best friend's young German Shepherd for four days.
