Pet Sitter or Boarding? What's Best?

Amy Castro
Host
00:00
The holidays are almost here, and now is when you're going to have to decide what to do with your pet if you're going out of town. Are you going to hire a pet sitter or are you going to board your pet at a facility? If you're struggling with that decision, then this episode of Starlight Pet Talk is just for you. Stay tuned. You're listening to Starlight Pet Talk, a podcast for pet parents who want the best pet care advice from cat experts, dog trainers, veterinarians and other top pet professionals who will help you live your very best life with your pets. We also share inspiring rescue and adoption stories from people who've taken their love of pets to the next level by getting involved in animal welfare. 

00:39
My name is Amy Castro, and I'm the founder and president of Starlight Outreach and Rescue and a columnist for Pet Age Magazine. I've rescued thousands of animals and helped people just like you find the right pet for their family. My mission is to help pet parents learn all the ways that they can care for, live with and even have fun with their pets, so they can live their very best lives and their pets can, too. Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk. I'm your host, amy Castro, and today we're going to talk about how to make the decision of whether you should have a pet sitter come to your home and care for your pet if you're going out of town for the holidays, or whether it's a better decision to take your pet to a boarding facility. 

01:21
My guest today is one of my favorite veterinarians, dr Arzu Shakhrahali McLean, and she's been with us before. She affectionately goes by Dr Zoo, and I invited her to come back on this show because the last time she was here, we talked about how to make vet visits less stressful, not only for you, but also for your pet. Well, the decision about boarding your pet versus having somebody come into your home to care for your pet is also stressful and there are pros and cons no matter what option you choose. So Dr Zoo is here today to help us look at those pros and cons and make that decision. I want to say right up front I'm not going to tell you which way to go, what direction to go in, because it really has a lot to do with your personal circumstances, what options you have available to you and, probably most importantly, your pet. Welcome back to the show, dr Zoo. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
02:15
Glad to be back. I appreciate the invite. 

Amy Castro
Host
02:17
Sure, linus is not like a heavy duty medical conversation, but I thought you would be a good person to give kind of a unbiased but educated viewpoint at looking at this issue of how do pet parents make the right decision for their pets when they're going to go out of town and not bring them? Because we're doing an episode on bringing your pets, oh yeah good, we talked to a dog trainer about that. 

02:38
So dog traveling and we've done dog travel before but if that's not feasible or you just don't want to deal with your pets over the holidays, you really have a couple of options, and that is getting a pet sitter whether that's having somebody come to your home or your pet goes to their home or a boarding facility, and obviously there's a wide range of those. There's the commercial ones, there's ones that veterinarians. So I figured what we would do is just kind of take it through some of the different considerations and then talk about pros and cons from either side. If that works, yeah that sounds good. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
03:09
I think we can be down to earth and real. Let's think about some things that are just convenient and some things that are best for your pet, and how to balance those two things together. 

Amy Castro
Host
03:17
Yeah, and that's one of the things that we talked about when we recorded the episode on traveling with your pets is that just because it's something you want to do, it may not be best for your pet, it may not be best for your parents if that's who you're going to visit? So we do want to obviously always keep the pet in mind with all of this. So the first thing that I kind of wanted to hit on was the I think a relatively simple question and we kind of talked about this a little bit before is the planning. You know, whether I am planning to have a pet sitter come to my let's just, we'll just focus for now on a pet sitter coming to our home, because that's probably the most common. Yeah, how much planning does that require versus planning to send my animal to boarding and beyond? Obviously, if I am taking my pet to boarding, I have to pack up some stuff. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
04:00
The traveling and the lugging of things, exactly. 

Amy Castro
Host
04:04
So, from a pet sitter standpoint, what type of planning if I was going to make that successful, you know, just say would be important. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
04:10
I mean, I think, like you said we talked a little bit about before, is you know it? 

04:15
That kind of planning is actually similar for both options, whether you're boarding or having a pet sitter. 

04:20
But the bottom line is you want the details of your pet's daily care to be organized enough that they can make sense of it and make the good choices that they need to do for your pet while you're gone, or even just to make sure that the routine isn't too disrupted and so that your pet can feel like they're having the same routine that they normally do, you know, aside from a stranger being the one feeding them and watering them and exercising them and those things. But number one is, of course, if your pet has any special dietary needs, make sure that that's identified. Most people that are involved in the field are animal lovers and we might pack an extra treat or a cookie or something, and it turns out some pets are actually allergic to certain ingredients, like chicken or, you know, beef or whatever, and you need to make sure that that's communicated. Or he doesn't like these sort of things or this kind of a treat makes his tummy upset. So make sure that the element of surprise, of like oh wow, that really gave him diarrhea. 

05:16
Oops, you know it's not going to happen while you're gone and so being able to identify food allergies and then, if they're on medications or due for medications again, you want to have those organized Maybe in a pill keeper, but definitely identify what kind of medicines those are, so that if there's any kind of trouble and they have to for some reason see a veterinarian let's say because they got a tummy problem or something while you were gone that person can give a complete history like oh yes, by the way, he's on this medicine for, you know, sensitive stomach or whatever it might be. 

Amy Castro
Host
05:45
Yeah, I want to make a point on that one. Because that's that's such a good point? Because a lot of times we assume that our pet sitter, we're going to give them the name of our vet and the phone number, but what happens if it is at midnight? 

05:55
you know, and you have to go to an emergency vet. And now the pet knows nothing about the medical history. So, whether it's printing that out or, as we have stressed on a previous episode of road tripping with pets, you know, get your pet's record on a jump drive and at least have the basics so then you can give it to anybody. Just organization is, I think. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
06:14
I think key to the it is planning and organizing. 

Amy Castro
Host
06:17
Yeah, absolutely and I think, as far as the feeding thing too, it's kind of funny because you had mentioned before we started recording about prepackaging food, and that's such a good idea because I know even when I go to the vet and I feel really guilty how much do they eat? I don't know. I throw up, I mean a cup and the bowl. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
06:33
Somewhere in the middle of the bowl, a scoop. What does that mean? Yeah, what does that? 

Amy Castro
Host
06:37
mean, or sometimes you know, when you're like I've got six dogs at my house. Sometimes it's a let's everyone go out on the patio and I'm gonna throw a bucket of food out there and everybody's gonna. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
06:45
They can it, you know, get some enrichment with a little hunting instincts yeah, everybody gets a little bit of something I don't know, but that's true um, also, too, if you don't prepackage the food, sometimes I think maybe a pet sitter or even someone feeling sorry for that little dog, owner, owner here and here have a little more and then you come back and your pets gain five pounds. But I'll be. You know something that you can avoid by just prepackaging their foods. Yeah. 

Amy Castro
Host
07:10
I would think too, if you're, you know, beyond just treats, if you are having a pet sitter that's actually gonna spending, you know, not just coming in and letting your pet in and out and feeding, but somebody that's actually staying there to make it clear what people foods or whether that's off limits. Yeah, to try to maintain the boundaries, because that's it's. Another thing that has come up before on the show is that when you're traveling, it's house rules, right. So you, you know, if your parents don't or your friends don't let their dog on the couch, then you shouldn't let your dog on the couch, right, and the same thing if somebody's staying at your home. If you don't let your dog on the couch, you don't want to come find out. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
07:42
Yeah, now, your dog believes that's their bed oh yeah the pets that are yeah, let them up there the whole time you were gone. Absolutely, the bed is dirty or, you know, chewed up or torn up or whatever it might be, and you could have maybe avoided by just saying hey, these are the house rules. Yeah, I definitely try to. It's not different from when you're the kid and you're telling the babysitter oh yes, we have ice cream for dinner all the time exactly, yeah, we don't. 

Amy Castro
Host
08:04
We don't have bedtimes at our house, so that's silly. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
08:07
So yeah, so you do want to help the pet sitter by creating those boundaries, writing it out, having conversation at least, or being available these days with texts and everything else for those kind of little weird questions that come up right? 

Amy Castro
Host
08:19
yeah, what about when you're taking them to boarding? I mean it basically a lot of, almost all of those same things would apply for boarding, so it's not like it's less or more work. Yeah, except that you would be taking things, things with you. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
08:31
Yeah, I mean, I think that's true. I think the one element that you may have to add in is you know how well does your pet possibly get along with other animals? Because of course now they're gonna run into situations where they there's a new dog or cat they've not experienced, so you may have to give a little bit more information there. And then sometimes another thing is when your pet is anxious, does your pet chew up toys or furniture or bedding, and, in other words, because something like that gets stuck in their intestines while you're gone. So that's going to be important to, if you know anything about that, to share that, especially at a boarding facility. But sometimes even people who leave their homes and their pets have, let's say, a little bit of separation anxiety or something like that. They can chew up and damage things, and so maybe a pet sitter or a boarding facility are gonna want to, you know, keep an eye out for a possible emergencies like that. 

Amy Castro
Host
09:18
Yeah, so when I was a kid, I worked at two different boarding facilities and one of them was a really good boarding facility and if you paid whatever it was ten dollars back in the day for 30 minutes of playtime, I was out there doing playtime with your dog. And the other facility, you were lucky. Your dog got food and water. I mean, they got food, but it's like if you I remember distinctly a dog that spilled its water and it's like, well then he doesn't get anymore and it's like, oh, this is not where I need to be working, and I was a teenager, but I was like I'm out of here. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
09:44
At least you knew as a teenager. 

Amy Castro
Host
09:46
Yeah, that's because there's such a difference in in boarding facilities and so I think, knowing the details of what they're what they actually really do, I know one of the bit of advice that I was given early on was to not only visit the boarding facility but visit it unannounced at various different times, because if they won't let you see what's going on, then that's a red flag, that's a definitely red flag and and you should expect that, yes, when you go there at 7 30 in the morning, it's going to be dirty and it's going to stink like poop, but it shouldn't stink like poop all day and be dirty all day, kind of thing. 

10:18
That's right. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
10:18
That's right yeah, I mean, if they ever like no, this can't happen. That should definitely be a red flag. If anything, they might say, hey, give us a minute because they might need to move animals around for liability purpose, that maybe they don't want a dog, that might nip out a stranger or something, and then then they'll bring you back. That should be okay, yeah, but yeah, as far as you know, I guess, proof of getting a play time or those sort of things, a lot of the facilities are doing amazing things. Like you know, you can peek in on the camera on your app on your phone, not too different than some daycare facilities, things like that, right? Um, also. 

10:52
I have clients when we board our place that want a photo of Fluffy in the play yard or whatever. It's our pleasure to take a photo and text it over to them yeah or a video or whatever format of communication. We can do that so you know a lot of those places aren't going to have a problem with that, so you should feel comfortable to ask for that and again, if they're like we don't do that that might be a red flag. 

Amy Castro
Host
11:14
Yeah, yeah, what about bringing? Because I could see that there. I'm not one of those pet parents, but there are people who might want to bring every comfort of home to the boarding facility. Is that a good idea? It's not a good idea. Obviously you want to ask the boarding facility what you're allowed to bring. But even if you were allowed to bring every item that you own belonging to your dog, what's the downside of doing that? 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
11:36
Yeah, I mean, not only is it stressful to you, but those things can easily get damaged while you're there, they can get lost. I mean, sometimes call our laundry area the black hole or bedding, because it's just some. It's that red blanket with the speckles. There's four red blankets. 

Amy Castro
Host
11:52
Yeah. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
11:53
And so it's going to be a real challenge. And then again, sometimes pets get a little bit anxious, separated from home a little bit, and if you bring those things, I mean there's a higher chance they could get damaged for sure. The other thing is these if it's your job to have a boarding place, you're going to make sure you have comfortable things for pets. So, for example, we keep lots of blankets and lots of beds and different kinds, because some dogs like the little round fluffy beds and some dogs like just a little thin mat and some dogs like something with an arm on there. It's very much like a preference thing, and so we do keep a variety so that owners just don't have to bring their stuff. We don't want to be responsible for the damage to their things right Lots of their things. 

Amy Castro
Host
12:32
And I do remember I do remember again being as a kid, even at the good facility when something got destroyed or just somehow, when you're washing 15 loads of laundry a day that you know so-and-so's blanket got lost or ended up. Somebody thought it was destroyed and threw it away, but you didn't care, you wanted to keep it like that. So it just creates problems for everybody. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
12:53
Yeah, and I don't think it makes that much of a difference to the animal, and that's really the main thing is, we want to balance again what's good for our pet versus you know, what's comfortable or convenient for us, whether it's worth it to lug all that stuff or not, right? 

Amy Castro
Host
13:07
And so what about moving on from just kind of prep and I'm sure we'll hit more prep issues? But what about your animal's personality or their level of socialization? How much should that play into that decision? 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
13:20
For sure. I mean, I think, if there's a facility available, and there's. They all come in different varieties, you know, as you mentioned. Some are in texture, many are in hospitals, some are attached to training groups and training facilities. They have a trustworthy system of evaluating how dogs socialize and you know your dog likes to socialize. 

13:38
Well, that could be a little match made in heaven is like great. My dog will actually enjoy going to a boarding facility where they can get some socialization and I can trust that the people there know what to look for. Is my pet get along with this other pet, or these other pets going to potentially get into a fight with mine or anything like this? So, so, yeah, so that could be good. 

13:59
If you know that your dog is kind of nervous about other animals, even strangers, then again, maybe leading toward a pet sitter is your better option and even in those situations, setting up multiple meetings potentially with your pet sitter before they even arrive, so that this maybe more little nervous animal will be able to adjust. Oh, it's this person that comes over now, and then I know this person, mom's okay with this person, kind of everything, and so it's a little bit less overwhelming. So, yes, definitely know your pet's personality and you know usually your pet's personality more than anybody else. So, yeah, if you think, man, they would just love to go and have a blast with all these other dogs, great, and if you don't think that's the case, then maybe do a little more hunting for a pet sitter. 

Amy Castro
Host
14:39
Yeah, and I think you know we mentioned about about doing the due diligence and visiting, and we could do a whole episode and probably put some links for advice on choosing because I didn't want to turn this into a how to choose a boarding facility or how to choose a pet sitter per se just to start thinking about the the different options and once you've decided hey, I'm leaning in this direction, now you need to do your homework and deciding what makes a good pet sitter or what makes a good boarding facility and, like I said, we'll give you some hints. But I think having that pet sitter visit can give you a better idea of because you know there's pet sitters who are professionally trained, pet sitters who have medical background and CPR and all kinds of other stuff. 

15:19
And then there's the kid that lives down the block. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
15:20
Right, and there's a difference. 

Amy Castro
Host
15:22
And there's a difference. And the kid down the block might be perfectly fine. Depending upon your pet and your situation, that's right, and in other situations it's not going to be sufficient. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
15:31
Right, like, for example, knowing your pet's health status. Okay, this pet doesn't have any illnesses, he's not on any medications and he's well socialized, and whatever it might be, then maybe the kid down the street can handle something like that, as long as they have an emergency phone number, you know. But yeah, if you have a senior pet and he's on heart medications and you know, sort of that needs diabetes shots. 

Amy Castro
Host
15:50
Yes, it's a good thing. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
15:52
I mean it can be dangerous given the wrong way. 

Amy Castro
Host
15:54
Yeah, sure. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
15:56
Then you may want to lean toward a person who has maybe some medical training, as you're saying, that usually that kind of a pet sitter is pretty happy to announce that they have those skills and proud of them. And they should be, because this takes some hands on learning and education. You might look for a pet sitter at a veterinary facility. You might say hey, do you have any staff members at pet sit? Then you know for sure you have somebody that if you have an ill pet that they can keep an eye on those illnesses and know kind of somewhat what to look for if something's going wrong. 

Amy Castro
Host
16:25
That's an excellent point. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
16:27
What about cats? Yeah, good question. So I mean, we really know? 

Amy Castro
Host
16:31
or other animals like a bunny, exotic animals yeah. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
16:35
Probably not too dissimilar from looking for people who are experienced, let's say in the medical field. If you have an ill pet, same thing as you may want to have a pet sitter that's going to have some experience with cats or exotic depending. Most of us don't think of cats as super social. I mean there's a small percentage of cats that just love being social and going on the leash and that sort of thing. The most Prefer to be home and if it's possible, you know, I think that that it's gonna be more likely that a pet sitter is your better option for a cat. Cats can even do silly things, like not eat for a week and put themselves into liver failure, for example, if they get that stressed out. And so you know, if you think that you can find a pet sitter, that's probably your better option. 

17:17
However, there are times that your cats do need to be boarded, for whatever reason. You just can't find someone you really trust. Perfect reason. Or I had four client, her house burnt down and so everybody had to move out cats, dogs, herself, you know, kind of thing and so, yeah, can't have to stay with us and Basically, just like you're being picky about what kind of a boarding facility. You can be picky about your cat boarding facilities. Do you have a place where the cat could be separated from the dogs? Well, there's not gonna be as much noise and as much commotion going on, since that's kind of fearful. There's a cat setup, have a place where they can hide, and that sort of thing, since cats can be a little bit more the you know aloof. Yeah, that sort of a thing. 

Amy Castro
Host
18:00
Well, that's a good point too, because I hadn't really I mean, I hadn't really thought about this, because Oftentimes in the back of my mind and maybe other people are like me is that you think oh Well, it's my cat, so all I need is somebody to come in once a day, scoop the litter box and give food, which could be the case Some, but other cats, like you said, I mean you being gone, having a stranger come in once a day, being by themselves all day, could really put them into a very stressful State or situation that could cause some serious health problems. So you might think you're saving something because it's like oh, I'm gonna board my dogs, but I'm gonna get a pet sitter for the cat. Save some money, right, and in reality you really need that. Pets that are either staying at your house or, yeah, come in multiple times. And now what if you haven't saved anything? 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
18:43
All right, yes, exactly, or at least no one wants to look for. You know, If they are putting food in the bowl and the bowl food, the food is not going down. And when they come put the next scoop, you know that needs to alert them to something isn't where it should be, maybe. Or you know I've also had people say, well, I just had someone come and check on the cat once a week and I put this giant cat feeder in there. I'm like, okay, well, what if they get stuck in the curtain? Or you know, something weird crazy happens and there's some weird crazy things. And of course it was that Murphy's law. You go out of town. That's when the weird crazy stuff happens. You know you want at least a mile every 24 hours checking on your kitty cat to make sure they haven't gotten themselves into trouble. 

Amy Castro
Host
19:20
That is a good point. I didn't even think about that either, because now that you say that, I thought, okay, yeah, we've got these feeders that will feed them, hopefully if the batteries are still good. And yeah, we've got that big water bowl and hopefully that will last the week. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
19:35
But yeah, so yeah exactly. 

Amy Castro
Host
19:37
Yeah, so you really need to need to have more adults human supervision than once a week for sure. What about from the standpoint of the physical and like from a physical environment standpoint you met? We hit the issue of social Socialization if your dog would benefit from that or enjoy that Versus pets being possibly more comfortable in their own home. Any other pros or cons just from a being at your house versus being in a facility? 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
20:04
I think that if you do have a very active animal, a facility might be better so they could get more exercise. They even have some neat facilities where there's like sort of like a little trap door and they can go, you know, indoors and outdoors during the day and then at night they tuck everybody into bed and they close that little trap doors so the pet is only indoors for the night. And those you know, younger, energetic animals like that a lot of times and sometimes Not exercising it increases anxiety. So you want an animal who is very active to have that option. 

Amy Castro
Host
20:36
That might be a pro in the boarding down the boarding side or maybe especially if your pet sitter is not gonna be taking them on long walks. So yeah, running with them or something like that. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
20:46
And they may allow that additional service, usually for an additional fee. But most pets that are survived by pet sitting multiple places. 

Amy Castro
Host
20:53
How many places can I visit in a day? 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
20:55
Yeah, and you know, and doesn't mean that there's any lesser quality, but they may not be able to give you the service of exercising your animals much as you think they can. There are some, though, that Do you spend the night, so that'd be a plus if you can find one of those kinds of pet sitters. You know, I think that's gonna depend on the animal. If they really are excited about that. I would say, just from listening to some my Coworkers of pets it I would say maybe 25% of those animals. When the person stays the night, that Pet actually hangs out with that person. But a lot of times I go and she just went to her bed and ignored me. 

Amy Castro
Host
21:29
You know? Yeah, all right, I never did see the cat, but the bowl was going down, yeah yes, exactly, so you know you may consider whether that's worth it or not. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
21:36
That's the kind of thing your animal would really want. 

Amy Castro
Host
21:38
Yeah, that's good, good point. Like I know, for us we never go anywhere Together because Try to find somebody to not only watch the inside critters. But now we've got chickens and horses and barncats. Yeah, now I need a ranch hand to come out here and take care of my animals. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
21:54
So it's yeah, it doesn't it, it would be. You can't go anywhere together for that reason. 

Amy Castro
Host
21:58
No, we take turns, taking trips. What about the persons like the actual individual or the staff Qualifications like? Are there certain things that we would be looking for in in either? 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
22:10
Yeah, well, I mean again, if your pet has certain needs, that's where you're gonna want that sort of to match up. 

22:16
So, for example, we talked about some medical needs. 

22:19
Of course the lot of these boarding facilities and veterinary clinics are kind of hand-in-hand, so that could be helpful for an animal that may have any illness or propensity, for illiterate, just even a senior, like little decrepit, poor little thing that's, you know, 10 years old, might need to be somewhere where that area can be there in case there's an issue. 

22:39
And then in your social guys you know you might want boarding facilities. Some of those are trainers and hand-in-hand was the boarding facility, and so maybe while they're there they can actually get some additional social skills or maybe some Training while they're there as well, or at least some kind of enrichment kind of like you were saying. You know, throw the food out in the yard so they can kind of pick the round for food. That's called enrichment. And a lot of those boarding facilities have people that are Specialized in that kind of training or socialization type of skills and that could be really good for your pet's brain as well as just keeps anxiety down because they're trying, they're learning new things, you know, they're distracted by something fun, could say right. 

Amy Castro
Host
23:19
Theoretically, if you were paying the pet sitter to hang out at your house for a while, like not just come in and feed but to spend a half an hour. But I think people like need to be prepared that some that those extra things are probably gonna cost you extra and and they may be well worth it time is money. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
23:35
but yeah, you're right, you get with paper sometimes, that's right and I like the idea. 

Amy Castro
Host
23:39
I mean, that's one of the reasons I have not boarded my pets for a variety of reasons, but the one when I have, I've always kind of boarded at the vet because and the vet may not have the fancy facilities that some of the boarding facilities do, but I always just felt like they're not gonna be the kind of people that aren't gonna take my pet out three times a day, like they say, and if there's a medical issue, there's obviously medical professionals there, yeah. So that always gave me a level of comfort. But not everybody's vet does boarding, that's, and not everybody's vet. Are you gonna be able to get in? And, by the way, just a little side note, if you didn't already know this whatever you decide to do, plan ahead, don't think you're gonna call the week before Christmas and get anybody to help you with anything. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
24:17
It's gonna be around a holiday time easily. 

Amy Castro
Host
24:20
A month ahead is a good idea, yeah and realize that probably I mean man, maybe this is wrong, but probably the better the place, the more popular the place, the harder it's gonna be to get in. And so if you find something the day before Christmas yeah, because you decided you're gonna go out of town, you know it you may just have gotten lucky because they had that one spot open time to tour the facility. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
24:39
That's a great drop-in visit. 

Amy Castro
Host
24:41
Let me just see definitely want to tour if that's the place that has lots of vacancies at the holidays. Yeah, one of the things and another reason in addition to having that medical expertise. But the I think the accountability and it was kind of like I mentioned to you before when I was talking about this reminds me of picking daycare for my child. He's not 30, but when she was a kid it was very torn about whether she'd be better off being at home and paying somebody to come to the house or bring her to miss Susie's house, who only had three other kids that Miss Susie watch, versus taking her to a daycare with 40 kids. And I personally opted for the daycare and One of my deciding factors was the fact that there were other people around as opposed to just miss Susie doing who knows what you know and just being really concerned that nobody else is there to keep an eye on miss Susie or to keep miss Susie on her toes or To say, hey, did you know? Did the toddlers get their lunch? 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
25:37
yet kind of thing. And accountability is good in a lot of ways, and so certainly other people. But now with our fancy technology Nanny cams and all those things yeah, and I would probably. If let's say you wanted to do the pet center route and you wanted that accountability, you might sit. Just tell them straight up, right off the back. You know we have our cameras, so just to let you know we'll be peeking in here or there. So if you do, peek in and I walk around naked for one. 

26:03
That also. You know, that just kind of makes them feel like, hey, I better be on time, I better be there. When I say I'm gonna be there, I better make sure that the places kept clean and things like that, not just last minute trying to clear it before they get there. 

Amy Castro
Host
26:15
Yeah, I might be and I think that's a good point that you said. I mean, I'm sure there are people that would have an inclination to just put the cameras and not say anything. And Obviously, yeah, I mean you've got the issue. If you've got a person that's staying over, they might be running around in their drawers because they think they're by themselves and that would obviously be very Unappropriate and unkind for you to do that Correct. But I think just being above board to say, hey, we want to be able to you know, we know you're not gonna be here 24-7 or you know and we want to be able to check in and see how Fluffy is doing and just so everybody knows the cameras are there and everybody's on the same page. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
26:48
I might actually heighten their accountability even more. So why not, you know? Yeah responsibility levels. So, yeah, I think it's a great idea. I mean, even plenty of people use those for just when they're at work and their pets are at home, and I think definitely seen people find out things and thank goodness that they had those little cameras for different reasons, like I was wondering where my medicines were going the dog, was getting into them or whatever it is you know, and that could have been a dangerous thing, for example. 

Amy Castro
Host
27:13
Yeah, yeah, okay. So let's talk about you know, one of the things that I've always thought might be an advantage of having a pet sitter come in is especially if you could get somebody and you were willing to pay for somebody to come and stay at your house. It's beyond just being there to water the plants, but to be there 24-7 in case something happens with your pet. Do boarding facilities have that same, because I mean, I would assume they don't have people sleeping over, but some might. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
27:43
But some do. I would say maybe 20, 30% of them maybe have that. You certainly wouldn't hurt to ask. And there are some things that can happen overnight. You know that it would be nice to have someone there, or at least if they might say we have video surveillance or something and someone's actually surveilling. You know that would be nice, but there's a few places that have things overnight. 

28:04
The scariest one and I don't like to throw scary things out there just to make people anxious there's a common problem in large breed dogs where their stomachs can actually twist and they can pass away from that. It only takes a few hours for that to happen and for the animal to pass away. And so there are times where an overnight person would be really great if they could tell that an animal was uncomfortable or what they'll do is they'll make like a vomiting, gagging kind of noise, but nothing will come out. And so if they hear this we know from the animal, they might avert a tragedy. And those are tough types of cases too, because you know it can happen so quickly that it could be even when the pets that are had just fed your animal and left your home even, and they come back and find the pet like that. 

28:50
So, it's not. It's a really hard one to prevent, but if someone was there overnight, that'd be the only way I could think of to catch it or prevent that particular illness for a large breed animal. 

Amy Castro
Host
28:59
Yeah, and I would think safety, you know, is definitely an issue overall for a lot of this stuff and I don't think there's anything that's going to be 100%. But I would definitely definitely some questions to ask about overnight monitoring or how things are done, how medication is handled, who's giving it, where is it kept, that kind of thing. Just to make sure that, because you have less control over that when you're going elsewhere than if you're keeping the medicine in your own fridge. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
29:26
Yeah, that kind of thing. 

Amy Castro
Host
29:28
Let's see anything else that we can think of as far as pros and cons or things to consider. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
29:36
I do think it's a kind of cheesy phrase, but the whole you get what you pay for, kind of thing. I think you can find very expensive or you know higher costing pet sitters and you can find very expensive and higher costing boarding facilities, and a lot of times the reasons that those are the cases is because maybe they do have people that have expertise or experience, whether it's medical or socializing or training or whatever it might be, and so you know, for the equipment you know, or the monitoring equipment, the number of staff, the amount of services available as far as like exercising or enrichment goes. 

30:10
So you know, I would definitely just check into. You know, if I'm paying this much, what am I getting for it? 

Amy Castro
Host
30:16
kind of thing and I think definitely checking references. You know, don't just rely on I won't name any particular companies, but don't rely on reviews that you see online. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
30:26
I mean. 

Amy Castro
Host
30:26
I will admit I always look at those and of course Please with a grain of salt, yeah, yeah, but I always go to the negative ones. Yeah, it's terrible to say I want, I mean, and we've had some at our own rescue and it's like what? 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
30:38
are the worst case scenarios that could be. 

Amy Castro
Host
30:41
Yeah, because a lot of people you know a lot of people could be saying good things about it. They could be friends and family and things, or they could be legit customers. But the negative ones. I look for the specifics and, you know, if there's something that's legit there, I might even ask them about it. You know, hey, I had read this review. It concerned me. Yeah, you know, can you give me more information about that? In the grand scheme of things, the bad side of reviews is that, you know, there's only two types of people that are motivated to leave reviews. 

31:09
People that are super, super happy and care enough about you and your business to take the time to leave a review, which, I will admit, I have a lot of businesses I like and I've only done it for a few of them. But the people who are unhappy, and even if it's of their own making, will leave a negative review about a business everywhere that they can find to leave it to vent their frustration. So I think you really take it in proportion to everything else, but I certainly think you could ask for references like an actual human being that you could call on a phone and say, hey, references, for, like similar pets as you might have, I have a shepherd or a big dog. 

31:46
You know I need a reference, for other people have big dogs because it is that you've taken care of or that have been at your facility? 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
31:51
Yeah, it's a total different ballgame when you're talking about a little Chihuahua. That Chihuahua doesn't want to play in the yard and go for, you know, play times with a bunch of other dogs. Yeah, the germination, yeah, they're gonna want to get out there. 

32:02
They want to get dirty, they want to dig in the yard a little bit. So those are the kind of references you want that are gonna have the same kind of activities that your animal may be wanting to do, good and bad. Maybe I have an anxious pet? Do you know anybody else with anxious pets that boards here, and how do they like it? Can I get them as a reference? 

Amy Castro
Host
32:19
Yeah, one other bit of advice that I would say might be a good way to help you make this decision would be don't wait until you are taking that big European family vacation and you're gonna be gone for a month, but maybe even you're not going anywhere, you know. Or maybe you're gonna go visit your parents for the day, or your sister across town and get the pet sitter to come that day, or you're not even going out of town but pay the money to board your dog overnight or for the weekend and see if your dog comes out like a rat On his nails or like or he doesn't want to leave. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
32:54
There's a difference, and I literally had a nice boarding facility where I'd left my dog and I'm like trying to walk out the door and he's trying to walk back in. 

Amy Castro
Host
33:01
Yeah, he didn't want to leave. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
33:02
I'm like, okay, that's a good sign, yeah, makes you happy that that's the case. And then the same thing with your pet sitter. Absolutely you can have them come over, like you said, a day and watch your animal, or a lot of those facilities even have just day boarding. You know they're not there overnight, but they're just hanging out for the day to play and come back home. And sometimes if you do that in a little short spurts, it kind of helps the animal adjust a little bit easier. 

Amy Castro
Host
33:25
That's a good point too. That's a good point too. Yeah, because I see that one of my favorite videos that's on. Well, I'm sure it's on a variety of platforms. I've seen on TikTok and it's this doggy daycare that goes and picks these dogs up in a bus. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
33:38
Oh, I love that and the dogs come out. 

Amy Castro
Host
33:39
It must be in Alaska, or maybe it's just winter, but it's really snowing. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
33:42
Snowing okay. 

Amy Castro
Host
33:43
And they're all like snapped into their school bus seats and they're so happy to get on that bus and they go to their seat. Yeah, and it's like that dog obviously enjoys going there. It's not like the owner is stuffing it on the bus. Correct, against its will. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
33:54
Yeah and that's really neat. Yeah, and sometimes it's the right itself that they love. 

Amy Castro
Host
33:58
Yeah, that's true, and they're like. You know how dogs care about cars. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
34:00
Some of them are like yeah and some of them are like no. But yeah, that's a good way to tell if that's a good experience for your pet. Is it? Are they dragging you in or are they dragging you out? Yeah, that's a great idea. I think too, if you do have an anxious pet and whatever situation you're talking about whether it's a pet sitting or boarding, but usually it's gonna come up more in a boarding situation is be open to hey. Can my vet send something for keeping him calm and can y'all do that? 

Amy Castro
Host
34:28
Well, hopefully we've given people some food for thought Again. I didn't wanna go into this episode basically trying to lead people to one or the other, because I don't know that there's a right answer. 

34:37
I think the right answer is the right answer for your pet and your situation and also what your options are. You know how many pet sitters and how many boarding facilities you have to choose from in your community where you live, but hopefully this will give you some things to consider along the way so that you make the best decisions, so you can go off on your trip and relax and not be stressing out about your pet while you're gone and your pet is safe, secure, happy and healthy while you're gone, you can actually enjoy yourself and they can enjoy themselves Like you're going on vacations sorry. 

35:05
Yeah, they get a little many vacations, that's a good thing, they might need a break from you who knows that's right? I know that's my daughter says when we go out at time. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
35:11
She gives her a break from me? 

Amy Castro
Host
35:13
Yeah, exactly. 

Dr. Zoo
Guest
35:14
All right, well Dr. 

Amy Castro
Host
35:15
Zoo. Thank you for being here again with us and for your wisdom and insight, and thank you all for listening to another episode of Starlight Pet Talk, and we hope you enjoy some happy travels this holiday season. Thanks for listening to Starlight Pet Talk. Be sure to visit our website at wwwstarlightpettalkcom for more resources, and be sure to follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app, so you'll never miss a show. If you enjoyed and found value in today's episode, we'd appreciate a rating on Apple. Or if you'd simply tell a friend about the show, that would be great too. Don't forget to tune in next week and every week for a brand new episode of Starlight Pet Talk, and if you don't do anything else this week, give your pets a big hug from us.