It’s the summer holidays – time for many of us to seek a little sunshine, but what about our pets?
Many of us pet owners have to depend on catteries, kennels, pet sitters or boarders to help us out for holidays and busy days.
There are now plenty of options, and we keep a list of them at Reception at the Clinic. Do call us on 01444 456886 to have a copy emailed or sent to you.
If you want to use the traditional route of catteries or kennels you do need to book well ahead, as especially good facilities always get booked up in advance. The one you choose should remind you at the point of booking about the importance of your pet’s vaccines being up-to-date.
If they don’t, then you can assume they are not insisting on it with other pets, which means that your best friend’s health could be at risk.
But how to tell which are the safe ones, and which are dodgy? There are regulations to protect you and your pet governing some of these canine and feline professionals, but these are fairly limited. As a minimum you should take personal responsibility for checking that the person you entrust your best friend to is obviously caring, as well as being insured, having excellent references and operating from premises that are safe and clean.
But you might not think about what happens in an emergency – would your chosen care know what to do if your pet needed urgent help? I now offer regular First Aid training courses to teach Canine Professionals exactly how to cope if a dog has a life threatening problem – from electrocution to fitting, and heart attacks to snake bites.
If you would like your own pet sitter, dog walker or kennel maid to have this skill, why not suggest that they visit our website at themewesvets.co.uk/news-events-2/pet-first-aid-courses and book onto our next course.
The best way to choose a place to board your beloved pet is to have visited several before making your choice. Check how relaxed the current visitors seem, and look around at the cleanliness of the facilities. Does it smell? Are the food bowls caked up with dried-on food? Have they a certificate from The Mewes Learning Academy in Canine First Aid?
You will quickly form an opinion about the people and the facilities that your pet might be in, and decide if it is suitable for use or not.
