Does anyone else feel guilty leaving their Pets.....

[debden]

I'm sure there are alot of people out there who have to leave their pets for extended periods of time. For vacation,business,visiting a sick relative,exc,exc...
Does anyone else feel guilty? My pets and I share a very close bond and the thought of leaving them for a month is killing me. I know it'll probably be harder on me than on them. The thought of something happening to them while I'm away keeps going thru my mind. I'm positive they will be loved and well taken care of while I'm gone but that does not make it any easier!
Has anyone else had to leave their pets and feel the way I do??
Debbie

 

[Bracho]

I fly someone in to watch my dogs and my house. That way my animals are not placed in a cage and there is no disruption in their daily lives. Thats very important to me.

Even though I go through all this, I still feel guilty when I leave them for longer periods of time, like you I have a very close bond with my dogs and they go crazy when they see daddy coming up the walkway...

Good Luck Debbie...

 

[Danauk]

I hate leaving my pets when I go away. I have 2 cats and 3 bunnies. I always have some go to my house to look after them. My cats would hate being but into a cattery and the bunnies get stressed if they are taken out of their hutch and run (they love their home.) I have a friend who goes over every day to feed and stroke them.) When I get home after leaving them for a while they will not leave me alone for days. I guess they miss me too.

 

[debden]

I have my sister and her husband come over and stay while I'm gone. My pets know them and they care about my pets as much as I do. I would never trust a 'Kennel' or 'boarding' place to take care of my pets. I'm sure there are alot of good reliable ones out there but 'NO'...
This is my first long time away from them. I usually only leave for 3-5 days and I can't wait to get home to see them!
Boy,Am I gonna be sad without them.
Debbie

 

[epcotfan]

You are not alone. I hate leaving my pets too. They are the closest thing I'll ever have to children. Fortunately I have a trusted petsitter who takes care of them while I'm away. Now that they are all older I worry more and more when I leave them.

 

[Rootskate]

Absolutely. We were just talking about this last night. When we go away we drop our cat off at my parents house. I feel so bad wondering if he thinks we are never coming back for him.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Yep, I worry too. I worry more about my senior citizen getting sick, or worse while we're gone. I would feel horrible if something happened and I'm not there!

 

[dlbwright]

I am glad to know I am not the only one! DH and I are talking about going on a cruise this fall. When we left our dog Tucker last time he said with MIL. When we got back, we went to her house to pick him up. He barked at us when we walked in. He did not recognize us at first when we walked in until I started talking to him and then he came flying over to me. I hate that scenario playing out again.

 

[Disney Ella]

I do. My cat likes to be around people. He even sits at the door and meows when the kids go out to play. I worry that whoever is feeding him will forget. The kids and I especially miss him at night when he usually sleeps with one of us.

 

[MariettaC]

I hate leaving my two cats Pete and Max but we have friends who will come in and feed them. We also have pet doors so they can go out/in if they wish. We live on a private road and a wooded area so they love being outside. I still hate to leave them and can't wait to see them when I return.

 

[stacy347]

Yes ~ we are planning our first trip to WDW in 6/06 and already I'm feeling terrible guilt about leaving our dog and guinea pig for a week!! I do know of a great kennel that my family uses (cousin worked there for quite sometime and knows the staff very well) but I still feel terrible about leaving I'm actually hoping to have my mom housesit for us while we are gone so that I don't have to worry about taking the animals anywhere :crossing my fingers that works out:

Also glad to see I'm not the only one who considers my pets part of the family

 

[debden]

I love my boys (and girl) soooooooo much. I couldn't imagine not having even one of them in my life.
I know I can't stop living my life to be with them all the time but I will certainly spend as much time as I can with them!
It's so nice to see other people love their pets as much as I do!!
Debbie

 

[helenabear]

Always... I truly feel so bad when I have to leave my girls behind. I love them dearly. My dad usually takes great care of them if we both are gone. I do feel a wee bit better if it is just me going so they can stay home with my DH. But I always feel so sad when I see them sitting in the window as I pull away from the driveway

 

[Laurabearz]

This is a big part of our decision at this time to NOT have any pets.

When I was 10, my ginnypig had to be put to sleep, while we were out of town. Sucked big time. (gee 30+ years later and I am STILL sad)

On top of that, I had to put our family cat down when my parents were out of town. Also sucked big time.

I am toying with getting fish.

 

[minnie56]

Feel awful leaving them! So much so that it seems to have come to hubby and I taking separate vacations a lot of the time! I do the things I like to do with the girls and he does things he prefers as well...that's not to say we don't do family trips at least once a year as well...and when we do...I have a young girl that works at our local Humane Society that comes and stays at my house while we are away. She loves them all and they love her...I feel at least they are in their own home and that beats boarding out elsewhere!

It's never easy...always a worry...but trust me, I really feel it bothers us much more than it bothers them!!

 

[ZachnElli]

Yes, I feel very guilty leaving my fur babies. We have 3 dogs and I have to use a kennel. The two little ones would destroy the house if I left them with a petsitter, I've tried, I know. They chewed up my kitchen cabinets when I tried it! They try to destroy it when I'm home too, lol. But I love the little rascals, such entertainment! I hope they do calm down at some point so I can go back to having a petsitter again. We had petsitters before we got the 2 little ones. We use to have 2 goldens (one left) and they were so good, I always got a petsitter and no kennel for them.

 

[magicfan]

Oh yes! I feel guilty when I just leave for a few minutes! Those puppy-dog "take me with you" eye's just kill me! That's why I got a second dog, so they could keep each other company. When I go out of town I only let my parents watch the dogs because the dogs love them. I could never do a kennel (not putting down people who do---I just couldn't). Sometimes I take my dogs with me, too, because they are small.

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

Yes I hate leaving them. Heck, I hate leaving them just to go to work!! When they see I'm leaving I swear I can literally see their faces fall. When I am out of town my parents take care of them, so I feel better about that. My oldest cat is VERY attached to me and if I'm gone too long she'll just stop eating.

 

[cvemom]

YES YES YESYES YES YES

We have 2 dogs and 2 cats I always worry about them especially my Huskie/Shepherd Mix, Mika. She seems to have quite a separation anxiety. She won't eat when we're gone. We've never left her for more than 24 hours. One of us always stays home with her. DH doesn't like WDW so my DD and I go with my sister. It all works out well. DH stays with the pets.

 

[luv2nascar]

I always feel guilty when we go away - one dog & one cat
dog gets to stay at grandparents but poor cat stays home alone.
I am always ready to come home