When our 10 y.o. Labrador tore her cruciate ligament and had to undergo surgery two weeks before our eight-day long scheduled trip to Disney, my husband and I knew we wouldn't be able to go. We would never leave her for someone else to take care of during such a critical time. We'd had our ressie for 11 months and had been looking forward to the trip all year! Making it even worse (apart from our worries about Augusta, who is doing reasonably well now) was the prospect of losing the DVC points which would have simply expired--a rebook wasn't possible. We decided that rather than to cancel entirely, we'd split the trip. So, he ended up going for the first four days. He flew home, then I flew down and spent the next four days there. Definitely an unconventional way to spend a 29th wedding anniversary trip, but at least we avoided an entire cancellation. I just got back from my half of the vacation last week.