Leaving Your Pet in a Boarding Facility

Leaving your pet in a boarding facility can be stressful for both you and your pet; whether it’s your first time or not. Here are some tips to think about before you leave to make that transition a little easier.

Parasite Control

Fleas, lice and worms are all things that your pet can easily pick up while they are away; thankfully all are easy to prevent!

It is recommended a couple days before your trip, you treat your pet with an external parasite prevention from your local veterinary clinic. Internal parasite control (deworming) is also recommend after a stay at a boarding facility. Most boarding facilities do not require any sort of prevention or deworming, however we as veterinarians do recommend parasite prevention.

GI Upset 

In hopes to alleviate stomach upset (diarrhea) we recommend supplementing a probiotic into their diet a couple of days before you leave and during their stay at the kennel. You can use any brand of probiotic for animals, specific to a dog or cat.

Emergency Plan

Whenever you leave your pet, it’s always a good idea to have a conversation with the boarding facility about what you would like them to do in the event of a medical emergency.

Certain topics to talk about would include:

•          Which veterinary clinic would you like your pet taken to if something were to happen, and is there a specific doctor you normally see?

•          In the event that you cannot be reached at, is there someone (a friend or family member) that is able to make medical decisions for your pet?

When leaving your pet in the care of someone let your regular veterinary clinic know. We are bound by the same laws as human medicine in that without written consent, no one other than who is stated on the medical record is allowed to make any medical decisions about your pet

At The Pet Hospital we have a form you can fill out so that you can go on vacation worry free!

Click here for Vacation/Medical Emergency Contact Information form.