The hardest decision in a pet lover’s life is when he/she has to leave their pet under the care of someone else as she/he travels away – be it for work or for a holiday.

Some homeowners choose to trust their pets with family members, while others opt for housesits or kennels.

However, you might want to consider housesit over all the other options due to the following reasons:

Affordability

For pet lovers, these animals are more than just animals. They are part of the family and always have to be well taken care of even when no one is at home. This is why you might find it hard leaving them behind as you plan your trip.

Using a kennel, cattery, or ‘pet-boarding house’ may at first sound like the most appropriate idea for ensuring that your pet is kept safe while you are away.

However, as many have realized, this is a very expensive option that will drain your bank accounts and probably make you end your vacation sooner than later.

For this reason, most people have found housing to be a reliable and convenient alternative since they are sure that there is someone specifically hired to watch over their pets.

This option is a great relief since it is often very affordable. You will be able to reduce your expenses over half the cost of using a kennel if you opt for housesitting services.

Safety of Household Items

Try picturing your reaction when you get into your house for the first time after a vacation and find it flooded with water.

How about if you got in and discovered that all your expensive items had been burgled?

You need to know that when you leave your house locked and with no house sitter, you give nature or ill people a chance to lay it in ruins.

People are wrong when they think that having a house sitter is way too expensive than just having the house under key and lock.

Unfortunately, most of them discover how wrong they were when they are back and count the cost of their damages.

That is why you need a housesitter.

Attention To Detail

By paying attention to details, your house sitter is able to notice minor but important issues like leaking roofs, loose gutters, home repairs, and leaking water pipes.

Being informed of such immediately they are spotted will help you request for repairs to be done even as you travel the world. At least you will come back and find your house in perfect condition rather than feeling like you have back to a shanty, having to set about making repairs.

I know someone who went away and left their home unoccupied and there was a power outage. It tripped a fuse. Their huge deep freeze remained without power for weeks.  They lost hundreds of dollars of food and returned to a terrible puddle of water on their wooden floor that not only damaged the floor but added to the revolting smell of rotten food, fish, and meat that permeated throughout the home.

Not even a family member who has keys to your house will be able to respond swiftly to any emergency issues since friends and relatives will probably only be making stopovers to at your home once in a while when they are free.

 Sticking To Routines

Your pet does not need to have a change in ‘lifestyle’ when you decide to leave them behind as you go for your vacation and this can cause an animal to stress.

Remember that pets are just like human beings, already used to a number of routines, which include being walked in the park, resting on the couch, playing with the mirror or favorite toy, regular toilet times, and even some watching the television.

Deciding to put them in a Kennel would, therefore, get them confused and psychologically tortured as they struggle to adjust to the sudden drastic changes.

Most people who have left their pets in kennels have actually admitted that they are never the same as they left them.

Most have gone through some mental torture that makes them less jumpy, a bit afraid of people or less adventurous.

Be wise and pay for a house sitter.

Responding To ‘House Calls’

It is almost certain that your house sitter will be able to perform other duties, such as answering to house calls.

They will be able to receive any messages from people like brokers and appropriately relay such messages to you. They might call or visit your house in person, but imagine them repeatedly trying to contact you to no avail.

Having someone who is always there and can respond to house phone calls is very appropriate since you can be assured that no one will find your house unoccupied on any day. This limits any cases of burglary or

Emergency and/or regular mail can also be attended to.

This limits any cases of burglary or neighbor’s kids ruining your garden.

What more can you ask for?

So, next time you are planning time away, we’d like to encourage you to consider a pet or Housesitter.  

We’ve traveled the world for the past five years and have house sat in many exciting locations including Paris and also country France, Brazil, Italy, Fiji, Ireland, England, Tanzania, Hungary, Turkey, Scotland and of course Australia.

We’ve had the joy of caring for a large variety of pets including birds, fish, poultry, sheep, dogs, cats and more. Many of the pets we grew very fond of, and so it is not surprising to receive emails from homeowners asking us to return again.

We are heading back to Australia soon where we will be staying for several months, and housesitting is definitely on the agenda as it gives us the opportunity to have a home base.

In this trip planning stage, it is great that we are a member of a great housesitting site Aussie Housesitters.  We used them last time we were in Australia seeking to find house sits.  We found some really interesting house sits and cared for some amazing homes and animals. We loved that they specialized in Australia, which some other sites do not and we received daily email alerts for new house sits, which saved me hours of scouring the ‘net’.

We’re both excited to meet the new pets we will be caring for, and to enjoy the cuddles and walks with the dogs, and having some four-legged company.

Questions to our readers:

• Are you planning a trip away?  Would you consider a house sitter – Yes or No, and Why?
• If you have never had a housesitter before, what are your biggest concerns?
• Tell us in the comments below – we’d love to know.

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