Why Your Pet Needs Daily Visits While You're Away

At Kaitlyn’s Kuddles Pet Services, we recommend scheduling a vacation pet sitting appointment for your cat or other small animals every day that you will be away from home. If you have your pet set up with an automatic feeder and other high-tech tools, you might wonder why it’s so important to schedule daily visits–couldn’t we just go every few days to fill up their water bowl and clean the litter box? Here are some reasons we insist that daily visits are vital. 

Set a Routine

The main reason we recommend you schedule daily visits during your vacation is that it helps your pets know that there is going to be a routine. Even the most aloof cats will get lonely and upset when their favourite human is away. They rely on you for everything, and many cats will stop eating or drinking as usual when no one is around. By scheduling daily visits, we can help reassure them that there will be someone around to take care of them. A pet sitter can also help fulfill your pet’s social needs by petting them and playing with them during the visit. 

Pet Health Check-ins

Cats can get themselves into all sorts of trouble when no one is looking. When you’re away on vacation, your pet is more likely to get bored, lonely, or distressed, which for many cats means finding new places to get into trouble. They might find cleaning chemicals to spill, open a cabinet full of unsafe human foods to munch on, scrape themself up trying to squeeze under a piece of furniture, or break and swallow a piece of their toy. Daily visits mean your pet sitter is more likely to notice something is wrong and provide care before your pet gets worse. They also might help prevent some of the mischief in the first place by burning some energy in a play session. 

Ensure Everything is Still Working

If there is one thing I know about technology, it’s that it likes to break at the most inconvenient time. Water fountains are particularly bad–their motors can burn out, they can get unplugged by a pet with the zoomies, or the filter can get clogged up for seemingly no reason. It is vital to your pet’s health that they have access to clean water at all times, and many water fountains have covered basins that can’t be used like a normal bowl when they aren’t functioning properly. If the power goes out or a breaker is flipped, all of your pet’s tech could stop working, leaving them in a pretty bad situation if there won’t be anyone home for several days. 

Home Safety 

Your pet sitter doesn’t just feed and play with your pet–they also put a pair of (human) eyes on your home. That means they can spot any problems and keep your house (and pet) safe for when you return. A pet sitter might notice unusual sounds–a dripping faucet or running toilet, for example–and can report them to you while you’re away. One time, my cat even turned on a stove burner on her own, something like that could be a disaster. By having daily visits, your pet sitter will be able to get a sense for what to expect in your home, and can more quickly notice when something has changed. Usually, that just means saving you from a surprising water bill or coming home to a huge mess, but it also can make a difference in your pet’s health and safety. 

Cats and other small pets can be pretty low-maintenance, especially with all the gadgets that automate their care, but you may not realize just how much your presence does for your pets every day. It may not seem like much, but even 20-30 minutes a day with a pet sitter can have a big impact on their behavior and safety. Schedule your vacation pet care visits today!