Have you Cancelled Vacation for a Sick Pet?

[knightrider922]

As luck would have it, my senior dog has become ill and I am scheduled to leave town on Tuesday for 3 days. He was at the vet on Saturday, and got fluids on Sunday. Today he is going for tests to find out what is wrong. But, he’s not eating hardly anything. I’ve been trying to feed him everything under the sun and I only got him to eat a few bites of ham this morning. No chicken, no rice, no canned food…the list goes on. The ham is the only thing he’s taken bites of but not nearly enough.

Cancelling the trip may be a mute point… but have you cancelled for a sick pet or left one at home with a trusted sitter? I have no idea what to do… but of course we don’t know what this is either. He is not a candidate for surgery so if its something needing that, the answer will be clear I think.
He may have an issue that causes the big decision…he’s been sick several times this year but has pulled through. The vet joked that he’s on his 4th life or so…

[horsenut_8700]

As a sitter I have been left with pets that needed additional veterinary care and other clients have cancelled. I think it depends on your relationship with your petsitter.

[Callista17]

Yes!!! I would never leave a sick pet for someone else to take care of!!!

We cancelled because my elderly dog needed refular sub q fluids, and we knew he’d be stressed at the vets office for 3 days.

It’s part of being a responsible pet owner.

i used to horse sit for a woman sometimes. She LEFT ME A NOTE, her horse was colicing. I usually knew around when she’d leave for vacation, and wait a few hours and head on over since it was a regular person with horses, but YIKES- glad it turned out ok. The vet knew, owner gave Banamine before she left, but instead of texting or calling me, I saw the note, then ran outside. She was lucky.

[knightrider922]

I’ve just never had to do this before and thought I was crazy for thinking of cancelling a flight because of my dog. Good news though in that he ate some ham this morning and he bounced up when I asked him if he wanted to go somewhere. So maybe he’s coming out of the woods… we will see what the vet says today.

[Lazy_Palomino_Hunter]

I’ve never cancelled a vacation due to a sick pet, but I 100% would. Without hesitation.

As an aside, I have Trupanion insurance for my dogs… they actually offer a Pet Owner Assistance Package rider that covers vacation cancellation costs! (Plus advertising/reward for lost pets, boarding costs if you’re hospitalized, third party property damage, and cremation/burial) Just food for thought for the future.

[rockonxox]

I used to pet sit and there were plenty of pets who were sick that owners trusted me to care for. One cat had a major kidney issues and required fluids which the pet owners taught me how to do. Since that was kind of a prolonged issue, just sometimes got worse rather than better, it was a little different than something that just recently popped up.

I have cancelled plans for my dog when she was sick. I was told she was given 4 or less months to live and cancelled my vacation immediately and stayed with her. I am so glad that I did because we only had 1 month together. I would never have forgiven myself if I wasn’t home to care for her when she went down hill. She had gotten better with surgery and then a few weeks later her body shut down. I would go on vacation if it was a minor illness, but if it was major and potentially life threatening I wouldn’t go.

[dressagetraks]

I’ve never had the situation come up, not that many vacations, but I would.

I remember many, many years ago they mentioned on the Breeders’ Cup broadcast for horse racing that prominent trainer Bobby Frankel, who had several horses participating in these top international events with millions of $$ at stake, stayed home instead and didn’t travel along with his horses to the Cup because his dog was sick. He sent his assistant with the horses instead, and he stayed with his dog. I thought that was neat.

Hope yours continues to improve, Knightrider.

[Lah0808]

I haven’t had to but I definitely would. I would just worry and fret way too much to be able to enjoy myself.

[sunkistbey]

I didn’t and to this day I wish I had. He was heart dog and I left him with my very responsible son. The dog crashed while I was gone, son had to take him the vet and call me. Vet tried to keep him alive while I scrambled to get a flight home. The dog passed before I could get there. Son was devastated. I would never do that again.
I had actually considered putting him down before I left. Now I wish I had.

[knightrider922]

Well brief update…vet looked at him Monday and said now was not his time thankfully. He did start eating and my vet told me to go. She took him for me so he’s at her home… wouldn’t have left if that hadn’t panned out.