Choosing boarding for your pet

Before any trip, the key question is where your pet will stay, and with whom. The right choice lets you travel without worrying, and brings your pet back healthy and calm.

Your options

• A boarding kennel or pet hotel: set up for animals, with staff all day. Good for active dogs and long trips.
• A pet sitter: someone visits to feed, play and clean, or stays in your home. Cats usually do better at home. See how to choose a pet sitter.
• Family or friends: cheaper, but make sure they understand the routine and the responsibility.
• A stay at a vet clinic: if your pet is ill or needs medicines and monitoring.

What to check on a visit

Visit before you book. If they won't let you, that's a bad sign.

• Cleanliness and smell.
• Space: enough room for each animal, and cats kept away from dogs.
• Ventilation, air conditioning and shade. In an Egyptian summer these aren't extras.
• Fences and doors, with no way to escape.
• Staff numbers, and whether anyone is there at night.
• How the animals there look: calm and clean, or stressed?

What to ask before you book

• Do they ask for an up-to-date vaccination card? If not, the animals around yours may not be vaccinated.
• What's the daily routine: how many walks, how much play, alone or with other animals?
• Can you bring your pet's own food? That's better: a sudden change of food can upset its stomach.
• If your pet gets ill, which vet do they use, and who pays?
• Will they send photos or news every day?
• What does the nightly price include, and what costs extra?

Before you go

• Try a night or two before a long trip.
• Pack its food, medicines with the times written down, a blanket or toy that smells of home, and the vaccination card.
• Dogs: bring a photo of the licence. See how to license your dog.
• Leave your number, a backup contact and your vet's number.
• Travelling for Eid? Book early, and read your pet over the Eid holidays.