It won't be long and I'll be heading overseas with my wife Faith again for a few weeks. Whilst we are happy to be travelling, as always, we'll have to say goodbye to our two cats which makes us sad. It also raises issues that need to be dealt with.
We have two cats, Cleo pictured above with her little mousey friend, and Merlin you can see pictured below, the black one. Like most cats they run our household and we pour a lot of love into them. We treat them incredibly well and to be honest like them more than most people - I'm not even joking. So, going away brings problems; Leaving them for someone else to look after.
On this trip we are taking my mother in-law along so she won't be able to look after the cats like usual so I've recruited the aid of an animal-lover friend of mine. We know she will look after our cats really well and we feel pretty comfortable. The only problem is that Cleo only likes us and pretty much runs away to hide when anyone else comes into our house. I don't think my friend will see her much although we are trying to acclimatise Cleo to my friend...A slow process. Merlin will be fine...He's pretty social and will be out head-butting and cuddling my friend within minutes of her arriving.
Those who don't have pets may struggle to understand the anxiety a person may feel in respect of leaving their pet behind whilst on vacation however the emotion is real. Our pets are one of the most important focal points of our life and much of our time is spent with them. They have personalities and engage with us, and each other, in their own way conveying their emotions and feelings in their cat-like manner. Most pets do the same, if they are capable of it. A friend of mine had a salt-water crocodile as a pet so there wasn't a lot of cuddling or emotion going on there. But in the main, most domestic pets will rely on their owners and show them respect and love in their own animal-way.
We know Cleo and Merlin will be in good hands with my friend however we won't be completely worry-free when we're away. Merlin is twenty, an old boy in cat terms, and we are concerned about his health despite him being fit, alert, active and still very playful. I'll be leaving a couple of thousand dollars for potential vet costs should anything happen requiring a doctors visit. Vets are expensive here! With Cleo we are concerned she may fret in our absence however we think she will be ok. Hopefully.
We love travelling and everything that comes with it however leaving our pets behind has always been difficult and brought concerns. I wonder, do any of you also have this issue? I know a few of you have much-loved pets and others run animals on farms and such. I wonder what you have in place for when you leave and if you feel the same as we do?
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