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Traveling without your pet: Pet Hotel or Pet Sitter

Leave your pet with peace of mind when traveling! Discover the advantages of the Pet Hotel and the Pet Sitter to ensure your pet's well-being. Discover the ideal options to take care of your little friend while you are away.

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Are you going to travel by plane and don't want to take your dog? Are you going to that somewhat isolated beach town, are you afraid to take your cat, and the kitty gets lost? Going on a second honeymoon and don't want to take your four-legged son with you? No problem: leave your friend at a Pet Hotel (Hotelzinho) or with a Pet Sitter.

Although traveling with your pet is a really cool experience, there are trips he better not go on; so choosing a good caregiver for him is essential.

The first place is a specialized house, with a team that will guarantee love, affection and care for your dog or cat, but in a place that is foreign to him. The second is a person who comes to your house for a few hours a day and there is dedicated exclusively to your furry friend, giving him all the love and care he needs.

However, which is the most suitable option for your animal? Which is the best fit for your lifestyle? Next, we list some advantages and disadvantages of Pet Hotels and Pet Sitters, to help you decide which service to choose, so you can enjoy your trip, worry-free!

Comfort

If for us, getting out of the routine, trying a new bed, waking up to a beautiful landscape is refreshing, for the dog or cat, sometimes it's scary. Think about it: he's in a place he doesn't know, with people and animals he doesn't know.

Thus, calling a Pet Sitter is a much better option in terms of comfort. Your animal will not leave its place, its bed, it will not move away from its toys and its pee corner...

Of course, there are animals that manage to get along very well in new places. We also have Pet Hotels that, like hotels for people, are much more luxurious than our homes. So, if you think your friend deserves to give this varied environment, it's worth investigating.

But it's like the saying goes: there's no place like home.

Point: pet sitter

Socialization

Unless you are the owner of several animals, when you travel, your cat or dog will be home alone. The Pet Sitter will come to your house, play with them and eventually take your friend for a walk. But he will be alone, especially at night.

Cats are, by instinct, animals more likely to be alone. Think of a tiger, or a leopard: solitary big cats. Unlike dogs, which evolved from wolves, who lived in huge packs. Thus, in a Pet Hotel, your animal will interact with other animals of its own species and even others.

For some dog breeds and even cats, being alone for many days can be quite stressful. Think about it: a different sound, different people in the neighborhood, or unexpected situations (like screams from fans on match days) are things that will scare your pet.

If he is with other animals, at the Hotelzinho, he will feel safer, more welcomed. In his house, especially at night, he won't have anyone to give him that feeling of security.

Point: little hotel

individual service

When we talk about our animals, every owner is the same: “all cats look alike, but only my cat do this”, the owners will say. The same goes for dogs.

As such, the service that will best meet your pet's unique needs is a Pet Sitter. At Pet Hotels, it is clear that your dog or cat will be very well taken care of, will be closely observed by specialized and loving caretakers, and will play a lot. But it will be a generic treatment – because there will be many other animals there.

That way, only a Pet Sitter, hired to take care of exclusively of your animal, you will know how to make those cafunés and jokes that only your dog or cat like. That person will be there to understand your furry friend, to dedicate themselves exclusively to him, and eventually, to make video calls for you to talk to your pet.

In addition, some Pet Sitters can visit your pet a few weeks before your trip. That way, your cat or dog won't be surprised when he goes there, and you're not there, and the professional will get to know your furry friend's every need better.

A Pet Sitter is someone who will love your pet as much as you do.

Point: pet sitter

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Security

When you host your cat or dog in a Pet Hotel, there will be camera monitoring there, 24 hours, probably, a veterinarian on duty, in addition to several people, taking care that your dog does not feel cold, hungry, thirsty, and is always clean. That is, it is a safe place, managed by experienced and dedicated people.

A Pet Sitter needs to be a person of extreme trust. There are some pet stores that eventually offer the service. Even so, think about it: this is a person who will enter, alone (it is expected) in your house, and, without anyone seeing, and without any presence of surveillance cameras, will take care of your friend – and have access to your stuff.

Therefore, it is very important that you research well, who is the Pet Sitter, if you choose this service. Search for references, what they say about him on social networks, if there are photos of the professional with other dogs and cats, if he has basic knowledge of veterinary medicine and first aid, if he knows about animal nutrition...

In addition, there will be periods when your animal will be alone, in case you hire a Pet Sitter. That way, if there is any problem at home, by the time the Pet Sitter has left, there will be no one there to resolve it quickly.

Of course, there are thousands of excellent Pet Sitters, as there are also Pet Hotels with services and facilities that leave something to be desired. Therefore, researching Hoteizinhos, checking reviews on specialized websites and social networks, looking for photos, is very important.

But, in general, Pet Hotels are safer – in a general assessment.

Point: little hotel

Values

A Pet Sitter is a professional who will dedicate some hours of his day, exclusively, to the your cat or dog. He will be with your animal for a certain period of hours, he will talk to him, take him for a walk, bathe him, do all the hygiene...

In a Pet Hotel, your animal will be taken care of, cleaned, well fed, and played a lot. But he won't be the only animal in the place.

Therefore, some Pet Sitter services can be as expensive as a Hotelzinho, if not more.

The Hotelzinho has the cost of laundry and cleaning of common areas, food, possible medicines and toys (especially if you have a dog that loves to destroy things), in addition to bills such as water, light and electricity. And some are as luxurious as luxury hotels for people.

A Pet Sitter will charge for the hours they are there, for the service (just feed and play? Run with the animal? Trim the hair and nails?), but will not add bills such as the market, pharmacy and toys to the total amount. So maybe your values are less, but in that case, you'll have to pay all the other bills.

So, it's worth doing a lot of research on the structure and facilities of each service, if the issue of value is a problem.

Point: A tie

Result

Both a Pet Sitter and a Pet Hotel can be good or bad choices for your cat or dog when you travel. The first thing to do is to analyze what you believe which will be the best for your friend. Secondly, you must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each service, and then look for the one that is the best possible, the one that pleases you the most and gives you confidence, within your conditions.

Each service has its positives and negatives, and as each cat and each dog is unique, sometimes a service will be better for one owner's kitty, but not for another.

Therefore, it is important that you get to know your pet, and then think to yourself which service will be best for him. The most important thing is not to let the opportunity of your well-deserved vacation pass you by. Your animal will be fine if the chosen service is carried out by dedicated and caring people.

Everyone deserves a vacation. Even our four-legged friends!

And you? Have you ever hosted your cat or dog in a little hotel? Have you hired a Pet Sitter? Tell us how it went in the comments. Tell us if we forgot to address something.

And so you don't miss any more posts from Mister Cat, subscribe to our newsletter and stay on top of the best content about cats and other pets!

About the author  /  Lucas Silva

Writer and teacher. He writes about literature, poetry, animals, movies, series and other cultural things. He has already published two books of poetry and will soon publish another one.

Reviewed by  /  Samantha Scorbaioli

Senior Editor

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