I have decided that perhaps my crew might test the patience of a saint some days. As they have aged they have each developed their little quirks and OCD's. Which when going on vacation can make getting a pet sitter to care for them at home a challenge. Usually my brother or sister in-law cares for them, but this trip we will all be out of town on a family vacation.
I have found that sitting services are fine if they aren't booked, so that leaves you begging from friends and co-workers. I can't really consider boarding them because of their age, and one dog is scared to death of strangers, one is a very cranky old lady, and then there's Lil'Shit. He's going blind, deaf and fully lives up to his name. You cannot count one meal to the next what he might eat or refuse. One time he might want his canned, then he might want dry, or a small mix of both. Or if you are very stressed at the end of the day he'll choose to believe that he should have what is in one of the girl's bowls instead of his own. He is also an escape artist and would escape to go looking for me. He is the dog that has chewed through metal mini blinds to be on the window sill so he can watch for mamma to come home. So putting together a list of who gets what for food and when and where can be challenging.
And then there is the cats..... Mushy being 18+ is now a yodeler, he is very adamant about his feeding routine. I must be up by 5:30am and have them fed by at least 6am. Now granted, he is getting better about maybe letting me sleep till 6am on the weekends, but only after I have told him to hush at least twice. And then once downstairs to start the morning routine, he and his brothers are just about constantly underfoot and trying to trip me up. But get the spoon and start heading back to their feeding area and you will be stampeded. Mushy has also developed the taste for fresh water only, and all the better if there are a few ice cubes in his water bowl. If it isn't fresh, and spotless, he'll sit there and tell you off. If we are gone though, Mushy becomes very insecure, and cries alot or develops undesirable neurotic actions while we're gone. So he gets shut out of alot of his normal areas. Then there is Yummy, ah yes, the imp to torment unsuspecting people. He will try every opportunity he possibly can to escape the house with unsuspecting people caring for them. The only thing that trips him up is his love for grazing on grass, so he'll always stop short to munch grass and is usually easily caught. Problem is carrying him back in, he weighs alot! The best of the lot is Djinn, he'll just hide mostly be polite at food times, but does not travel or do kennels well.
Once upon a time not long after we were first married, my mother in-law was staying with us. She is not used to cats, and tended to forget about them in the house as they usually stayed out of sight. We came home to her in tears and sobbing that she had lost one of my cats. She just wasn't thinking and opened the back door for the dogs to go in and out as they pleased. Yummy took advantage of her and split the scene for awhile. She was just sure he was helpless and gone for good. Fortunately Yummy is very cunning and a survivor. It took us an hour to calm her down. Thank heavens the others were too scared of the outdoors to venture near the door. After he had his lovely romp and did the tom cat strut for the neighborhood ladies, he came home around 3 am. Being the mother type I am I heard him mewling (he sounds like a little girl) at the back door wanting in for his supper, and I got up and let him in.
Oh yeah, sorry, I think I veered from my topic there. Anyhow, good reliable pet sitters are hard to find, especially those that will care for animals with special needs or other strange little quirks.
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