How do you go on vacation?

[whittibo]

Last year when we went on vacation, we only had one piggy, and we didn't know then what we know now about piggies. I had left some orange slices/pellets and gave instructions to keep an eye on water and pellets, feed orange every couple days.

WELL, that won't fly this year. We have 3 piggies, and I know WAY more now then I did then!

I have a house sitter, she's VERY dependable and mature and responsible (more so then the 21 year old I had last year). She is used to animals, but 'big' animals like horses & goats. I know I can trust her with any task, so I am making a list. But I am so worried that something will happen while I am away, and she won't recognize the signs??

Does anyone else have these fears when they leave? It's like leaving my kids with a sitter, which, by the way, I NEVER do because I worry about them! :s

I have my mom on standby to bring veggies. Since we'll be leaving Wednesday morning (Sept 28th) and won't be home till October 8th, I know I can't buy enough veggies for that long, so my mom agreed to buy veggies and bring them by half way through our vacation.

I am just trying to get all my ducks in a row here, can anyone give me suggestions on what type of things to leave a list of? Other then the obvious about food/water/cleaning the cage etc.

[Lynx]

I think you bought a Cavy Health Record Book, no? It has a nice list of signs of illness, what to do if your pig needs hand feeding, you put your vet's name on it, it includes your pigs' med info. This should be pretty helpful on the health side of it.

[diodora]

I always leave a letter to the vet indicating that they can treat my animals when they are with a sitter.

[eawills]

I went on a mini-vacation for two nights/three days with my husband this past week, and my mother-in-law watched Mo. I measured out pellets and fruit/veggies and bagged them so she knew what to give each day. I left an abundance of hay as well.

Although of course we know it's not ideal, your pigs will make it on basic pellets and hay, with minimal vegs/fruits until you get home. I second the idea to leave a letter with permission to treat your animals, and to have the vet number handy. I would verbally tell your house-sitter the signs of a URI, and leave the book as a reference.

ENJOY your vacation! We hate to think of it, but pigs survive in pet stores and humane societies for much longer than your vacation, so they'll be fine!

[Cindy in MI]

We went on vacation in June - the first in over 8 years. The dog went to the vet to be boarded and I had a cat sitter to come in twice a day to make sure Cardiac Kitty got his meds. The pig and hamsters went to a different pet sitter's house.

I made sure I left the name and number of the vet for each critter. Also who to contact after the regular vets' hours and how to contact them. I then contacted each vet and emergency vet, explained I was going on vacation and the critters would be under the care of a sitter. I made whatever financial arrangements needed to be made in order to cover emergency treatment. My regular vet was okay with billing me, the emergency vet wanted a credit card number on file. I also wrote a cover letter to leave with the sitters authorizing them to seek emergency medical treatment if necessary and phone numbers where I could be reached in case of an emergency.

Of course after it was all said and done, there were no problems or emergencies after jumping through all those hoops to make those arrangements. But I KNEW that if I hadn't been prepared and didn't cover all the bases somethiing would happen.

[lisam]

To make sure my pigs get the required amount of veggies and greens per day, I put a day's portion in a large gallon sized Ziploc, and label it (Monday, Tues, you get the picture).

To make sure they get the hay they need, I put the hay in lunch sized paper bags with the directions give one per day, or every other day, etc.

Definitely check with your vet to find their procedures. One of my vets is fine with my verbal okay, another needs a signed form as well.

Lynx's idea of having the Cavy Record on hand is a great one. Better yet, give her her own copy so she can read up on it before hand.

[whittibo]

THANKS GUYS! I don't have the record book yet, but am ordering one now.

I will call my vets tomorrow, although he has only seen one of my cats and one piggy, he's all I got up here. At least it's something.

Love the idea of bagging everything up. I wonder if it would keep all bagged together?

I am thinking of having her over for "training". LOL I am going over board here, I know she'll be just fine and so will the piggies, but the more she knows, and the more comfortable she is, the more comfortable I will be.

Thanks for all the tips! Keep 'em coming!

[whittibo]

Also, is it OK to give her this website and let her log on as me? Or should I get her signed up as herself?

[twofinepigs]

I bagged romaine with sliced peppers, a few bags with baby carrots and a few with cherry tomatoes (uncut). All these things kept for six days. I put cilantro in the first three days but none after that because I thought it would get slimy. All the individual bags held up well. I told our sitter that if the veggies didn't look like SHE would want to eat them, not to give them. I knew that if worse came to worst, they could get by a day or two with just hay and pellets, but they didn't have to.

So I can vouch that lettuce and peppers ziplocked on Saturday were still good the following Friday!

[CICSTEVE]

Yes, get a health book. They are great. We have bought 8 of them and we handed one out to a humane center, we gave one to our vet, and we gave a couple out to people who needed the info. It is a very good book. Our vet looked at it and said it was very well written and very pleased. Lynx, GREAT job, and thanks for alot of info at your finger tips.
We go on vacation in a couple of weeks and we are taking them with us. Just to many (24). We are going to camp and find this time up there we can spend alot of time with all of our kids. Last year we had our vet watch our first 7 for 2 days and it worked well for us. I mean first 5 piggies and we came back with 2 more.

[Poor Baby Cuzko]

Although I haven't went on a vacation that long, I'll go on 3 day horse show trips with a friend. I'm lucky in the fact that living at home, my mom will take care of my critters. I get everything ready in advance. Veggies are all cut up and placed in bowls and all Mom has to do is put it in the bowl. Pellet bowl is full when I leave and only needs to be topped off. I fill water bottle and it gets topped off as needed.

Good luck and have fun on the vacation!

[Lynx]

CICSTEVE, happy to hear you found it so helpful -- and spread them around, too! I tried to organize it well so people could find the most important info quickly.