Leaving your dog or cat with someone else while you travel is one of those things that goes well 95% of the time and indifferently the rest. What separates the two is almost never the goodwill of whoever is caring for them: it is the information you left and the decisions you never discussed beforehand.
This guide covers how to choose between a boarding kennel, a sitter at home and a host family, what to check before booking, what paperwork to leave, and what insurance covers while you are away.
Kennel, sitter at home, or host family
Boarding works well for sociable dogs, used to other animals and with flexible routines. It offers constant supervision and staff accustomed to incidents, but it means a new environment, noise and living alongside strangers.
A sitter who comes to your home, or stays in it, suits cats and older animals or those with chronic conditions better: the environment does not change and the routine holds. In exchange, supervision is not continuous unless agreed, so be explicit about how many visits a day and for how long.
A host family — a private individual keeping the animal in their own home — is the middle ground, and its quality depends entirely on the person. In all three cases, the useful question is not which is better in the abstract but which most resembles the life your animal normally leads.
What to check before booking
Visit in person first, without exception, and go during normal working hours rather than on a closed-doors appointment. Notice the smell, the state of the spaces, how many animals there are per carer, and whether dogs have resting areas away from the traffic.
Ask what health requirements they impose: a serious kennel asks for an up-to-date vaccination card and usually requires vaccination against infectious tracheobronchitis — kennel cough — as well as current worming. Being asked for it yourself is a good sign, because it means everyone is asked.
Ask for the establishment’s registration details too, and check it complies with the rules applying in your autonomous community. And confirm which veterinary practice they use in an emergency and how far away it is.
The pack you leave with the carer
Leave in writing, on paper and on the person’s phone: your number and an alternative contact who will actually be reachable, your practice’s number and the emergency one, the microchip number, your policy number and the address of the referral hospital.
Add the real routine, not the ideal one: feeding times and amounts, walks, medication with doses and times, quirks, fears, and what the animal does when stressed. If they are on long-term medication, leave the doses made up and a photograph of the box.
And leave the vaccination card and a copy of the latest clinical report if there is any ongoing condition. It is exactly what a vet who does not know your animal will need, and exactly what a claim will require.
The veterinary authorisation almost nobody leaves
This is the forgotten point and the one that causes most trouble. If your animal needs urgent care while you are on a flight, whoever is caring for them has to be able to authorise treatment. Leave a signed authorisation with your name and ID number, the animal’s details, the name of the authorised person, and one clear sentence: that you authorise the veterinary care necessary in your absence.
Include a spending limit above which you want to be consulted, and say what should happen if they cannot reach you. A line such as “do what is needed up to X euros and, if you cannot reach me, follow the vet’s judgement” resolves in two lines a situation that otherwise stalls.
Tell your practice as well that you will be away and who is looking after the animal. It is a thirty-second message that saves half an hour of phone calls at the worst possible moment.
What the policy covers while you are away
Health cover carries on exactly as normal: it covers treatment for an accident or illness, subject to the policy’s limits, with free choice of vet. With Petplan, reimbursement can reach 100% of covered costs, with an annual limit of €3,100 and a €45 excess per illness rather than per visit.
It is worth being clear about what it is not. Boarding during your holiday is your own expense, not a claim. What the Petplan policy does include is reimbursement of boarding costs when it is you who has to be hospitalised, up to a maximum of €600; and, within the loss and straying cover, boarding costs where the animal is found but cannot be returned to you immediately.
If the trip means the animal leaves Spain with the person caring for them, check your policy’s territorial scope and the maximum stay covered outside the country beforehand. And remember that a claim must be submitted within one year of the treatment: if an emergency is dealt with while you are away, ask them to email the invoice and report the same day.
When you get back
Take a moment to look the animal over: weight, coat, any limp, small wounds, appetite and mood. Changes of environment sometimes produce mild digestive upsets or stress that surfaces days later, particularly in cats.
And ask whoever cared for them for a short note on how it went: what they ate, whether they slept well, whether anything happened. That is not distrust; it is the information that makes the next trip easier to organise, and that your vet will be glad of if something appears the following week.
