Why We Recommend In-Home Professional Pet Sitting vs Kennel Boarding

With Easter Holidays just around the corner, many people are planning trips and trying to decide the best way to take care of their pets. In this blog post, we'll talk about the benefits of having a professional pet sitter come to your home, compared to boarding your pet in a kennel and why we recommend it as the best option for most pets. 

Familiar Environment:

One of the obvious benefits of in-home pet sitting is that it allows your pets to stay in their familiar environment with their own cosy bed, favourite toys and comforting smells. Pets thrive on routine, and being in their own home reduces the stress and anxiety associated with a change in surroundings. This is especially important for senior dogs with various health ailments and highly anxious dogs.

On the other hand, boarding can be disorienting for pets, exposing them to new smells, sounds, and routines. However, pets that are particularly social and enjoy high-energy environments can definitely thrive in this sort of environment.

Personalised Attention:

In-home pet sitting provides your pets with individualised care and attention. Professional pet sitters are experienced at meeting the unique needs of your pets, ensuring they receive the same level of care and affection they are accustomed to. And if your pet has unique and particular needs for care, whether it's dietary restrictions, medication schedules, or specific playtime preferences, our professional pet sitters will follow your instructions diligently. This level of care can be challenging in a kennel boarding setting where food options can be limited and following dietary restrictions can be challenging for staff caring for multiple pets.

Reduced Risk of Illness and Injury:

In-home pet sitting minimises the risk of illness by limiting your pet's exposure to other animals who may be unwell. While all good kennels do have a requirement that their dogs are up to date in vaccinations, the kennel cough vaccine does not mean complete immunity for your dog.

Although kennel staff does their best to gauge the temperaments of the pets they serve, certain situations and animal pairings can cause problems. Even with constant monitoring, fights can break out between animals when they are in the daycare or play activity areas. Therefore, boarding at a kennel comes with the risk of injury if your pet gets into a scuffle with another animal there.

Home care

At each visit, your professional pet sitter will check on your home and help prevent problems from occurring or escalating in your absence. You can rest assured that your pet sitter will contact you right away if anything goes awry at home or with your pets. It also ensures that your home looks ‘lived in’, deterring any opportunist thieves that may be keeping an eye on your property.

Your direct line of contact with your pet sitter can give you immense peace of mind, so you can focus on enjoying your holiday.

Cost-effective

With just a single pet, in-home pet care may be more expensive than boarding at a standard kennel. The extra cost could be considered good value considering your pet receives personalised one-to-one service in the comfort and safety of their own home. And it may save you costs in the long run if your pet becomes stressed or unwell in a kennel environment. Of course, the more pets you have, the more cost-effective in-home care becomes. If you have three or more pets, they are significantly more cost-effective to be cared for at home than at a kennel. 

As a pet owner, you should be considering your animal’s temperament, health, age, and other needs to weigh up whether an in-home, professional pet sitting service is a better option than boarding at a kennel.

While there are a few scenarios where kennel boarding may be the best option, for example, if your pets are particularly protective of their space, or they are highly sociable and would enjoy the companionship of other animals more than being at home with a pet sitter, for the most part being cared for in the comfort and safety of your home is safer, healthier, less stressful and comes with added benefits such as care of your home!

You can find out more about our Overnight Stays Service here, and we also offer a Holiday Drop-in Service here. If you would like to book one of our professional pet sitting team members, please feel free to send us an email or phone 0422 813 742.