Who takes care of your pets when you vacation?

When I had guinea pigs it was such a hassle whenever I wanted to go away for a week or two. I was able to find people to feed and water them but no one really wanted to change the litter. I didn't want to give a stranger (petsitter) my key and anyone who boarded pets usually only did dogs and cats and charged a small fortune (several hundred per week.)

Am I unusual in wanting a place that would board small pets, or do people generally leave them at home and get people to come in and take care of them?

I'm asking because I'm considering starting a small pet boarding business in my home. And wondering if there is demand for it.
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We have low maintenance pets.
When we went away we attached automatic feeders to both of our fish tanks. Cleaned them before we left, and left the filters on as usual. First thing we did when we got home, was check on them Smile

Our hampster went along with our daughter to relatives. We made sure the cage was super clean beforehand. Hampster managed without a cage cleaning for a bit. And relatives changed his food each day.
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Platinum Member Joined: Nov 04 2008 Posts: 7936

Good question.

If it's just a weekend we ask our neighbor/friend to look after the cats.

If it's longer we either hire a cat-sitter or my mother comes to stay.
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btw gp2.0, if you're guinea pig is cute, we'd seriously consider taking care of it next time you are away. seriously Smile

Gold Member Joined: Aug 20 2007 Posts: 1308

If I'm gone more than 48 hours I have a pet sitting service come once a day to change her water, feed her, and clean the litter box. They also water my plants, pick up my mail, and ensure that someone's in my house once a day in case something goes wrong (leaky pipe, break-in, etc). I leave a key with them so that I can call and have someone take care of my cat if I have some kind of emergency. (Or, I guess, lock myself out. Wink

).

For a guinea pig I'd try to find a friend to leave it with, or have a pet sitter come by every day or every other day.

For long vacations we brought the pets to countryside people making a living by keeping them for people in vacation
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