Limerick’s Dr Doolittle, Donal Ryan of CityVet on Lord Edward Street, knows a thing or two about caring for animals. He’s taken the time out to give some sterling advice on how to best take care of our furry family members.
SOMETIMES pets can be overlooked when their owners are arranging holidays. But bringing your pet with you is practical and easy if you are going to a safe and suitable holiday home.
Many hotels and guest houses will take a well-behaved dog, but unfamiliar environments usually don’t suit cats and they are probably would be better off left at home supervised or in a cattery.
Many mobile home parks are pet friendly, with some exceptions. Whatever arrangement you make, do keep your pets safe. Keep dogs on a leash near traffic and away from children’s play areas, and keep cats in a carrier when moving them from place to place.
There are many high-quality and well-established boarding kennels and catteries in Limerick that provide a safe and healthy environment for pets when you go away.
It’s also important to note that up-to-date vaccinations are necessary for protecting pets when travelling, including ‘Kennel Cough’ vaccination for dogs. All kennels and catteries will ask for and expect to see proof of current vaccination as it is very important for pets when they are with many other pets in a close environment.
House sitters are also an option, people who will stay in your home with your pet and look after it, for example exercising your dogs while you are away. This suits a lot of people and sitters with good references can be found online easily. There are also people who will keep a pet in their own homes.
For foreign travel, bringing dogs and cats on holidays has been made very simple in recent years since the introduction of the Pet Passport Scheme.
Each pet has a microchip (which is their identity) and an EU Pet Passport with all their details. The pet passport scheme is very successful in allowing owners to travel freely with their pets throughout the EU and non-EU countries – such as the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Canada, and the USA.
However, there are some rules to be complied with, including pre-travel health checks. There may be slight variations between countries that owners should be aware of. The same rules also apply when returning home with pets. If you do bring yours pets abroad, you should know there many diseases endemic in some countries, including parts of southern and eastern Europe. For example, Leishmaniasis spread by sandflies and heartworm spread by mosquitoes are potentially very serious diseases. Preventative treatment is available for both, of course. But be sure to seek advice before travelling and contact a local veterinary clinic when you get there for the best local advice.
Whatever way you travel, don’t leave pets in the car on summer days for even the shortest time. At a minimum, leave a window open, provide water, and park in the shade. Though even this might not be enough to prevent heat stroke. In some hot countries, owners put booties on their dog’s feet to prevent the pads getting burned by hot pavements, so go prepared and have a great holiday.
