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Traveling With Unhealthy Pet Is Possible, Not Wise
Dear Nanny Fran,
My Yorkie is on medication twice daily for heart trouble and I would like to take her with me when I travel. What do you think?
I do not believe that this is wise. When you travel to a hotel or motel that allows animals that is all well and good but not for the animal. First of all, the stress of traveling and meeting all the people who will want to pet, cuddle, etc. your baby will bring on stress that will aggravate your Yorkie’s ability to breathe. The Lasix you administer is to excrete fluids so that fluids do not accumulate around the heart. These fluids crowd the lungs as well and breathing is also an issue which would culminate in congestive heart failure if the Lasix were not in the system. However, I have seen dogs become much too excited when strangers try to cuddle them or take them away from their “mothers” and this becomes a very dangerous circumstance for the animal. If you would insist on taking your Yorkie with you to a hotel/motel I would made sure that I had ample medications on hand and the phone number and address of the 24-hour emergency veterinary facility closest to your hotel/motel.
Also, I believe that a very cute little, itsy bitsy something or other or any other purebred like a Yorkie, Maltese, etc. becomes very attractive to hotel or motel staff and/or guests with bad intentions. Even if your pet is micro chipped and all your contact information is current, your pet needing medication may expire before veterinary care is sought. If veterinary care is sought in time to save your Yorkie’s life then there is the possibility that she will be scanned for a microchip. At that point you will then be contacted; however, at that point your Yorkie might be in heaven. I would certainly not rely on the dog kidnapper to recognize that there is a medical issue needing attention. In 12 years of pet sitting I have had to tell owners who live with their pets 24/7 that I believed their pet needed medical attention.
Even if your Yorkie was spectacularly healthy I would not entrust him or her to strangers. Did you know that over 80% of the dogs killed in shelters are purebreds? Yes, that is because every Yorkie looks like every other Yorkie to anyone but you the mother or father. All purebreds look alike. Yes, microchips are scanned; however, people move and do not update information in the national registry.
Bottom line is that I would leave my sweetheart at home with a trusted pet sitter or even boarded at your regular veterinarian to insure proper care and administration of medications.
© 2006 Francene Mattucci. All Rights Reserved.
Francene Mattucci founded Never Say Good Bye Pet Sitting Service in 1994 and is a member of Professional Petsitters International. She is recommended by the Humane Society of North Pinellas. Call 727-512-3206 or email
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