The Agony of Vacations....

[chookchick]

Okay, I have to rant a bit....
We've been planning a vacation for over a year. Talked with the neighbor several times since, my husband thought he had everything lined up for the care of our chickens (the neighbors used to have chickens). I'm totally stressing out about the care of them (and my cat) while we are gone. So I go over today to set up an time to go over everything, as we are leaving in three days.

"Ooops, we are going out of town for a week, I thought you said you were going in February!"

Well between that, and our cat, I asked my husband if it would be terrible if I didn't go. His response was not happy. My cat is 15, in the final stages of kidney failure, with almost complete loss of control of his hind legs. And a picky eater and skinny, basically at the end of his life....

Fortunately we have another neighbor, who is a super-responsible guy, who we just now managed to get lined up to take care of the chickens.

How do other people deal with this?! This vacation stuff is waaaay to stressful for me, and I honestly would not go on them if it was up to me. I'm doing this for my husband and son. If anything happens....

 

[greenbeandreams]

I dunno. Vacations are so stressful for this very reason. Almost not worth going on sometimes! Glad you found another neighbor to help though.

 

[Mrs. K]

Go and have a good time! What I have found is that all the worrying is for nothing! Very Very seldom does it happen they way I worried about.

 

[meathook]

Sorry to hear about the stress this is causing you but....a couple of thoughts. I hope this doesn't come across as harsh.

It sounds to me like it may be time to put the cat to sleep. What is it's quality of life at this point if it is as you describe? Having said that only you can decide when it is time but my view is you have to continually ask yourself am I keeping this animal alive for me or for them. Tough decisions always.

When I was a kid we didn't go on vacations a lot but some of my fondest memories are from the ones we did go on. My parents are gone now and I have teenagers of my own and what I wouldn't give for one more camping trip with my parents now. Your kids are only young once and chickens are well....chickens.

Go and enjoy the vacation.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
You posted what I was going to!

 

[Imp]

I have to go out of town a few times a year. I have a teen in the neighborhood who does a great job watching the house and animals. The animals love him. Cats get about 4x the normal amount and the chickens live on scratch. I think they are sorry when I come home. The main thing everyone is alive and well.
Glad you have the neighbor to watch the chickens. Is he watching the cat also?

Imp-If you need I can take in your cat while you are gone, I have some experience with sick cats.

 

[Barred Rockstar]

Another option would be to hire a responsible house sitter. I used to make quite a bit of extra money doing this.

 

[chookchick]

Quote:
Yes, I seriously considered putting the cat to sleep. We really didn't think he would even be around at this time. The thing is, he still has a lot of "spirit"--he gets all over the house, does his usual routine...and the vet wants to see how he will respond to arthritis medicine and a new diet. If he continues to decline, we will put him to sleep. He is going into a cat hotel with vet facilities next door ($$$!)

IMP--thank you for the generous offer! (see above)

Meathook--Thank you for saying that about your memories. My son (actually stepson) is bouncing off the walls tonight, he is so excited. This could be a really great trip for him, and us.

 

[PineappleMama]

We just don't do vacations... not by other people's standards anyways.

Every year or two we'll make a trip to Arkansas to visit family for a weekend... get MIL to feed/water ours for that 1-2 days...

Or we'll go camping, but that's at a park that's not even a 20 minute drive. And since hubby works Saturdays it's easy for him to feed critters and shower before coming out. Easy Peasy.

I can't imagine the hassle for folks who actually want to go somewhere more than a few hours away.

 

[dovecanyon]

Do you have a 4-H group near you? I'll bet one or two of the 4-H kids would jump at the chance to babysit your chickens while you're gone.