What to pack for your pet's stay away from home

A stay away from home changes almost everything for a pet at once: the rooms, the smells, the people, the sounds and often the other animals. Texas A&M's vets note that it is common for a pet to skip food for the first 12 to 24 hours in a new place, and that mild loose stools, pacing, panting or hiding can show up at first. What you pack is how you keep the rest the same: the same food, the same bowl, the same bedding, the same medicines given the same way.

The bag also does a second job. It tells the boarder what your pet needs without you being there to explain. A home boarder in Bengaluru or a kennel outside Pune is looking after other pets too. A clear, labelled bag and a one-page note mean your pet gets its own routine rather than the house routine. Merck's travel checklist covers the core items: familiar food, every medicine with its prescription, your contact details and your vet's, ID tags and the microchip number, and bedding, a favourite toy and an old shirt that smells of you.

Pack your pet's usual food for every day of the stay and add a few days' extra in case your return is delayed by a train, a flight or a family event. If your pet eats a home-cooked meal of rice, curd and chicken, write the recipe and the amounts down, or cook and freeze portions if the boarder agrees. Do not expect the boarder to match a home-cooked diet by guessing.

Do not change the food just before the stay. PDSA says a sudden change can upset a dog's gut and cause diarrhoea, which is the last thing a pet needs in a new home. If a change truly cannot wait, WSAVA's nutrition committee suggests switching over about a week, in steps of about a quarter, and says some pets, especially cats, need several weeks. International Cat Care advises offering the new food in a separate bowl rather than mixing it.

In the Indian monsoon, kibble left in an open bag goes soft and can grow mould. Pack it in airtight containers or zip bags, one per day if you can: it also makes the amount impossible to get wrong. Send the measuring scoop you use at home. For wet food, pack a can opener if the tins need one. Write the treats that are allowed, and those that are not: no onion, no grapes or raisins, no sweets with xylitol, and no chocolate, all on the ASPCA's list of foods to keep away from pets.

The carrier comes first. Merck says it should be secure and ventilated, and that feeding the cat inside it beforehand makes it familiar. PDSA's step-by-step advice is to leave the carrier open in a room you spend time in, put comfortable bedding inside, and move the food bowl closer and then into it over a few days, so that the carrier becomes a place to rest rather than the start of a vet trip. Start this weeks before the stay, not the night before. The RSPCA advises always keeping a familiar-smelling item in the carrier when you move a cat.

Pack the litter your cat uses at home, so the tray looks, feels and smells the same. International Cat Care's advice on choosing a cattery says many catteries let owners bring bedding or toys, and a scratching post from home can help a cat settle. Pack the food bowls too, and the brush for a long-haired cat such as a Persian. Write how much your cat usually eats, because appetite is the first thing anyone caring for a cat away from home should watch.

If your cat might do better at home, read the cat boarding guide before you pack anything. Cats Protection says home-loving or nervous cats are likely to prefer staying at home, where they are less stressed.

Start with how to reach you, your backup contact and your vet, then the nearest 24-hour vet to the boarder's home if you know it. Then the daily routine: meal times and amounts, walk times and length, toilet habits, bedtime. In an Indian summer, write the hours not to walk (late morning to evening on hot days) and say if your dog is a flat-faced breed, old or overweight, the groups PDSA lists as most at risk of heatstroke.

Then the things only you know: fears of firecrackers, thunder or lifts, how your pet reacts to community dogs on a walk, whether it guards food or toys, what calms it. PDSA's holiday advice is to leave a list of likes and dislikes, because these are hard for someone else to remember. The fuller version of this note, for a sitter in your own home, is in the guide on what to leave for your pet sitter, and Petym's free pet care sheet has every field ready to fill in and print.

Petym is not taking bookings yet; it opens city by city once its sitters pass Petym's checks. When it does, a stay in a sitter's home will work like this. A free meet and greet comes first, so you can see the home and hand over the bag in person. Sitters who host pets will have had a video walk-through of the home by Petym, the housing society's permission for paid pet sitting, and a pet limit for the home. Your pet's plan, including feeding and medicines, is followed as you write it and logged as it happens, with a photo update every day. In an emergency the sitter calls you and takes your pet to the nearest 24-hour vet on the city's list. You book and pay through Petym.