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Canada Where to leave GP while traveling?

amandachan86

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Hi everyone,

All the information here is great! I am located in Toronto, ON and am thinking about getting a Guinea Pig relatively soon. I am doing my research and have come across a little bump. Where does one leave their GP when they travel? I don't have anyone who I can leave them with and have read that there are Pet Boarders at certain vets. Is this true and what are the costs, implications, etc when doing so?

So GPC, where do you guys leave your pets while on vacation?

Thanks ahead of time,

Amanda
 

VoodooJoint

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I leave my GPs home and have a friend come by to feed, water and give them their prepackaged veggies I have ready.
 

AmandaErlandson

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I have wondered this as well. We don't travel for long periods of time very much. But once a year we go on vacation for a week. I don't have anyone that could come by daily to feed them. Every other day at best. Would that be ok if we doubled the veggies?

I was also wondering about traveling with them? Do you think it would be safe? We always drive, never fly. How tramatic would a 4 or 5 hour drive twice in a week be on them? As well as being in a strange place for a week?
 

JD In Van

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I don't travel often but when I do if usually only for a few days, in which my mom comes to check on my pets.

I am going to be gone a week in the spring and that I'm a bit concerned about. I'm going to see if one of the other foster moms for the local rescue will take them for that period of time. They may have to stay temperarily in a smaller cage then they're used to but I would rathe that then worry about them being with someone who really doesn't like rodents for a week.
 

Tessa Bea

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The rescue at which I got 3 of the 8 pigs in my home is willing to watch my 6 perma pigs over my Christmas vacation, so that's fortunate. I still have to figure out where the other 2 will go if I can't find them a happy home before then.
 

Catayn

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I'm taking them with me! If that was impossible, I would leave them with someone very, very trustworthy!
 

AmandaErlandson

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How tramatic do you think the travel would be though?
 

Tessa Bea

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How tramatic do you think the travel would be though?
Hard to say, but my guess is that it would be stressful if it's more than an hour. I think it would be better if you could find a way to leave them behind.
 

foggycreekcavy

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Actually, guinea pigs travel quite well. As long as the temperature is comfortable, and they get plenty of vegetables/greens, they should be fine.

We've taken guinea pigs to destinations a few hours away with no problems. We also took one with us on our motorhome trip to Yellowstone, several hours away.

I do pet sitting for my adopters (Tessa Bea!). When I leave on vacation I have a reliable pet sitter come in twice a day, but even just once a day for guinea pigs is fine in a pinch. Like Voodoo, I pre-package veggies, and even put the hay in lunch sized paper bags.
 

ILovesMePiggies

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Every Saturday morning I go over to my boyfriends and spend the night. Before I leave they are given their daily veggies in one go rather than their normal two, their water is changed and they are given slightly more hay then they normally eat in 24hrs (in slit toilet rolls tubes instead of on the floor which is the weekday norm, this helps to stop them from wolfing it all down straight away). BOTH of my siblings are then instructed to check on them and top up hay/water (this increases the chance that someone actually checks on them). I arrive home early enough on the Sunday to feed as usual.

When we go up country to visit my mothers side of the family, my paternal grandma and best friend come to top up hay and veggies for me and change water. We usually go away for no more than two days, with a day either side for travel (so they are treated as above but with two different people given veggies and hay as required on the middle two days). Again having two people too look after them does decrease the chance that they are forgotten about completely (remember that if people are not used to doing something they are more likely to forget to do it than someone who does that something multiple times a day).
 

YayPiggies

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I am going to leave mine with the lady that runs Yay4Hay, a small animal hay supplier. She also has a small pet sitting business. Her website is yay4hay.ca. She's in Brampton and Scarborough.
 

pigsmakemesmile

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My husband, myself and my 2 daughters were suppose to all go to Florida to spend Christmas with their Grandmother who is battling Mesothelioma, it may be her last Christmas. However, we have a dog, 5 guinea pigs, 5 rabbits of our own and 3 we're sitting for. I feel it's not fair to ask a friend or neighbor to care for them over the holidays because a...it's the holiday and b....it requires a bit of work. So my daughter is volunteering to stay behind for this reason. I trust her in caring for my pigs and she feels no one will care for the rabbits as well as she would and she wouldn't enjoy the trip for that reason alone.
 

Buddy4

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I hired a girl to come in once a day this last trip we took. I prepackaged the veggies with the days of the week written on them. They did fine. Although I wonder if they knew something was different because they both seemed a little depressed for a few days after we got back. I don't know if I am imagining this!
 

amandachan86

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I am going to leave mine with the lady that runs Yay4Hay, a small animal hay supplier. She also has a small pet sitting business. Her website is yay4hay.ca. She's in Brampton and Scarborough.


Thanks! This seems really interesting, where in Scarborough is she located? Her website only says shes located in Brampton? Does she pick up and drop off? Also, have you ever purchased products from them? Seems quite reasonably priced.

Thanks ahead of time for any information you may have.

Amanda
 

TracyP

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Has anyone used Yay4hay when they went on vacation?
 

PinnyGig

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We once brought our piggy to my grandma's house, from Edmonton to the Okanogan, which is between 8-10 hours (at least when we used to do it, but we were little so mum made lots of stops). We had a Jeep Cherokee, which has an open hatch-back, so we put the whole cage and everything into the back and packed the suitcases around it for stability...Except for her water bottle leaking, she did just fine. If you have a smaller vehicle this might be difficult though.
 

shamrockmommy

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Well, we move a LOT, but in general, if we are going on a weekend vacation, I leave extra pellets, water and hay. Any more than a 2 day trip then I have someone come in daily to feed/water/veggie the pigs and make sure all are ok.

We move a lot! This last trip I had a homemade contraption that weighed a ton. This time I got 2 medium pet homes (commercial cage) that should give them enough room for a 10 day cross country move (ugh! lots of car time for all of us!). I won't put water bottles in while the car is moving because they leak out and soak pigs/bedding, but They get wet veggies to much and hay in paper lunch bags (I fill them with hay, fold the top over, tear a hole in the side and they can tear the bag more if they want and much hay from there). Then use a clip to attach it to the side of the cage wire.

ANd my pigs are used to all kinds of noise and commotion (we have 2 young kids and dogs) used to being handled, carried all over our house, inside, outside, so they do ok on trips for us.
 

3newpigs

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I have been thinking about this too. In a couple of weeks we're going away, leaving on Friday afternoon and coming home some time Monday. So I'll have them covered for Friday and I'll need someone to come by and feed them on Saturday and Sunday at least. I can get my parents or dh's friend to do it, since we took care of his dogs while he was on vacation, but the thing that bothers me is the poop. Haha. Like, if they're not used to guinea pigs when they walk in here after the cage has gone 16 hours or so without poop patrol, they're going to think I never clean it! We use fleece. I was thinking about using carefresh or aspen bedding just for when we go away so I won't have to ask anyone to shovel the manure, haha.

Also, in the summer we plan on going on vacation for a week or so. It'll be about a 14 hour drive and my parents are going with us. So I don't know if I want to leave them for a week. I do have a friend who's a skunk rescuer, maybe ask her? I'm sure she's seen a little poop before. I just have a hard time asking, not for the feeding purposes, but I don't want them sitting in filth, and I hate to ask anyone to clean up a bunch of poop for me. We are renting a cabin, so I'm thinking maybe we could put our luggage in one vehicle and the piggies and cage in another and take them with? But it's a long drive and plane tickets for my big family would cost a fortune.
 

Animals548

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I leave my piggie with my cousin at his house with his parents so their is always someone at their house. But you do no have that option so... I would suggest having a friend come by every day and feed them.
 

magik

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My piggy travelled from Toronto to Thunder bay in a transport truck and did great. He seemed to like the ride and we made sure when we stopped we would pick him up and talk to him to make sure he was ok and comfortable. When he hears my car keys he runs to the side of the cage as if he was coming with me so I think if he enjoyed the ride and would do well if he took him with us again.
 
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