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Caring for Pets When Traveling

The winner of Keli Gwyn's book is...scroll to the bottom, please

We have two cats, inherited them from our young adult children who went off to college. To make life easier for them and us, we trained the cats to be outdoor creatures. 


photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
But, when we sold our house in one state and were forced to live in a hotel for one month before moving into our new home in another state, we had to modify life for our pets.

Thirty days in a hotel room with cats. The biggest issues: how to keep them from darting out the door, where to put them when the maid insisted she had to clean the room, and how to keep the animal smell from happening.

After five days, the two cats pretty much learned they were stuck in the hotel room when our feet blocked the open door. They didn't like it. One sneered, the other cowered, but eventually they came to the door and greeted us without running. Yesterday one stood guard at the door and pleaded to leave. I told her the good news, we would go to the new house soon. I don't think she believed me.

I learned a way to keep the maid out of the room. Hubby and I cleaned our room thoroughly after the first week, made sure it smelled nice, had the cats food bowls and liter box out in plain sight but free of odors, (we used lots of Febreez and cranked up the air for ventilation), and stuffed the cats in the closet as she came in the door. 

We set the trash outside the door every morning and exchanged towels every three days. These tasks counted as the maid doing something for our room. In thirty days the maid seemed okay with cleaning the room only twice.

Keeping the animal smell took lots of work, more than hourly. The best solution, after trying many, was  to use freezer ziplock bags. We put anything used for animal food or waste into the bags and sprayed Febreez before sealing it. I washed the outside of the bag with Clorox wipes to eliminate any missed odors. 

This experience has been unusual. One, I'd rather not repeat. I am thankful we have access to our new home today where the cats can go outdoors again. We've tried our best to make the situation the easiest for our pets to endure.

Dealing with the restriction of pets in order to consider the hotel and their other guests wasn't fun, but it was the right thing to do. Eliminating confined pet odors was difficult, but I learned new ways to solve problems.

When I consider God's love for us and how He gives more than a 24/7/365 care for us, never once leaving us alone, never complaining about the smells we make, the wrong things we do, the messes we make, the impositions we cause I am in awe. God faithfully listens to our cares, supplies what is best, leads us to where we can receive what is needed to successfully walk our journey. 

We are so blessed.

How has God taken care of you, more than you expected?

The winner of Keli Gwyn's book: A Bride Opens Shop in El Dorado, California is Amy Leigh Simpson. Congratulations, Amy!

Comments

Janice said…
Just this morning God showed His care for me as I was noticing various troubles piling up in the lives around me, and I sought God out. He is over and above the troubles, and I recognized He is in control of all. I felt uplifted as I put my trust in Him once again. I then said, "This is a day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."

I'm thinking your cats will never again take their freedom for granted!

Blessings, Janice
Unknown said…
Aww, good job being a good pet owner. :)

I love how God takes care of me...often in so many ways I don't even see. I just left a comment on someone else's blog about times when God doesn't give us what we want...and so often it seems, when that happens, down the road he gives me something even better...and I realize that his plan for me was better than my plan for me all along. God is sooo good.
Janice,
Beautiful words.
As for my cats...well, we arrived at the new house, spent a day inside to get them familiar and then I lent them out this morning. Their response: what took you so long. Sigh. Only God knows what we do for our pets....and what they do for us.
Melissa,
AND God is so loving and so kind, He knows we will see His better plan in hindsight and thank HIm...way too late.
We are soooooo blessed.

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