Pet People
Summer vacation is meant to be relaxing, but when it means leaving behind a special family member--the trusting and lovable pet--it can be as stressful as it is calming. It helps, at least, to know that the four-footed, feathered or slimy loved one will be in good hands.
The kid down the street is an option, as long as he remembers Fido eats daily. Friends are OK too, but there’s the risk of imposing.
Fortunately, there are people who make pet care their profession. Ventura County has quite a selection of pet sitters who travel to the pet’s home to feed and care for the animal, as well as several boarding kennels where the animal can stay while the family is away.
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Carri Tramel, owner of Carri’s Critter Sitting Service, cares for pets in Ventura and Oxnard. She charges a flat rate of $8.50 per home visit, which includes feeding, exercising and, if necessary, medicating pets, as well as yard cleanup, watering, mail and newspaper collection and other household chores.
“I start my rounds at 5:30 in the morning and go pretty much all day long,” said Tramel, who also cares for pets during the day while owners are at work.
Carri’s Critter Sitting Service schedules appointments about a week in advance on average weeks and up to two weeks on holiday weeks.
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In Newbury Park, Janice Swanstrom and her daughter Erika have operated the Pampered Pet Sitting Service since January. They visit homes once or twice a day for 20 to 30 minutes per trip to feed, walk and otherwise interact with the pets. While the Swanstroms are in the home, they bring in the mail, water the plants and take care of other tasks so the home looks lived in. The cost for each visit is $12.
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Another mother-daughter team, Rosemary and Lisa Stricker, operates Home Alone Pet Sitting, serving Simi Valley, Moorpark, Westlake, Agoura and parts of the San Fernando Valley.
“We can do up to 16 people apiece, or sometimes 20 a day,” Rosemary Stricker said. “We’ve taken care of iguanas, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, geese.”
Home Alone Pet Sitting provides daily visits of about half an hour each, as well as overnight visits. The overnight visits, which are subject to availability, are particularly valuable for dogs that bark at night and for cats with behavioral problems or who are not used to being alone. In addition to feeding and interacting with the animal, the Strickers can administer medications and injections when needed.
“We had experience with our own animals--we knew there was a need for this,” Rosemary Stricker said. “We had a dog ourselves that just didn’t want to be left alone.”
The basic fee for a daily visit is $12 (or $20 for two visits in the same day). Prices go up with three or more pets and depending on the type of animal. Overnight visits are $40 each.
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Among the boarding options, Balcolm Canyon Pet Lodge in Somis takes in just about any pet.
“Dogs and cats mostly, but actually we do everything--birds, guinea pigs, anything smaller than a Great Dane,” said Pat Brown, the daughter of the lodge owner.
The lodge provides pickup and delivery of pets. Dogs are provided with concrete runs of 4 by 18 feet for large dogs, 3 by 12 feet for medium-size dogs and 3 by 10 feet for smaller dogs. Cats are housed in a 4-by-4-by-6-foot “condo” with two shelves for perching.
Balcolm Canyon can accommodate 140 dogs and 26 cats at a time, but advance booking is a good idea. Brown said that during the summer, weekend spaces are filled two months in advance and weekdays are booked a week ahead. Dogs must have had kennel cough (or Bordetella) vaccinations from a veterinarian before boarding.
The cost is $16 a night for dogs, and $8 a night for cats.
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At Jane’s Pet Hotel and Spa in Oxnard, a 57-year-old facility that is undergoing improvements, nightly fees are $10 for dogs and $8 for cats. The facility has exercise runs for dogs and can accommodate up to 120 at a time. Booking is suggested a month in advance during the summer.
