Pets are furry (sometimes scaly) bundles of pure love. Now these hyper-excited, ecstatic bundles are also a handful to take care of. Think medicine time.
However, no matter what kind of devious mischief they may get up to like shredding whole toilet rolls to smithereens or defending you against your favourite pair of shoes by chewing them to pieces; you can’t bear leaving their side. Pet parents generally get anxious if they’re away travelling, thinking about how their pets may be faring at home without their patent night-time belly rubs.
With more and more pet-friendly travel and lodging options coming up, it’s relatively easier for pet parents to take their adorable pooch along on a holiday. Social media is flooded with pictures of parents and pets beaming into cameras, playing in the sand, hiking up mountains and it all looks like they’re having a whale of a time.
However, any person with a pet will know the reality behind these scenes. Stubborn resistance to getting into cars, running off in random directions while you run after them breathless and throwing up everywhere at inopportune moments. It’s a task travelling with pets and pet parents will reveal how.
(Psst... I've created a scale to gauge how difficult it gets travelling with the pet and how surly the pet gets whilst travelling, with grumpy cat at the extreme end of grouchiness.)
1. Pet parent – Devika Kapoor
Pet – Buzo
"Buzo HATES to travel. He resists getting into the car and when he does, he poops in resistance.
He also stops eating or responding if we call his name, for a few hours after he gets out of the car. That’s him expressing discontent."
Score on the travel peeves scale - 8/10
Status: Buzo abhors travelling
2. Pet Parent - Krki Petrushevski
Pet - Hachi
"There is a river in my city, Veles, which dries up in the summers and gets pretty rugged and rocky. Hachi and I were out exploring when I decided to step out on to the dried up portion of the river. The river bank is steep and slopes sharply. As we stepped on to the bank to climb downwards, Hachi (who happens to be very strong and heavy) decides to take off running and pulls me behind him. Hachi landed smoothly on the dried up part of the river whereas I toppled headlong into squelchy mud behind him.
On another occasion, we went to the lake near our town to stroll around and enjoy some of nature's wilderness. Hachi was enjoying himself too until he sniffed at something from an evergreen tree and started sneezing non-stop. The only time he would manage to stop sneezing is when I would feed him an occasional snack and then he would resume sneezing. I caught on to his trick after a while when I realised he was sneezing for some extra treats!"
Score on the travel peeves scale - 4/10
Status - Hachi loves travelling but can't resist getting up to a little mischief now and then
3. Pet parent - Akash Mishra
Pet - Benjamin
"Generally Benjamin behaves when we are travelling but sometimes he gets overexcited. He likes to chase after birds and other dogs. We’d gone down to Amby Valley and had decided to get some lunch. Benjamin, meanwhile, was on leash when a cat snuck up to him and started annoying him. Benjamin fought back valiantly but his leash restrained him and the cat got the upper hand and smartly clawed his eye. We had to take him to a vet and it took a week for him to recover."
Round 1
Benjamin – 0
Random Cat – 1
Round 2
Random Cat – 0
Benjamin – 1
Final
Benjamin incapacitated after kitty's blow
Score on the travel peeves scale - 3/10
Status - Benjamin is a good boi when he travels unless there are sneaky cats around
4. Pet Parent - Arundhuti Roy
Pet – Leo
"This one time we were out on a drive with Leo and the poor kid is so huge that he just didn’t know how to seat himself. Next thing we know, the front half of his body is wedged between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat. It’s kind of difficult to drive when a huge goofy dog is sniffing your face and has his paw on the steering wheel.
To top it off, a fire truck passed us and the siren was really loud. Leo hates the sound of sirens. He lets out this weird half-howling, half-growling sound whenever he hears sirens blazing or a conch shell being blown. It gets him triggered and the wolf in him appears. So naturally there started a competition between Leo and the fire truck. We had to give up and go back home halfway."
Score on the travel peeves scale - 5/10
Status - Leo could be a great traveller but is at a disadvantage in vehicles due to his size
5. Pet parent – Kinnari Acharya
Pet - Minchu
"Minchu was some 3 months old when we decided we needed her to get acquainted with a friend’s dog, Barfi. So like a couple of insane people, we decided to take her on my friend’s bike, with Minchu in the middle.
There probably isn’t a worse idea that could’ve popped into someone’s head because the house was about 15 kms away. Minchu is an extremely naughty, fidgety and flighty dog. We had to stop at least three times along the way, trying to keep her on the bike, all the while avoiding main roads and signals.
Once we got there, the dogs went mad. With Minchu chasing Barfi all around the house and them running on the terrace like insane lightning bolts, we were exhausted. And of course, I had to sleep on the ground next to her because my dog is a scared puppy.
The next day I decided against the bike and took an auto instead. She was the same naughty 10 kilo furball who wanted to jump out of the auto."
Score on the travel peeves scale - 7/10
Status - Minchu doesn't really detest travelling; he just seems to want a taste of freedom.
6. Pet Parent – Siddharth Sivakumar
Pet – Maui (kitty)
"Maui is normally very zen but just like other cats he gets temperamental sometimes and then all hell breaks loose. Maui, my friend and I were travelling to Shantiniketan when out of boredom my friend started waving something shiny in front of Maui's face just for the heck of it. This went on for a while with Maui steadily staring at my friend and my friend grinning and waving the shiny thing around when Maui suddenly lunged at my friend. He screamed and next thing you know, Maui has his hand between her jaws. It was bedlam till I pried her off him."
Score on the travel peeves scale - 5/10
Status - Maui continues to be zen while travelling unless you wave shiny objects in front of her. Then it gets bad.
Got any hilarious stories on pet travel? Tell us in the comments below!
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